In Space, what's old is new

[RStar]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I never thought of it that way. There hasn't been a man there since 1972, before I was born. But then again they've pretty much nailed the moon. Rocks, check. Lack of anything else, check. No reason to hang out there except for the awesome dune buggying.

Except that if the ever do find ice we could have a moon base option. This would allow for the possible leap frog into deep [IE the far end of our solar system] space.

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I want to know when we are going to land on Mercury.

You go right ahead. I'll stay here and watch.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by RStar

You go right ahead. I'll stay here and watch.

Give me an umbrella and a mister for daytime and thermal underwear and a heavy coat for night time and I'll be fine.

[lizziebith]

We plan to attend the launch (either one) in May...*fingers crossed* It's a lifelong dream of mine, right under going to see Lemurs in Madagascar. Yes, we're old enough to be checking stuff off the list now.

I remember watching the moon landing vividly...and I don't get the "space shuttle is boring" mentality. OMG! How is this possible? Have you no sense of wonder? I marvel at it constantly...watch NASA channel all the time. That we can send actual humans into that vast wilderness never ceases to reduce me to tears of joy every time. What a glorious thing it is to be alive while these things happen.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by lizziebith

I remember watching the moon landing vividly...and I don't get the "space shuttle is boring" mentality. OMG! How is this possible? Have you no sense of wonder? I marvel at it constantly...watch NASA channel all the time. That we can send actual humans into that vast wilderness never ceases to reduce me to tears of joy every time. What a glorious thing it is to be alive while these things happen.

Ok, I was being extra blase. I love that we can put people into space, love the amazing science behind it. What gets me about the shuttle program is that every show I've seen about it for the last 15 years has said the same thing: The shuttle is like sending 4 people in a bus, but what we need to do is trim it down and send 2 people in a race car. They kept showing these new ideas for smaller, reusable ships (as mentioned in this thread) but none of it ever materialized. Then Columbia blew, just when we were FINALLY getting over the Challenger (which I remember well). As Alex alluded to, I think the shuttle suffers from some major PR problems.

Getting people to and from our space station is pretty damn cool. The fact that we have people in space all the time is awesome. Hubble kicks ass. There are great reasons to be in space.

But right now - Virgin Galactic, space X Prizes, the Chinese getting involved, Russia letting you pay your own way - these are the kinds of stories that catch my eye.