Sorry, I came over all “channeling Bart Sibrel” there for a moment.

I feel exactly the same.

I have a terrible fear that soon we’ll be saying “Remember when we were a spacefaring country?” That’s a very, very bad thing in my estimation. It hurt and felt like a big step back when Concorde was retired, but this feels like a far greater loss.

Agreed.

Not only that but we’ll be conceeding very real power, global presteige and technological & military capability to other less short-sighted (& also less democratic and more totalitarian) nations such as China and Russia.

If we don’t control space then somebody else will and that somebody else is likely to be a lot nastier and less reasonable than us. If we give up the high ground of space we put ourselves or worse our children – and our future – into the hands of nations that are, at best, not overly well-inclined towards us and, at worst, outright enemy states. This may not be the politically correct thing to say but it is indeed true and very sad.

To throw away what we’ve done and thousands of Americans have worked so hard and so long for is just heart-breaking.

We should have not just one shuttle but a whole range of different shuttle-type spaceplanes & rockets by now and we should have kept and increased our space technology lead rather than stagnating and losing that drive and vision which we once had and which took us to the Moon. Having started on the reusable spaceplane road we should have kept going and developed further and better spacecraft on those lines, not stopped and gone backwards.

Thanks, Phil.

GAry 7

It would be a lot different if we had something more capable to replace them, but I’m still not sold on the Ares concept as being a real replacement.

I have a terrible fear that soon we’ll be saying “Remember when we were a spacefaring country?” That’s a very, very bad thing in my estimation. It hurt and felt like a big step back when Concorde was retired, but this feels like a far greater loss.

I know, I’m being emotional. It’s never failed to make my heart swell to basketball size to see “UNITED STATES” roaring into the sky, carrying brave men and women into the future. I’m worried that we won’t see it for a while.

THX.

I was actually thinking more along the lines of emergency rescue flights but that’s kinda nice to hear too.

That’s the big question being debated right now since the final Augustine report has been delivered. Answers could range from 0 to 1/year or more depending on who you ask and what is chosen. An extra shuttle flight already has been added to deliver the AMS telescope to the ISS, and I think its been funded but I’m not 100% sure. That’s the thing here, anyone out there can say what they want, but if the President doesn’t ask and Congress doesn’t provide the funds it is meaningless. NASA does not set forth its policies. It can only recommend and hope whoever is in charge of the country follows. That does not always happen.

@2. FC

There is actually a very important use the Russian cannot provide: experiments. Because of the size of the Soyuz (and ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV), large experiment racks cannot be shipped. Luckily, Japan’s new HTV spacecraft that was launched recently can provide that service, as well as SpaceX’s Dragon capsule if it is completed and successfully launches. You’re right though than in terms of people, Russia can serve the US’ needs for the time being.

LOL

@Blaise : First it’s [the 'Atlantis' is] going to be used for any spare parts needed for Endevour & Discovery before they’re retired. After that, it’s going to be owned by the Smithsonian, and loaned to a suitable museum.

So dismantled for spare parts then made a museum piece.

That fate for theAtlantis reminds me of this poem :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Ironsides_(poem)

& from here : http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/owh/oldiron.html

Old Ironsides
By Oliver Wendell Holmes

September 16, 1830

…
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;–
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

*****************************************

I vote we let ‘Atlantis’ fly until she can fly no more & only then give her an honourable retirement – or could we even use her and the other orbiters as components of the International Space Station? Has NASA considered that possibility?

How many *unscheduled* ones are left?

Any chance they’ll keep it flying at least a little longer and not have such a long and rather pathetic gap before the next NASA manned spacecraft?

Great picture – thanks BA & Atlantis crew.

@ 2. FC Says:

Frankly, people need to see the upside of moving beyond the Space Shuttle.

Well it would be good if we were replacing the shuttle with a superior similar re-usable spaceplane and straight away. Not having a 5 year or more gap between major NASA spacecraft & not having something that looks more like a scaled up copy of Apollo rather than something newer, fresher and larger.

It feels like a dead end for thsi type of spacecraft & I share (#1.) DrFlimmer’s sense of sadness. It feels to me like we’ve missed an opportunity and let one avenue of space travel run dry without developing it further as we could have. I’d like to see a super-shuttle replacing the current shuttle not a super-Apollo doing so. Italso feels like we’ve really run out of momentum and I want to see us get moving and not grind to a stop space-wise.

That said I’d love to see the Ares work out brilliantly and hope it does well and comes into full production and takes flight soon.

@ 10. gypkap : I agree.

The shuttle may have had its faults but it was an amazing machine and has done some marvellously remarkable things. I too will really miss it. More people have flown into space aboard the shuttle than any other spacecraft, & I doubt that the Hubble Space observatory and Interbnational Space Station would exist without it.

Brandon Hansen
Just South of North
http://www.justsouthofnorth.com

And…completely irrational of course…because the Shuttle actually looks like a ground to orbit space vehicle ought to look (see “2001, A Space Odyssey” the space movie of our dreams).

First it’s going to be used for any spare parts needed for Endevour & Discovery before they’re retired. After that, it’s going to be owned by the Smithsonian, and loaned to a suitable museum. There are currently about 20 institutions issuing proposals, but that’s expected to decline.

BTW, the institution has to pay for the transportation to their facility. That’s expected to be in the millions of dollars.

I like the shot that showed the shadow of the shuttle go across the runway, and then the shuttle itself flew overhead, coming down for it’s landing.

I’m hoping the shuttle is extended in operations to reduce the HSF gap.

I think that after Atlantis completes its final mission, it should be put in a “stand by” status to serve as a “rescue shuttle”.
Discovery and Endeavour can each fly once a year.

Yes and No. There is still a need for upmass capability for replacements parts for ISS. This is especially true if the ISS mission is extended to 2020. Nothing within sight has this ability except Ares V (10-15 years from now according to the Augustine Commission) or the Direct architecture. As for whether the Shuttle is “too expensive”, as soon as the Shuttle retires NASA overhead will be shifted to whatever new program comes along, and the new program cost will soar.

Atlantis Landing Eye Candy

nice picture