Look What Came by My Office Today!

[pdlandgang]

End of an Era

 

[Kevin D.]

Cool!

 

[Sean7a]

So cool!  Wish I'd have the opportunity to see it myself.

At first glance I thought this was the thread with the lil baby turtle wandering into the shop.  Imagine my surprise when I opened it adn saw this.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Very cool sight. When I was a kid I saw that combo on some airshow here in Europe.

A shame they put them out of commission. Strange idea, America not doing (real) space travel anymore.

 

[GPowers]

Very cool sight. When I was a kid I saw that combo on some airshow here in Europe.

A shame they put them out of commission. Strange idea, America not doing (real) space travel anymore.

Very short sighted on our (USA) part. The space program was responsible for the development of battery operated tools. Where would we all be with out battery operated tools??

 

[andvari]

Complacency I'm afraid. What we need is for the Chinese to make a manned moon landing. That will shake things up, much like Sputnik did.

 

[Steve R]

Very cool sight. When I was a kid I saw that combo on some airshow here in Europe.

A shame they put them out of commission. Strange idea, America not doing (real) space travel anymore.

I'm with you.... but no new taxes is the chant by people that want to take us back to the 12 century...

Cheers,
Steve

 

[pdlandgang]

I work near the landing path for Dulles Airport.  I caught some video of the actual landing.  They did a few flyby's before the actual landing took place.  It was quite the scene around here.  Fire personnel, helicopters, helicopters with snipers and snipers were all over.

I can remember in 6th grade when they wheeled in the TV to watch the first shuttle take off and then land.  Today got to see the final "mission" land in person.

 

[EWTHeckman]

I'm with you.... but no new taxes is the chant by people that want to take us back to the 12 century...

I have a rather mixed opinion on this. On the one hand, it was stupid and short-sighted to end the shuttle flights without a viable replacement ready.

On the other hand, doing so has opened the door for private companies to pick up the torch. There are a number of them demonstrating amazing capabilities.

As for the taxes, I disagree with Steve's take, but I'll leave it at that to try to avoid conflict.

 

[Kevin D.]

Are they not working on a manned Mars mission for a decade or so down the road. Far more daunting than the Chinese going for their. Turn on the moon using what is likely stolen technology.

 

[DKurzweil]

In response to several comments, here is a very interesting video.  I am not the biggest fan of Neil Degrasse Tyson, but he does get the point across in this video.

We stopped dreaming by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Hope you enjoy,

Daniel

 

[andvari]

Are they not working on a manned Mars mission for a decade or so down the road. Far more daunting than the Chinese going for their. Turn on the moon using what is likely stolen technology.

Lest we forget America's missile technology started from German scientists captured at the end of WWII.

 

[Kev]

Complacency I'm afraid. What we need is for the Chinese to make a manned moon landing. That will shake things up, much like Sputnik did.

Expect the Chinese to colonise Mars ... there's a country with long sighted goals.

Western world government tenure and investor driven corporate behaviour have to deal with a voter and investor mentality that always demands results in the shortest possible time.

I'm not making a political statement here ... just observing ... if the will of the common people isn't important and the goals do not have to satisfy short term benefits "amazing" things could be achieved. Just look at many of the darker pieces of history!

My hope is that the "rocket program" is fundamentally seen as a limited technology and that the US (yeh, and a few other friendlies) are secretly looking into far more advanced propulsion technologies that will herald a new era of space exploration.

I'm not expecting WARP drive any time soon, but I do think we can go beyond an oversized firework to get away from the gravity of good old earth!

I do like the idea of harvesting "stuff in space" ... but to also do the processing out there - probably unmanned. Get the factories off the planet and let it become a little more hospitable to life!

 

[Kevin D.]

Are they not working on a manned Mars mission for a decade or so down the road. Far more daunting than the Chinese going for their. Turn on the moon using what is likely stolen technology.

Lest we forget America's missile technology started from German scientists captured at the end of WWII.

Yes, but they weren't forced to work for the US.  They actually consciously chose to surrender to the Americans rather than the Russians, then again, who wouldn't.  It is still not the same as stealing technology as the Chinese do imo.

 

[andvari]

Are they not working on a manned Mars mission for a decade or so down the road. Far more daunting than the Chinese going for their. Turn on the moon using what is likely stolen technology.

Lest we forget America's missile technology started from German scientists captured at the end of WWII.

Yes, but they weren't forced to work for the US.  They actually consciously chose to surrender to the Americans rather than the Russians, then again, who wouldn't.  It is still not the same as stealing technology as the Chinese do imo.

Everyone steals technology. Heck the US got started in manufacturing by stealing British technology just after the war of 1812.

 

[Steve R]

Sounds like we all should be wearing our tinfoil hats.... [eek]

Cheers,
Steve

 

[AlexThePalex]

Are they not working on a manned Mars mission for a decade or so down the road. Far more daunting than the Chinese going for their. Turn on the moon using what is likely stolen technology.

Lest we forget America's missile technology started from German scientists captured at the end of WWII.

Yes, but they weren't forced to work for the US.  They actually consciously chose to surrender to the Americans rather than the Russians, then again, who wouldn't.  It is still not the same as stealing technology as the Chinese do imo.

Yeah I'm sure they were thrilled to work for the enemy. It's more like they'd do anything at that point to escape death.

 

[jmarkflesher]

I'm not going to look up his name but the German who ran the USA space program was asked: How was Germany so far ahead the USA in this field? His answer was, we had help. If you're interested in what kind of help , look it up.

 

[Kev]

I'm not going to look up his name but the German who ran the USA space program was asked: How was Germany so far ahead the USA in this field? His answer was, we had help. If you're interested in what kind of help , look it up.

Werner Von Braun, the Nazis and the Aliens?

 

[jmarkflesher]

The swastika is anonymous with Adolf Hitler but in reality it is traced back to the Hoppie Indians. Yes the ones with carbon dated drawings in there caves of fighting spacecraft. Also USA astronauts have reported encounters while in space.  [eek]