Things look like they could get ugly for NASA

[cjolley]

Interesting statement.
Except that is was mostly Richard Nixon who did this to NASA.
He threw away the momentum and NASA never got it back.
chuck

[Dr Mordrid]

Nixon signed a lot of the legislation, but he had to deal with large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress at a time when the McGovernites had taken control of the party. In many cases to get one thing he really wanted he had to sign things he didn't.

Dr. Mordrid

[cjolley]

Most of the Presidents were Repubs and most of the Congresses were Demos during the entire decline of NASA. (1970-present).
None of them in either branch have tried to help NASA.
It's been a very bi-partisan effort.
Maybe things will change now, but I doubt it.
chuck

[Brian R.]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
You don't need a Saturn V to go to the moon.

With inflatable craft starting from the space station and using a smaller booster from orbit the improved power/weight ratio alone should create a much more efficient system. You might even be able to use the same vehicle for transit and landings.

Dr. Mordrid

I read the above speculation as "...should...might..."

The only proven way to get to the moon "safely" is with the non-existant Saturn V/Apollo.

There is no specific person(s) responsible, they just died for lack of funding.

[KRSESQ]

The Apollo lunar program was the last great legacy of John F. Kennedy, whom Nixon hated (or at the very least resented) with a passion. He could not kill Apollo outright right away, but once a moon landing was achieved he could wittle away at the program's budget until it hemorrhaged to death.

And when NASA showed him their plans for the space shuttle, he saw it as HIS legacy for the space program. He couldn't approve it fast enough.

Thank RMN for Challanger and Columbia!

(rant off)

Kevin

[lurqa_MU]

Landing in the Atlantic

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
And if you change the angle of attack enough to make the heat lower you end up landing the SOB in the mid Atlantic

I guess that is why NASA is/was funding maintenance of an extra large landing strip in The Gambia. - for emergency landings....

Regards,
lurqa

[K6-III]

Some recent discussions have come to the fact that the Atlas V heavy can send 9200kg to lunar orbit. It just so happens that the Soyuz has a mass of around 7000kg and was originally designed to go to the moon. How about a lunar orbit mission anyone???

[Gurm]

KRSESQ:

I hate JFK more than Nixon ever could have, but I still like the space program.

- Gurm

[KRSESQ]

Gurm:

I'm willing to bet you have a lot clearer vision of the future than Nixon did (or most politicians, for that matter).

Whatever faults JFK had, he was the most forward thinking leader of the second half of the 20th century. He envisioned space as the next major stage of human civilization. No president since has felt anywhere near as strongly.

Carter was the worst. With Mondale whispering in his ear, he came very close to cancelling the shuttle program. You can thank Mondale more than anyone else for the loss of Skylab.

Not much hope here that Bush will use this tragedy to set a bold new course for the space program. The U.S. is in danger of becoming the Portugal of the space age.

Kevin

[K6-III]

I am convinced that JFK was using the space race to cover up the dismal invasion at the Bay of Pigs...

[KvHagedorn]

Originally posted by KRSESQ
The U.S. is in danger of becoming the Portugal of the space age.

Kevin

Well put!

There is only one easy way I can envision the space elevator could be installed. Build a rocket with an absolutely HUGE amount of thrust. (This, btw, is why the Atlas V wouldn't work for putting Soyuz on the moon. You need a Saturn V type system to get the REAL moon rocket into space, and then have THAT rocket fire the extra huge thrust to achieve TransLunar Injection to escape Earth's gravity and make it work. Thanks to geniuses like Werhner von Braun and Buzz Aldrin, and a lot of clear thinking from a lot of other people, the Saturn V system was conceived and properly built. To do the space ribbon, you need enough continuous thrust to go STRAIGHT UP.. yes, without orbit, you need to escape the Earth's gravitational well, dragging the thing behind you.. I don't know how much thrust that would take, but definitely far more than even Saturn V could muster.

After this huge expense, one North Korean Missle fired from a trawler could take it out. Even the Hunley with a powerful enough explosive could blow up the platform and doom the whole shebang. Yes, with enough technology it could be protected, but the electrical storms, hurricanes, winds in the stratosphere, and other good points of worry brought up here are very big problems that need to be covered. Yeah, if you could come up with some huge tubular force field to protect it, it's a great idea.

[K6-III]

The Saturn V was designed as the basis for a whole line of systems. Skylab was just the beginning. Unfortunately, it was also made to be the end...

NERVA used as the upper stage could have take us to Mars...

As for building a space elevator, it would be done by launching a satellite into GEO and unspooling a carbon nanotube rope with a mass attached to the bottom. This would then be anchored somewhere on the Earth. A robot could then ride up and down the rope and thicken it, or so goes the theory...

[thop]

how long would that rope be? and how heavy?

[Brian R.]

The length would be somewhat greater than 35,786 km (22,237 mi) depending on the deviation from linearity and the allowed deviation of the orbit from geostationary.

[Liquid_Memory]

Something that everyone forgets about.

We never went to the moon. Reason being the
Van Allen Radiation Belts
prevent us from getting there.

Any manned flight including the
shuttle stays under the 400 kilometer mark.
Limits of Manned Space flight

The Link states that we have shielding that prevents us from
getting radiation poisoning, but why haven't we ever gone
back? I can't wait until japan launches their satelite that is
going to map the moon, then we will know whether we were
there or not. I think they are gonna find the moon untouched
by man and our government admit that we pulled the wool over
everyone's eyes, and Area 51 was the Movie set to make it.

If you still believe we went to the moon, then what about
Russia? Why haven't they gone to the moon? They have the
same technology in space craft as we do. In fact they were the
first humans to reach space. So why didn't they take it a step
farther and reach the moon first?

I know this is all heresay and we will never really know if we
did or not. I'm leaving this alone as there is not enough
information released yet, but I have enough, just like
Colin Powell to be able to say that,

We never landed on the Moon.