Space Shuttle's "Return to Flight"

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

for the first time they broadcast the separation of the main engines from space. I'd love to see that.

That was exceptionally cool.

I suppose I am like a lot of Americans - the Shuttle program had become old news and not interesting enough to watch the launch. I watched with tremendous interest this morning, sadly because of concern for the safety of the astronauts. My heart skipped a beat as the two externals broke away.

I hope that serious effort and budgets are put forth to replace the shuttle soon. While it certainly was a great program, the tech is a quarter century old (granted, many systems have been upgraded over time).

I have watched a few specials lately on the History Channel regarding the history of jet aviation and the test pilots that had "the right stuff". I am all for safety, don't get me wrong, but there is an inherant risk in testing new things, and it doesn't seem as if America as a whole has the guts for risk any longer. I am certain there are still pilots who would love to test new tech, and probably do all the time under secrecy for military applications. I guess I just find it sad that after true tragedies such as the Columbia it has taken 2.5 years to make another effort. How long after the Apollo 1 accident (where the astronauts burned to death during a drill) did it take for another try? I'm not sure, but I'm certain it wasn't anywhere near 2.5 years.

I hope that soon we have something new, and that if we experience another tragedy in our efforts in space that it does not limit or kill the spirit to continue trying.

Hats off to the crew of the Discovery. God speed.