Why Apollo Died

Some things just make me nuts. Ever wondered why you work for McDonalds instead of NASA, next to the Goodwill instead of inside Copernicus Crater on the Moon? Remember the promises of the Sixties and Star Trek? Wonder who doomed you and the human race to extinction by killer asteroids with no means of defense?

Well, here she is. And she's at it again.

Alice Rivlin wants you to be a garbage collector, not an Astronaut:

Rivlin, former White House budget director under President Clinton, and Bill Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute, both told a Brookings Institute forum on domestic policy in the second Bush term the (President's space) plans are a waste of money.

In case you don't remember, Brookings are the folks who decided that We, the People must never, ever, never be allowed to know if E.T. comes knocking.

If you ever wanted to go to space; if you ever just for a minute wanted to be Harry (He Doesn't Know How To Quit) Stamper; if you think a Human just might be able to outhink a robot when the future of Humanity hangs in the asteroidal balance, NOW IS THE TIME to email Congress and the White House and Politely Suggest That A Good Way to Reduce the Deficit Would Be to End Funding for Rivlin, Niskanen, and Brookings Studies That Undermine the National Space Strategy That We Voted For.

I'm too old to go. But you younger folks still have a chance. Raise your voice and help keep humans in the loop. The job (and planet) you save could be your own!

[edit on 30-11-2004 by Chakotay]

I always thought Apollo died because Drago broke his back in Rocky III. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

[Edited on 11/30/04 by NotTooHappy]

lol, v true NotTooHappy, im sure everyone shed a tear over that particularly moving scene. Im glad rocky pummeled him in the end, all that wagon carrying payed off.

The woman is totally ignorant, it's not just about gathering data like a damn robot could do, it is about exploration and vision, it is inspirational even now to see footage of man walking on the moon. If we stop looking outward then stagnation is the only thing that can happen, hopefully there are enough people that see past their own lives and appreciate the universe we live in.

This theory is intiguing however allow me to a bit of minor debunking work:

Apollo Creed died in Rocky IV, we can see from expert analysis of the dvd footage from the time that it was infact Mick, Rocky's coach and long term friend that died in Rocky III after a minor backstage scuffle involving Clubber Lang, aka Mr T.

Sorry, I couldnt resist that one.

Originally posted by NotTooHappy
I always thought Apollo died because Drago broke his back in Rocky III. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

[Edited on 11/30/04 by NotTooHappy]

hahahahaha
Thats what I was thinking when I first saw this tread. hahahaha

Why does the Brookings Institute never seem to tell the President that money should be removed from the MILITARY budget? That's the biggest waster of money there is.

Wanna buy a $900.00 hammer cheap? Only $899.99!


We don't need troops because we can defeat any force anywhere in the world with Nuclear Weapons!

The American people are idiots. That's why Apollo died. We only care about the present and how stuff affects our lives now and not in the future. We won the space race, so we got bored with space. It was a sad day for America and the world when the Apollo missions were cancelled. Just think about where we would be today space-wise if the American public wasn't full of boneheads. As of right now...I don't even think we will be going to the moon anytime soon. We just don't have the minds that we had in the sixties...so the death of the Apollo program was a real blow in NASA's side.

Originally posted by Chieftian Chaos
The American people are idiots. That's why Apollo died. We only care about the present and how stuff affects our lives now and not in the future. We won the space race, so we got bored with space. It was a sad day for America and the world when the Apollo missions were cancelled. Just think about where we would be today space-wise if the American public wasn't full of boneheads. As of right now...I don't even think we will be going to the moon anytime soon. We just don't have the minds that we had in the sixties...so the death of the Apollo program was a real blow in NASA's side.

And what exactly do we gain by going back to the moon or by keeping Apollo going? Not all of us are from the church of whats happening now. Boneheads? Seems to be a bit of our planet that we should be exploring instead of loading a rocket full of fuel so a Senator or two can take a joy ride to make sure we spend our money right with NASA.

Not to worry though. Burt Rutan just embarrased NASA and I am willing to bet they will be close partners soon.

Wow he called me a bonehead.

Bite my rear Chief ImPostinJustToBeRudeYetLookFoolishWithSUCHDRIVEL

Originally posted by Chieftian Chaos
The American people are idiots. That's why Apollo died. We only care about the present and how stuff affects our lives now and not in the future. We won the space race, so we got bored with space. It was a sad day for America and the world when the Apollo missions were cancelled. Just think about where we would be today space-wise if the American public wasn't full of boneheads. As of right now...I don't even think we will be going to the moon anytime soon. We just don't have the minds that we had in the sixties...so the death of the Apollo program was a real blow in NASA's side.

It cost over 2 billion per launch, thats why apollo was shut down, Today the shuttle runs at around 550 million per launch. It was called the SPACE RACE for a reason, because it had a finish line (the moon).

"America got bored with space" ummm...No Nasa doesn't get over 15 billion per year because the american public are bored with it.

Humans have had a constant presence in space for over 4 years. The ISS is the hole we are currently in, but with Bush's space plan we will be done building that by 2010, and then put the majority of the money on fovusing on going back to the moon, for good. The public has always wanted to go to space, and thought back in the sixties that by the year 2000 that anyone could go, The shuttle and the ISS killed that dream, Nasa now relizes that so they are trying to re-kindle the space exploration flame. But the public got tired of waiting for Nasa. So now space will soon be possible for the average man, well at least the average man with deep pockets. By 2008 you can pay around $200,000 for a sub-orbital space trip, it wont be a long trip but you can see the black emptyness of space and see the curvature of the earth and get around 7 minutes of weightlessness. The private space sector is at a turning point, where with in the next couple decades Nasa's budget will be far less because there are several ways to make a buck in space, but the first one to be tapped into is tourism, first in sub-orbit hops, next in a Low Earth Orbit hotel, and the next step will be on the moon, but dont expect that last step for another 35 years.

We need manned heavy-lift to build the stuff to prevent this. Click on the red text to open links to the explanatory info.

I like Chuck Stevenson's location-thing:
"Humans ... remember them? ... Hahahahahaha"

Those are the odds, people. Ignoring them or joking about them won't alter the future. Facing the challenges of space will. Our ancestors did not shrink from the challenge of the sea. We must not shrink from the challenge of space. Send the emails. When Chuck and I agree, you gotta pay attention. Gotta stop them space rocks.

Murcielago, I know you understand the economies of scale and Tsiolkovsky's staging principle. Eugen Sanger was wrong in the 40's and he is still wrong today. The laws of physics and economics dictated disposable multistage rockets with a pencil-profile in 1968 and until we build some kind of a maglev/gas-gun/pneumatic/mass-driver facility we are going to have to use Energia or Boeing - style rockets for serious heavy lift today.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Look up on any dark night; what you will see is destiny.

[edit on 2-12-2004 by Chakotay]

To stop or deflect or destroy the specific asteroid or comet that is heading our way we will need a couple of decades, The first thing other then where is it is what is it made of, because that determines what means we will use to make it not hit the earth.

As for heavy lifters...Boeing is making a heavy lifter and will launch late 04 or early 05, its called the Delta IV Heavy, Lockheed also is making there version called Atlas 5 Heavy. So we have heavy lifters. Nasa along with other countries such as Europe, are learning more and more about asteroids and comets, that way if the threat of one comes up we will know how to deal with it more clearly. There aren't any asteroids heading to earth that we know of, so calm down.

Originally posted by Murcielago
As for heavy lifters...Boeing is making a heavy lifter and will launch late 04 or early 05, its called the Delta IV Heavy, Lockheed also is making there version called Atlas 5 Heavy.

There aren't any asteroids heading to earth that we know of, so calm down.

Mercielago, you know the history of these so-called 'heavies'. Atlas could barely lift John Glenn during Project Mercury, let alone a CEV. We need a new superbooster like Saturn-V or Nova.

And you know that you would never hear about impactors unless you held clearance. Remember hearing about the one that skipped off the atmosphere, after it had already happened?

We calmed down in 1972. I still remember the day the letters came out cancelling all new astronaut training. We were in shock, the American people were for Apollo, and we did not have the Internet to understand what had happened and to communicate to prevent it. I'll calm down after I'm dead, thank you. Until then, I will continue to fight against gravity.

A bit afraid of dying are you? If so is it because of the unkown? Maybe the chance that when you get crushed by a monster space rock that the story is over? The end and welcome to absolute nothing? Just interested because of your almost panic felt posts.

you guys need to read about that one guy he got to space in his own private craft. he was on the discovery channel. does anyone know more about this guy??

Originally posted by topsecretombomb
you guys need to read about that one guy he got to space in his own private craft. he was on the discovery channel. does anyone know more about this guy??

Burt Rutan. Scaled Composits. Designs some fantastic canard wing craft, the long ez, vari ez, and the wow ya with looks Beechcraft Starship. Probably the most brilliant aeronautical engineer today. Oh and the Voyager which flew around the world nonstop without refueling while the whole way Geane Yeager and Dick Rutan were absoulty hating eachother. Fun trip huh?

Originally posted by topsecretombomb
you guys need to read about that one guy he got to space in his own private craft. he was on the discovery channel. does anyone know more about this guy??

-umm whats your point? Are do you just want everyone to become smarter?

I always thought Apollo died because Drago broke his back in Rocky III. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

No, no...

Apollo died when the Enterprise shot phasers at the temple that was his power source....

Originally posted by just_a_pilot
A bit afraid of dying are you? If so is it because of the unkown? Maybe the chance that when you get crushed by a monster space rock that the story is over? The end and welcome to absolute nothing? Just interested because of your almost panic felt posts.

A bit afraid of not passing your next biannual flight review? If so, is it because you are just a pilot, and not a CFI? Maybe the chance that when you get grounded by a designated examiner that the story is over? The end and welcome to your days as a ground dweller? Just interested, because I do hope you are one of my students who mistook my informed concern for panic.

Take this in the spirit of a precheckride joke, then make sure you can pass the oral on NEO/Cometary impact hazards.

Wallace and Gromit got to the Moon in a home made Rocketship...See the documetary DVD called A Grand Day Out.