John Glenn has gone
Discussion
Eric Mc said:
Don't you count the International Space Station as a spacecraft? It's the largest and most sophisticated space vehicle put into space so far. Within its confines we are learning how to go about living and working in space for months and even years at a time. All this is basic knowledge which will serve us well when we start moving out.
The means of getting to the space station is almost irrelevant. Hopefully, within two years there will be a choice of at least three ferry craft to get to the Space Station - or any other stations that may follow.
'A ship in a harbour is safe. But that is not what ships are built for'.The means of getting to the space station is almost irrelevant. Hopefully, within two years there will be a choice of at least three ferry craft to get to the Space Station - or any other stations that may follow.
Eric Mc said:
Look on it as a learning aid.
Best to learn to sail in the harbour first before you venture out on the high seas.
But if we took that advice we'd have been stuck in Earth orbit from 1961 to the present day. Either you want to get out into space or you want to sit in a tin can admiring the earth. I agree Apollo was exceptional but let's face it, we should have and could have been on Mars a long time ago.Best to learn to sail in the harbour first before you venture out on the high seas.
My allegory was slightly inaccuate - there are no ships, only buoys.
History has a habit of being illogical. If it hadn't been for the pressures of the Cold War, we mightn't be in space yet. But we are and we need to make the best of the current situation.
As I said, Apollo was an anomaly, it wasn't the beginning of a set path of gradual and continual progress - much as many of us would had wished.
It was a political project and died when the politics changed.
However, the legacy of Apollo and all the other space projects of the mad rush of the 1960s is that it provided a bedrock of knowledge and a massive supportive infrastructure - much of which is still in place and in use in modified forms.
I AM optimistic because I can sense that the mood now is for moving out into the Solar System. Whether this moving out will be government run or privately run is unclear and most likely irrelevant. It will happen - and not too far in the future either.
As I said, Apollo was an anomaly, it wasn't the beginning of a set path of gradual and continual progress - much as many of us would had wished.
It was a political project and died when the politics changed.
However, the legacy of Apollo and all the other space projects of the mad rush of the 1960s is that it provided a bedrock of knowledge and a massive supportive infrastructure - much of which is still in place and in use in modified forms.
I AM optimistic because I can sense that the mood now is for moving out into the Solar System. Whether this moving out will be government run or privately run is unclear and most likely irrelevant. It will happen - and not too far in the future either.
Nice tribute from the astronauts currently on board the ISS -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_wDJMKSFgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_wDJMKSFgY
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c51dc96eaf8f43b98bb...
"Final funeral rites for astronaut John Glenn will take place Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery.
His family and invited guests, including astronauts and dignitaries, will say goodbye to the first American to orbit Earth at a small private service at the Old Post Chapel beginning at 9 a.m.
The U.S. Marine Corps will begin a live stream at 9:40 a.m. that will include a processional to the graveside by caisson, a flyover, a graveside service and taps. Streaming video also will be available on NASA TV .
There was a public outpouring for the former fighter pilot, history-making astronaut and longtime Democratic U.S. senator from small-town Ohio after he died on Dec. 8 at age 95.
Thousands of mourners visited his flag-draped casket as it lay in repose at the Ohio Statehouse for a longer period than assassinated President Abraham Lincoln and others in history."
"Final funeral rites for astronaut John Glenn will take place Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery.
His family and invited guests, including astronauts and dignitaries, will say goodbye to the first American to orbit Earth at a small private service at the Old Post Chapel beginning at 9 a.m.
The U.S. Marine Corps will begin a live stream at 9:40 a.m. that will include a processional to the graveside by caisson, a flyover, a graveside service and taps. Streaming video also will be available on NASA TV .
There was a public outpouring for the former fighter pilot, history-making astronaut and longtime Democratic U.S. senator from small-town Ohio after he died on Dec. 8 at age 95.
Thousands of mourners visited his flag-draped casket as it lay in repose at the Ohio Statehouse for a longer period than assassinated President Abraham Lincoln and others in history."
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