Last shuttle transports

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
H

Haynie

Member
Joined
May 20, 2011
Messages
3,515
Location
Page Arizona
My formative years were spent in awe of the space shuttle program. I watched every lift off and landing I could on TV. I never thought there would be a time when there wasn't a space launch to watch.

Anyone else following these final transports? I was lucky enough to live on the flight path from California to Florida so I got to see the shuttle being carried home on top of the 747. A pretty amazing site. I wish I could be in NY city when they ferry one up the Hudson or Los Angeles when they haul it through the streets.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I missed seeing the Discovery in person up here, but saw lots of pics from friends. It's at the air and space museum in Chantilly and I believe the shuttle that WAS there is the one going to NY...
 
I guess I'm the odd duck when it comes to the space program. Sure it's amazing equipment and technology but after the first few launches, I got to thinking of how all those hundreds of billions of dollars could be better spent on other things. I'm glad it's ratcheting down, now if we can figure out ways to better spend the money before NASA figures out which black holes to start dumping the money into!
 
Texatdurango said:
Sure it's amazing equipment and technology but after the first few launches, I got to thinking of how all those hundreds of billions of dollars could be better spent on other things. I'm glad it's ratcheting down, now if we can figure out ways to better spend the money before NASA figures out which black holes to start dumping the money into!
Click to expand...

Yep, we need more money to spend on programs that study the mating habits of gnats. :biggrin:
 
beck3906 said:
Texatdurango said:
Sure it's amazing equipment and technology but after the first few launches, I got to thinking of how all those hundreds of billions of dollars could be better spent on other things. I'm glad it's ratcheting down, now if we can figure out ways to better spend the money before NASA figures out which black holes to start dumping the money into!
Click to expand...

Yep, we need more money to spend on programs that study the mating habits of gnats. :biggrin:
Click to expand...
Yeah, I voted for that one! :tongue:

I realize that we will always have waste and politicians taking care of their friends and special interest groups with a million or two here and there, I'm just concerned about the waste in gargantuan proportions. I watched a special a few months ago about the space program and how it's evolved over the years and they were tossing around the term "Trillions" rather loosely! :eek:
 
Last edited:
As I've seen these threads sidestep rather quickly into 'political' territory, I thought I'd just post a quick reminder that politics are not allowed on the forum.

Going forward, I'd like to remind you to please keep political comments under your hat! :smile:

Andrew
assistant moderator
 
My thoughts are that it is a loss to America. Many of the most brilliant minds in the world worked for NASA and developed technologies that we use in our everyday lives. Special stronger, lighter materials all in the name of space travel have transformed the way we live today. Same goes for Oil & Gas and the Military.

Just my $.02
 
I'm a certifiable space nut - while other kids had pictures of sports heros, I had autographs from Story Musgrave and other Shuttle astronauts on my walls, mission patches, and other stuff (all of which was 'lost' when my family moved off of the farm a bazillion years ago).

While the Shuttle program was great, I'm excited to see that NASA is going in new directions. They are still sending astronauts to the space station via Soyuz capsules, and civilian firms are developing low earth orbit crafts for recreational space tourism...

Nasa isn't shutting it's doors - it's adapting to a new world! Outsourcing astronaut transportation to and from the ISS will hopefully allow NASA to begin focus on other Endeavours. (dorky pun intended).
 
maxwell_smart007 said:
I'm a certifiable space nut - while other kids had pictures of sports heros, I had autographs from Story Musgrave and other Shuttle astronauts on my walls, mission patches, and other stuff (all of which was 'lost' when my family moved off of the farm a bazillion years ago).

While the Shuttle program was great, I'm excited to see that NASA is going in new directions. They are still sending astronauts to the space station via Soyuz capsules, and civilian firms are developing low earth orbit crafts for recreational space tourism...

Nasa isn't shutting it's doors - it's adapting to a new world! Outsourcing astronaut transportation to and from the ISS will hopefully allow NASA to begin focus on other Endeavours. (dorky pun intended).
Click to expand...


They just announced the other day that a collection of billionaires is going to tackle mining asteroids. That should help get some traction.
 
Texatdurango said:
I guess I'm the odd duck when it comes to the space program. Sure it's amazing equipment and technology but after the first few launches, I got to thinking of how all those hundreds of billions of dollars could be better spent on other things. I'm glad it's ratcheting down, now if we can figure out ways to better spend the money before NASA figures out which black holes to start dumping the money into!
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that we need to figure out how to spend more money on anything -- we seem to be doing very well at spending more than we have now.
 
Without suggesting right, wrong or indifferent it is a fact that much of the technology that we take for granted today was spun off Space and Military.

Our GPS navigation we use in our cars now was developed for military purposes.

Satillite communications was first developed for military operations.

The research on where and how to put the satillites in the right orbit same thing.

Much of the basic reasearch that resulted in the miniaturization of electronics was carried out to solve military or space problems.

To mention just a few.




PS
 
On April 17th, the next to last Ozarks Honor Flight got an unexpected bonus. The shuttle Discovery was ferried into Dulles just a few minutes after the Veteran's plane landed. This was one of the photos.
 

Attachments

  • ky3-photos-ozarks-honor-flight-april-17-2011-2-038.jpg
    ky3-photos-ozarks-honor-flight-april-17-2011-2-038.jpg
    43.2 KB · Views: 137
Saw the shuttle land at Edwards years ago then watched it leave on the 747 awesome. Personally I don't think the space program was a waste of money, it could have be spent more wisely though. Now the City of Sacramento being asked to subsidize the Maloof Family and their rotten team that is a waste of time and money, glad we did't renew our season tickets this year or even go to a game.
 
tbroye said:
Saw the shuttle land at Edwards years ago then watched it leave on the 747 awesome. Personally I don't think the space program was a waste of money, it could have be spent more wisely though. Now the City of Sacramento being asked to subsidize the Maloof Family and their rotten team that is a waste of time and money, glad we did't renew our season tickets this year or even go to a game.
Click to expand...

I believe that cities "subsidize" sports teams for only one reason - the city thinks it is going to make more then it is going to cost. Now I have not idea whether or not they do - but that usually seems to be their thinking. It happens all over the country so there might be something to it.
 
The plane with shuttle flew around DC before landing at Dulles. I missed it but it was a big deal here. People were stopping all along the roads watching for the shuttle and when it flew by, people were actually stopping in the road to look. :eek: Can you say "traffic hazard"?

I think shuttle history is very cool.
 
My wife and I visited Kennedy Space Center in March. During the guided bus tour we were able to go inside the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building). Discovery was there being prepped for its delivery to the Smithsonian. I took this picture.



imgp0610.jpg
 
Last edited:
It is wrong that they did not award one of the space craft to Houston. Have you ever seen the Saturn 5 there? WOW !!!
 
Speaking of the Space Shuttle.....
i own a few small pieces of several shuttles. why do i mention it here, well one of the parts, they call "a horse colar blanket" would be perfect for pen turners. it looks to be a heavy woven tube of glass fabric, i think it would easilly wrap around a tube to make a sweet one of a kind space relic. but my problem is this, im a comlete novice looking to get into pen turning and have yet to even make my first purchase, so im thinking i might entertain the idea of selling off a small section or two of the shuttle ( i think this piece is from the challenger not sure ill have to go look up the paperwork) to finance my potential new hobby. it will not be inexpensive as this has actually flown in space as part of an actual space shuttle, but im thinking it cant break the bank either. so im just putting it out there, in an attempt to assess interest. so if you want a true piece of a shuttle to make a fantastic pen contact me and perhaps we can work somethnig out. ( and YES ill include a copy of the paperwork proving it is authentic)

be well,
Scott
 
Cool picture Glen.

If you can find them John Sexton has some great Black and White images of the space shuttle. I've been busy and have not had time to look. Some where on the net is a video of him talking about being on the shuttle and taking the pictures.

I agree. Houston should have got one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom