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Author
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Topic: Griffin says space shuttle was a mistake
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 12-09-2006 08:42 AM
   
From John Schwartz for The New York Times: quote:
NASA’s administrator, Michael D. Griffin, says the current period of space exploration will come to be seen as a mistake.“Viewed from the point of history several decades out,” he said in an interview, “the period where the United States retreated from the Moon and quite deliberately focused only on low Earth orbit will be seen, to me, a mistake.” Mr. Griffin has made similar comments before, notably a year ago in an interview with USA Today. This time, his remarks came as he waited for Thursday’s down-to-the-wire effort to launch the shuttle on a 12-day mission to rewire the International Space Station. The liftoff was scrubbed at the last minute because of weather concerns.
Continue reading NASA Official Questions Agency’s Focus on the Shuttle |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 12-09-2006 10:49 AM
Right or wrong, the space shuttle is a great vehicle and better management ( & less commercial pressure ) probably could have avoided both accidents. Whatever, in the early 21st century NASA is back where it was about 30 years ago...
The Moon, Mars & beyond initiative surely gave NASA a goal so I guess they should focus on aerobraking/landing a 30 metric ton vehicle on the red planet Mars  |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 12-10-2006 01:49 PM
I think it's wrong to consider the shuttle a mistake - one has to look at the considerations at the time the US went to the moon and at the time the decision was made to go with Shuttle. I daresay without a strong national backing or a political reason such as was behind the Apollo program, going with Shuttle was better than having no space program whatsoever.The only mistake is in the Shuttle's mission - that of launching commercial satellites on the vehicle. Once you put such a cargo on Shuttle, a manned vehicle, your mission changes not from launching enough satellites to recoup costs, but from getting the crew back from orbit safely. And that priority overrides (or should override) all economic considerations. | |
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