Dead for Tax Reasons: I'm so glad we scrapped the space shuttle to hitch rides on their equipment

The Shuttle was designed to construct space stations as a stage for a return to the moon with a permanent colony. With the end of the Apollo missions, the drop off in funding caused a shift to unmanned missions and satellite launches. With the move by the Obama administration to move most satellite launches to private businesses allows more of the budget to be spent on manned missions. If anything, the Bush/Clinton/Bush plans of "lets go to Mars!" with Constellation is the reason we have to deal with the Russians.

Andrei... you've lost another submarinesatellite?

As opposed to how many rocket launches were in the US this year?

SpaceX's Dragon craft is making it's ISS rendezvous on Feb. 7.

I read a report that it was caused by a burn through in the third stage thrust chamber. Probably the result of too much Vodak in the rocket shop...

/hurry UP, SpaceX!

AlteredChemical: As opposed to how many rocket launches were in the US this year?

Interesting that you should ask that. Final Chinese launch tally surpasses U.S. rocket fleet (new window)

Chinese officials said the mission was flawless, marking the country's 18th successful space launch in 19 tries this year. The United States is 17-for-18 with flights of the space shuttle and the Atlas, Delta, Taurus and Minotaur rocket systems.

Gah, link didn't work. Final Chinese launch tally surpasses U.S. rocket fleet (new window)

bbfreak: AlteredChemical: As opposed to how many rocket launches were in the US this year?

Interesting that you should ask that. Final Chinese launch tally surpasses U.S. rocket fleet (new window)

Chinese officials said the mission was flawless, marking the country's 18th successful space launch in 19 tries this year. The United States is 17-for-18 with flights of the space shuttle and the Atlas, Delta, Taurus and Minotaur rocket systems.

how many of the Chinese ones were manned?

The Bestest: bbfreak: AlteredChemical: As opposed to how many rocket launches were in the US this year?

Interesting that you should ask that. Final Chinese launch tally surpasses U.S. rocket fleet (new window)

Chinese officials said the mission was flawless, marking the country's 18th successful space launch in 19 tries this year. The United States is 17-for-18 with flights of the space shuttle and the Atlas, Delta, Taurus and Minotaur rocket systems.

how many of the Chinese ones were manned?

None, but they've got planned two launches with three crew members a piece next year.

Chinese launches aren't as effective. Half hour after launch you need to launch again....

/Jesus helps our launches

Once SpaceX starts to get a regular launch schedule going, Kosmostras is toast.

And to think the Russians had more advanced space technology than us at one point.

Makes you wonder why we bother having a missile shield, doesn't it?

ALIENS ARE TRYING TO DESTROY SIBERIA!

/just sayin

Tyrone Slothrop: And to think the Russians had more advanced space technology than us at one point.

When? The 1960's? Sure there was Buran and the Energia but the high cost/collapse of the Soviet Union put that to an end after one unmanned flight. From then on though, the US has always had and continues to have the best space technology at the moment. For a various amount of reasons, 1: a robust tracking system that allows us to maintain multiple deep space missions at the same damn time. 2: Quality control, the reason the Russian have had a problem sending stuff far away from the planet earth is because their shiat doesn't last the journey there. IE: The entire Russian mars program. Etc.

Sure the man program has an uncertain future at the moment with the rejects in congress opting for Constellation Lite instead of killing the damn thing. IE: Those of you who believe the Constellation program was killed are misinformed. They changed the location we'd be going to something more vague instead of the moon, and scaled back from two rockets to one. Ares V is now Space Launch System and has every chance of being scrapped because we can't afford it.

Anyway, getting back to my point. Uncertainty of the man program not-withstanding with SLS and the private space flight effort and what not, American aerospace is still quite strong. Indeed, we're in the golden age of exploration at the moment.

NASA at this very moment and in no particular order have Kepler scanning the skies for other planets, Voyager 1 & 2 about the exit the solar system, one working rover on mars that will celebrate its 7th year roving on the planet of Mars early next year, another on the way and doing science on the way to mars by measuring radiation and two around the planet it self, a mission on the way to Jupiter, another around Saturn, one headed to Pluto, one around a suspect dwarf planet Vesta ATM, one around the moon and two more taking the slow way around to get there, and so forth. The list goes on and on and here is the list: Current Missions (new window)

/also whats wrong with America's atlas rockets?

syrynxx: Killing the shuttle program was a stupid, stupid idea. We're spending that money on blowing up Afghanistan instead. Nice!

The shuttle program was unsustainable and the money would be spent in Afghanistan regardless. It wasn't an either/or proposition.

syrynxx: Killing the shuttle program without committing to a replacement that would be there when Atlantis came home for the final time was a stupid, stupid idea.

TIFIFU.

Space X will launch (pending any further delays caused by the Russians) on the 7th of February. Once they get started, they will have at least 2 to 3 launches a year to the ISS, according to their flight manifest. Based on their history, I'd say that they will be the first private organization to put a human into orbit, and will ultimately be the first to land a man, or woman, on Mars. Wish I had the money to invest when they go public.

exyankee: Based on their history, I'd say that they will be the first private organization to put a human into orbit

I don't know about that, I think Boeing will beat them if they stay on target for the 2015 launch. Boeing Workers Will Fly to ISS Aboard Their Company's New Spaceship (new window)

We'll see.

bbfreak: When? The 1960's?

You do realize that Russia/Soviet Union put up the first satellite, the first animal into space, the first human into space, and the first space station, right? We couldn't do anything until we got Nazis to work for us.

p4p3rm4t3: [img838.imageshack.us image 320x280]

/also whats wrong with America's atlas rockets?

They have engines that are built in Russia? Not sure what your point is. In any case, it is interesting that the Atlas V will be the launcher to propel the first US manned spacecraft into orbit since shuttle in 2015. Seeing as Orion doesn't have a manned flight until 2016, and the Dragon doesn't have a specific timeline for a manned mission yet but seeing as they'll have to work with NASA on that issue it might be 2016 as well.

We'll see how it works out. o.o

The Bestest: The shuttle program was unsustainabl

Well the Shuttle was supposed to have been replaced about 5 years ago. Alas the money to develop a replacement never materialized.

bbfreak: They have engines that are built in Russia? Not sure what your point is. In any case, it is interesting that the Atlas V will be the launcher to propel the first US manned spacecraft into orbit since shuttle in 2015. Seeing as Orion doesn't have a manned flight until 2016, and the Dragon doesn't have a specific timeline for a manned mission yet but seeing as they'll have to work with NASA on that issue it might be 2016 as well.

We'll see how it works out. o.o

Not necessarily. I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX has a manned flight before Orion. Dragon uses Falcon 9 as the launch system.

The Russian space program hasn't been the same since they replaced the water in the office water cooler with vodak.

Tyrone Slothrop: bbfreak: When? The 1960's?

You do realize that Russia/Soviet Union put up the first satellite, the first animal into space, the first human into space, and the first space station, right? We couldn't do anything until we got Nazis to work for us.

1: Both the Russians & Americans built their space programs off of the V-2. IE: The Nazi's. Americans started their space program in 1946 with their first unmanned spaceflight, and the Russians started theirs in 1948 with their first unmanned spaceflight.

2: You're wrong about which country had the first animal. Hell, Russia didn't even have the first mammal in space! The first dog, yes, but the US sent the first animal the fruit fly into space in 1947! Then it sent up a bloody monkey in 1949.

3: The gap between the Russians and the US wasn't that great. US had the lead due to having captured V-2 rockets (The first space launch was in 1942 by the Nazi's), and the core rocket scientists that built the V-2. Then due to arrogance and stupidity they loss that lead until Sputnik showed them just how capable the Russians were.

Its at this point I should point out that the first liquid rocket was launched by an American Robert H. Goddard, who was ignored and ridiculed by his fellow Americans. The New York Times even published an article making fun of him for believing that rockets could reach the moon. Only apologizing to the man long after his death in 1969. The Germans meanwhile didn't think his ideas were so useless though.

Getting back to the 1940's though, we have a government in the US who looks at the captured German scientist with distrust and fails to use them properly. So they give the task of putting the first US satellite into orbit to the US Navy, which fails miserably and only give the task to the Germans after Sputnik.

I guess my point is that the Russians weren't more capable than us, they had more political will yes but by every right the advantage should of been ours if we hadn't been such dunderheads.

Also, I should admit my own error. When I said, "when the 1960's?" It should of been the 1950's in retrospect, as by 1963 the US had turned the tide against the Russians. Sure they had the first space station, but I still don't think that's as important as you know leaving the earth behind as the Americans first did in 1968.

The Bestest: bbfreak: They have engines that are built in Russia? Not sure what your point is. In any case, it is interesting that the Atlas V will be the launcher to propel the first US manned spacecraft into orbit since shuttle in 2015. Seeing as Orion doesn't have a manned flight until 2016, and the Dragon doesn't have a specific timeline for a manned mission yet but seeing as they'll have to work with NASA on that issue it might be 2016 as well.

We'll see how it works out. o.o

Not necessarily. I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX has a manned flight before Orion. Dragon uses Falcon 9 as the launch system.

I agree, I was referring to the Boeing spaceship the CST-100 (new window). I think it has a good chance of being the first manned spacecraft from the US to launch humans into orbit by 2015. Granted, Space X could launch a manned Dragon X well before 2015 but I don't think they will. I think they'll be too focused on resupplying cargo to the International Space Station to make it happen before 2015.

Again, we'll see.

*Dragon, not dragon. Also for clearity: Sure the Soviets had the first space station, but I still don't think that's as important as you know leaving the earth behind with humans as the Americans first did in 1968.

bbfreak: 2: You're wrong about which country had the first animal. Hell, Russia didn't even have the first mammal in space! The first dog, yes, but the US sent the first animal the fruit fly into space in 1947! Then it sent up a bloody monkey in 1949.

Technically correct (the best kind of 'correct'), but those were just little sub-orbital hops. The Russians were the first to send animals (and then humans) all the way round.

Ivo Shandor: bbfreak: 2: You're wrong about which country had the first animal. Hell, Russia didn't even have the first mammal in space! The first dog, yes, but the US sent the first animal the fruit fly into space in 1947! Then it sent up a bloody monkey in 1949.

Technically correct (the best kind of 'correct'), but those were just little sub-orbital hops. The Russians were the first to send animals (and then humans) all the way round.

Yes, Russians were the first to put humans and animals into orbit. Entirely different than what you were suggesting when you said "space". Which is generally agreed to be the Kármán line (new window) at an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 mi).

Of course, if you really want to argue about the boundary of space and consider the thermosphere and exosphere part of the atmosphere and not of space then Gemini 11 was the first manned mission outside the atmosphere.

flucto: Ivo Shandor: Technically

bbfreak: Of course

Заткнуться, вас обоих! Я продавец мороженого!

Scheiße! kennen die Russen nichts von Luftkissenfahrzeugen Wartung.

flucto: Az én Hovercraft tele Eels

,,Op deze dag, hij was blij er twee kisten van schnaps onder zijn stapelbed wordt''

That's just great. Any idea when the Virgin space plane thing will be ready? Sadly I am not expecting us to have a viable rocket for, well I can't say when.

The botched launch is again due to an upper-stage engine problem.

This is bad news for lower-stages

bbfreak: I guess my point is that the Russians weren't more capable than us, they had more political will yes but by every right the advantage should of been ours if we hadn't been such dunderheads.

Agreed but I want to add that the dunderhead was Eisenhower and his mistake was not recognizing the propaganda aspects of a civilian space program. The claim that the Russians "had more advanced space technology" than the U.S. is absurd but they did use what they had much more effectively in the propaganda war. One advantage they did have was they got Peenemunde and the V2 rockets in addition to most of the German engineers. While they were forcing German engineers at the point of a gun to reverse engineer the V2 we were ignoring von Braun because he was a Nazi. The Russians may have had a lead in rocket technology in the early days but there is a lot more to space technology than rockets. Over all there is no question that the U.S. was more technically advanced than the Soviet Union. This argument is really a political argument that has been going on since Kennedy invented the missile gap. Ironic that we would have this stupid, stupid argument using computers on the internet, don't you think?

Those whining about the Russian and Chinese space programs can get back to me when the two combined have achieved 1/10th the amount of science NASA has.

AFAIK the Germans had far more advanced rockets on the drawing board (why wouldn't they, did you think they just stopped researching after finishing the V2?), like intercontinental ones. They never got them build, but wouldn't those plans be the ones USA and the Soviet Union concentrated on rather than the V2, which arguably wouldn't launch much into space?

Dumb-Ass-Monkey: Thank you, Subby, for using the correct Cyrillic letters. That is a pet peeve of mine, despite my painfully limited knowledge of the Russian language.

I had come here to say the same thing....so....yay for us?