Goodbye NASA

[MortisLegio]

Wait. Wait wait wait. They're shutting down NASA?

Fucking NASA?

I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. NASA is the only thing keeping America ahead of the curve technology wise. If they cut out all of NASA, then Japan takes over completely as the world's strongest technological innovator.

Unless they're only shutting down the space program side of NASA, which (if this is the case) apparently a good amount of people need to understand is not all of NASA.

No. their only stopping the space shuttle and are having some budget cuts but NASA isnt going anywhere

 

[Dense_Electric]

Calm down guys, NASA isn't going anywhere. It's getting screwed over budget-wise, but I promise you they do much more than fly shuttles.

Personally, I'm not pissed about the shuttle program shutting down. What I'm pissed about is that the shuttle program is shutting down and there's nothing lined up to replace it. Not another vehicle, not a capsule, not even any sort of real goal anymore. Conventional wisdom used to be that we were going back to the moon to build a permanent base after the shuttle program ended and the ISS was finished, then once we could do that we were going to Mars, then beyond. Now, thanks to the current idiot in the White House (among other equally idiotic idiots), that's not happening for a while. No, never mind the fact that our planet is overcrowded, never mind the fact that we live on one planet in one star system in one galaxy in one supercluster in one universe of possibly many universes, let's just stay fucking here forever.

 

[wrightguy0]

yeah, NASA isn't going anywhere, space flight is only half of the puzzle. the rest involves research and development of new technologies for space exploration and experimentation, habitat design and construction, astronaut training, launches, despite the shuttle being the "Face" of NASA for the past three decades the agency has still been using conventional rockets as well, fear not, this is not the end of space exploration, there's still lots to do.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

"SPACE IS A USELESS VENTURE"

I hate people so much, if we kept funding the shit out of NASA after we hit the moon, we could be terraforming Mars now.

And instead we have a stupidly bloated defense budget that is in no way necessary, and the budget cuts are coming from "entitlement programs" and education. Somehow this country has its priorities backwards...

 

[dnnydllr]

For some reason I feel this is appropriate:

Dem glasses. O__O
OT: Yeah, Obama has said something or other about focusing on Mars or some Bolshevik like that...so no, it's not the end of NASA, but their space program will most assuredly be phased out by private companies within the next couple of decades.

 

[Pinkamena]

It's sad, but look at the bright side: Now more of their funding will go into exploring space. rovers, telescopes ,etc.

 

[StBishop]

From what I have heard, they are simply retire the current shuttle they are using which is about 30 years old, and are going to develop a new one

I heard this too. From Australian news programs. 3 of them in fact.

 

[johnstamos]

by all means shut it down. were fucked here on earth why do we need billions of dollars spent on space, were not gaining anything from it.

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

Okay. Anyone else want to see the new line of space faring craft yet? I mean we only have so many "regular" rockets to launch satellites and whatnot.

OT: I thought they said they were done those shuttles years ago. I guess not eh? I wonder how long it will be till our next reusable spacecraft is past its prototype/top secret status.

 

[MikeOfThunder]

It's been a long road
Getting from there to here
It's been a long time
But my time is finally near

And I will see my dream come alive at last
And I will touch the sky--WAIT!! Guys, Budgets cut. Sorry, we're done here! Your not going anywhere...

Hope it resumes soon enough!

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

NASA ain't dead. The shuttles were to be used to build the space station and that task is over. Now, if the economy stops being stupid, maybe we'll tentatively return to long range human exploration.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

If only them Ruskies hadn't given up on Humanities most expensive dick-measuring contest...


[sub]...I feel the need to clarify that that was a joke. Contrary to popular belief there are stupid people here.[/sub]

 

[Beryl77]

Wait, Goodbye NASA? Did I miss something? I thought that only the current shuttles will be retired and that it's the last flight of a shuttle but the space program will continue with different spacecrafts and NASA will continue as well.

 

[Zeetchmen]

Its space or bust for humanity in the future, why would they cut funding by so much?

Sadface

 

[duchaked]

I'm gonig to take this opportunity to troll

well at least you still got all that money for your army

lol admittedly that was my first thought

 

[boyvirgo666]

NASA are going to be hiring a private company in between the gap of the last shuttle and the new one.

which could be a very bad or very good thing depending on who they hire

 

[easternflame]

The fact they don't have any more shuttles doesn't mean anything... Look at apolos

 

[Asmundr]

Its space or bust for humanity in the future, why would they cut funding by so much?

Sadface

Because most people now are solely focusing on themselves in a manner of speaking. Why spend money on the exploration of space and later, the colonization of it, when that money can be spent solving all our problems here on Earth?

Some people really don't have a concept of the longevity of this species. Space is where the future of humanity lies. It is where we as a species will look back down on the Earth and notice that our boarders, our difference are small, trivial things and that we are all human.

Call my notions romanticizing space but this is what I honestly believe.

 

[Chrono212]

I can say, proudly, that I was there to see the last launch.

I can also say, with some authority, that NASA is not dead.
My uncle, whom I am staying with right now, and he is a Senoir Lead Engineer [footnote]in fact if anyone goes to Kennedy Space Center's Explorers Wanted Exibition he is the first of the recorded speakers[/footnote] which allows me to see inside the inner workings of NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
What NASA is suffering from right now is a lack of budget and Congress approved Shuttle replacement.
Low Earth Orbit is now the preserve of private space industries, that is, in terms of the United States.
NASA will now focus on Deep Space. That means the Moon and beyond (asteroids, Mars etc.).
Unfortunately, the Constellation Program was canceled meaning that the Shuttles replacement was cancelled, the return to the Moon was cancelled and the stepping stone to Mars was cancelled all in one go.
However, SpaceX and other similar private companies are likely to follow the example of the European Space Agency's example of unmanned resupply capsules and send them to the International Space Station. This is hopefully going to happen in one to two years.
With more hope and luck, private industry will be testing manned capsules within 3-4 years.

So, as you can hopefully see, NASA isn't dead, it's just a lost for the moment but these people aren't stupid so they've been planning what to do next for years.
As with everything, it's money and politics standing in the way.

 

[Norendithas]

Wait, Goodbye NASA? Did I miss something? I thought that only the current shuttles will be retired and that it's the last flight of a shuttle but the space program will continue with different spacecrafts and NASA will continue as well.

Without the space shuttles, NASA will rely on Russian Soyuz vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, which is slated to operate until at least 2020. The agency wants private American craft to take over this taxi service eventually, but that probably won't happen for at least four or five years.

For its part, NASA has begun shifting its focus beyond low-Earth orbit. Last year, President Barack Obama charged the space agency with sending astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, and then on to Mars by the mid-2030s.

As exciting as both of these exploration prospects are, they remain far off, both in space and time. Right now, most thoughts are with Atlantis as it streaks toward the space station, its final mission closing out the life of a spacecraft that came to represent a nation in many ways.

Over the years, the space shuttle became a symbol of America, its ambitious goals and its technological know-how, experts say.

"The shuttle became a very powerful icon," Roger Launius, space history curator at the National Air and Space Museum, told SPACE.com, "just as serviceable an icon as the astronauts landing on the moon, in terms of national prestige abroad and pride at home."

While yes, astronauts will still be able to continue with trips to Earth's inner-space, just that it will not be through NASA. It will end up being through the Russians. Which no offense to the Russians, that's just unfavorable to think of rather than picturing our shuttles with NASA. I'm not sure about NASA continuing with other vehicles, but I am sure they'd have to come up with something if they wanted to send astronauts to asteroids and mars. So it's for the most part just the death of the Shuttle program, which is a sad thought to many. Oh, and budget cuts.