h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i was reading your personal and it has intrigued me what is space activism ?


the owl

i was still wondering what it is

andy

It could mean

Gentlebeings, I apologize! My life in the RW has been STRESSFUL lately, so I have only been visiting H2G2 (and particularly my own space) infrequently. When pondering new sources of income, it just seemed a low priority.

WARNING!

Space Activism -- hmmm -- it's about trying to educate a disinterested public what their NASA/big aerospace dollars are going for, and with an aim to pressuring my government to have more than a cursory interest and meager financial investment in space development. An easy task, somewhat like rolling a mass the size of Mars uphill. It was all supposed to help make the people of this planet "a spacefaring race".

I have become somewhat disillusioned of late, and am beginning to think (after 20 years!) that manned space ain't gonna happen. The Hubble is a marvel, the robotic craft are very effective. But, manned efforts? PUHleese! Some people are arguing that Space Tourism is the answer, that it will provide the bootstraps to haul ourselves (the provate sector) into orbit. Trouble is, the kind of bucks it takes are beyond more and more of us every day.

I'm beginning to believe that the International Space Station is doomed in the near future to become a military installation, since the US Air Force Space Command has a bigger budget than NASA, and a lot of flyboys being trained to work in space. In other words, ESA and Japanspace and the Australians and the Canadians may be ripped off by my country (so too the Russians, if they can't afford to stay the course). After all the fingerpointing at the Russians when their power module was late, then MY country bails on their promise of supplying the Crew Return Vehicle. Without a CRV, only three people can remain onboard at a time (all that the emergency Soyuz capsule can hold). It takes 2.5 people just to do the maintenance. That leaves .5 crewmembers to do any science experiments. Since the Americans and Russians are the only game in town to get up there, that leaves (maybe) one seat for european/japanese/whoever else personnel to fly and get their money's worth.

Serve the USA right if the "slow but steady wins the race" Chinese take it away from them, while they're busy ignoring space and hoping everyone will forget about all the bucks they've poured into a space station they'll never have a chance to use.

As I said, -- not that I'm getting bitter or anything.


SC

thanks for clearing that up space cadette
finally!!


andy

What actually was the point to the International Space Station other than governments blowing cash into building a project with their neigbours!!!

ISS was supposed to be a grand space station the size of several football fields. It was supposed to be used for projects both military and civilian that would benifit all of mankind.

Right now alls it is, is a small space station about the size of MIR that is used for, well, not much, because as was pointed most of the time was spent keeping it together.

It's a shame, really.

What we need is a cheaper, safer and more efficient way of getting cargo and people in orbit that the typical "Roman Candle" apporach.

Well we now soon know wether the escape pods work!!!

*Day after the Columbria incident*

The escape pods DO work! They're Soyuz capsules, manufactured in Russia.

SC

Well is the whole point of escape pods is to not use them!!!

Escape pods at Mach18????? At 40 miles up??? It would have been quicker, anyway!

The vehicle was already becoming attitude unstable by the time they must have realized they were in trouble (according to the timeline I followed on the BBC article from about 4 days ago) and the pods were never made to deploy from that high up. They were rather designed for use much lower in the atmosphere, during the liftoff phase, BEFORE the speed becomes so great.

As of today, Feb. 10, they had determined that the wing fragment NASA found WAS the left one. They also believe that they have useable (downloadable/reconstructible) computer parts in fairly good shape, I am assuming from the remains of the cockpit/cabin. They also are beginning to theorize that it could have been a chunk of "wastewater" ice which did not break off in space as it was supposed to, which broke loose and hit the leading edge of the left wing. If so, they'll never be able to prove if for sure.

The "ice" problem has been of long standing; if you remember about 1984 or so, they had to knock a big chunk of it off with the arm, and the press had a field day with that.

SC

Were all the celebs sleeping that day, or what?

Sorry to be so late replying, just got back on after my own private little Rupert.

Media wouldn't need much encouraging unfortunately -- potty humor is always a draw. Anyway, now they think that the wing was damaged by the chunk of ice on liftoff; Columbia spent an estimated 2 years of her life out in the elements getting rained on, etc.

SC

You'd imagine they'd have had taken more care of something that costs so much, both money and life wise!!!