Shuttle flights down to final five

Shuttle flights down to final five

www.msnbc.msn.com

After 29 years of space shuttle flights, NASA plans to wrap up the program with five missions to complete construction of the International Space Station and retire the fleet before the end of 2010.

"It's a big growth year ... the last major growth spurt for the International Space Station," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy manager for the station program.

The first shuttle mission of the year, scheduled for launch in February

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So for the last thirty years or so, we have seen the space shuttle do its thing, and now it is coming to an end. I remember seeing the shuttle come of age when I was in school. It was exciting to see it happen. But now it is ending. The last missions will be to finish construction of the space station, and deliver necessary parts to keep it operating. The article did not talk about what will be replacing the shuttle. I know there is a replacement in the works. I expect it should be equally as exciting to see what will happen with it.

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

That's a little sad that there's no replacement flying, and no one seems to care. I think public space flight is dead. The media doesn't seem to really care; the public is disinterested. Until NASA trumps the last event that really engaged the public (the Mars rover landings), they ain't gonna get any prime-time coverage.

Call me when they're going to land a person on another planet. With live video. After all, if the public isn't excited by it, it can't possibly be good science.

reply to post by Ian McLean


Ian
Thanks for your post. It was looking like no one else was caring about this. I would rather see the replacement flying also. Public space flight may not be were the science fiction writers had put it, but that capability is at least there. Also right that the public has fueled the program. I like what the rovers have done, to bad they don't publish more photos of that.

I honistly don't think they don't have an Idea of what they are doing. I mean why would they build all of that just to leave it? There is more to the story that they are not releasing yet. Perhaps it has something to do with Obamas meeting with the head of NASA earlier this month. Perhaps its a technology overhaul. IDK we shall see!

Wow, down the last five eh? I guess they had a great run. I wonder about what will replace them. Will NASA continue to rely on rockets or will they look into magnetic propulsion? We can only wait and wonder and how NASA will take us into space in the next 30 years.