34 years ago

[f6john]

Worth remembering. 7 astronauts died on the space shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986. I hope our new Space Force provides our young people with a vast array of opportunities in the future. The shuttle program has not been matched by any other country on the planet.

[carolinarider09]

I remember that day well,  I was working a late shift and when I got up the first thing my wife said to me was "It blew up". 

I had to ask what she was talking about and then she told me. 

I remember the news reporter on the previous day (I always remember it as Tom Brokaw, but can't confirm that), saying something like "foulups, bleeps, and blunders" regarding the scrubbed launch.  I believe this negative type reporting lead NASA to push the launch even though the requirements for launch, on January 28th, were not within the desired range. 

And just think of all the money that as been watesed on social programs while technology associated with space travel has been stagnant. 

We still use the Russians to get our people to the space station.  Who would have predicted that in the 80's

Space is the final frontier.  There are so many things we have yet to accomplish. 

[Jess from VA]

I also remember that day.

I had been sent TDY to Rhein Main AB for something or other.

Morning after the flight, I woke up in my Q room and made some crummy coffee and was drinking it sitting in my underwear.

Flipped on the TV, and watched it live, launch and blow up.  

WTF?    

[hubcapsc]

I was standing in line at the highway department. They were even meaner
then than they are now... but that day they let me come behind the
counter to look at what was happening...

-Mike

[John Schmidt]

I was at work in Florida and the 3rd floor of our bldg. faced east so every time there was a launch of any kind we all gathered in a little alcove at the end of the hall to watch. Our location was no more than 50 miles west in a direct line from the launch pads so we always got a good view, especially since we were above the trees as well. We watched the lift-off and were all excited, chatting with each other about it when suddenly we saw the explosion, I was using some 50x field glasses at the time. I suddenly felt sick in my gut, the talking stopped, some women were sobbing....very traumatic to watch. As the boosters arced out over the ocean we all just silently turned and returned to our desks. It was a sight and a feeling I'll never forget.

The same thing applies to the capsule the astronauts died in. That was during a time I was a company rep and the Cape had numerous pieces of our microfilm equipment...both developing and reading equipment. One day shortly after the disaster, I was asked if I'd like to see the results of the fire. A supervisor took me to an isolated area where it was located and a guy in white overalls gave me a light and allowed me to look inside. A horrible scene and odor met me, plus I'm so claustrophobic they couldn't have got me in that thing in the first place. Imagine those three suddenly met with an intense oxygen fed fire they couldn't extinguish or escape from....they died of smoke inhalation per the "official" diagnosis. Supposedly rather quickly which I'm assuming was to make their families feel better, thinking they didn't suffer. I guess I'm not cut out to be a hero, especially if it involves climbing to great heights or being in tight places. Watching some of the testing and training the astronauts went through, you can count me out. 

[Jess from VA]

Harkening back to The Right Stuff, when Chuck Yeager told those young pilots getting in line to be astronauts, they were going to be nothing more than canned spam (and certainly not pilots), he was not far off.

Count me out too.  

I'm not a big guy, and I absolutely hate the small torture seats in airline coach (beyond very short flights).

And if you're at the counter and ask they not put you next to any big fat person, they laugh (and sure enough they put you next to a big fat person).  Hey man, your fat is in my space.  

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

I remember it quite well. I was 12 at the time and we watched it at school. Christa McAuliffe had grown up in Framingham, MA, 2 towns over from me, so it was a big deal here. They wheeled in the AV cart and somehow got the signal through the old brick and concrete school building. I know the school wanted to make an impression on us that day. They did, but it certainly wasn't in the manner they expected. 

[J.Mencalice]

It makes sense, both logistically and economically, to continue to send up robotic spacecraft with instrumentation and powerful telescopes to explore the planets and universe.  Sending human beings is too costly when the tens of trillions could be spent to make better lives for billions of people on our own planet.  
This telescope garnered far more information about our existence in the void than any of the manned missions that would have replaced it to gather such data.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/spitzer-space-telescope-ends-operations-after-scanning-cosmos-180974089/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200131-daily-responsive&spMailingID=41678231&spUserID=MTAwNjk0NDYwMTg0NgS2&spJobID=1700009841&spReportId=MTcwMDAwOTg0MQS2

As a species, we don't need to realize any more than we are just star dust in the cosmic wind and our time is less than a nanosecond in eternity; this should keep us in pursuit of nurturing and cherishing what we have here on the tiny blue marble.

[old2soon]

        Can NOT fer the life of me Recollect What town I was loading in in Tn. but it was at a freezer warehouse. Anyway I had my portable 12" screen black and white TV plugged in and had already been watchin the runup to launch live. I remember the lift off and then that horrifying explosion. THAT little fiasco wuz a kick The U S of A did NOT need nor desire. 7 Good People gone in an instant.  And as Former Military all I could think of at the moment wuz-careers and heads Are gonna Roll. Kept seeing replays of the explosion on prime time fer bout 2 weeks after. Once was enough thank you very much. RIDE SAFE.

[carolinarider09]

It makes sense, both logistically and economically, to continue to send up robotic spacecraft with instrumentation and powerful telescopes to explore the planets and universe.  Sending human beings is too costly when the tens of trillions could be spent to make better lives for billions of people on our own planet.  
This telescope garnered far more information about our existence in the void than any of the manned missions that would have replaced it to gather such data.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/spitzer-space-telescope-ends-operations-after-scanning-cosmos-180974089/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200131-daily-responsive&spMailingID=41678231&spUserID=MTAwNjk0NDYwMTg0NgS2&spJobID=1700009841&spReportId=MTcwMDAwOTg0MQS2

As a species, we don't need to realize any more than we are just star dust in the cosmic wind and our time is less than a nanosecond in eternity; this should keep us in pursuit of nurturing and cherishing what we have here on the tiny blue marble.

Yes machines can do a very good job of exploring "space" but, as with almost all things, nothing beats or matches having a human in that same environment.  Questions can be asked and answers.  Thoughts can be conceived and acted on.  Imagination can trigger questions and man's inquisitive nature cannot be matched by machines.

Mankind has always been an exploring species, if not by design then by existence.  The earth is a finite body.  We cannot exist here forever.  We were destined to explore, it is part of our makeup or inner psych and explore we should.

We will learn many new things.   

[Bighead]

I was on the third floor at the hospital waiting on an elevator and I stepped into a small waiting room and no one was on there and the TV was on that station. So I watched.  Took me about 20 minutes to get back to the ground floor where my boss was wondering where the hell I had been. I have told him what had happened and nothing else was said for me being missing.

[Pappy!]

I was there for it..........

[f6john]

It makes sense, both logistically and economically, to continue to send up robotic spacecraft with instrumentation and powerful telescopes to explore the planets and universe.  Sending human beings is too costly when the tens of trillions could be spent to make better lives for billions of people on our own planet.  
This telescope garnered far more information about our existence in the void than any of the manned missions that would have replaced it to gather such data.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/spitzer-space-telescope-ends-operations-after-scanning-cosmos-180974089/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200131-daily-responsive&spMailingID=41678231&spUserID=MTAwNjk0NDYwMTg0NgS2&spJobID=1700009841&spReportId=MTcwMDAwOTg0MQS2

As a species, we don't need to realize any more than we are just star dust in the cosmic wind and our time is less than a nanosecond in eternity; this should keep us in pursuit of nurturing and cherishing what we have here on the tiny blue marble.

Your right as far as it goes but we do have an international space station that just keeps growing and evolving. I’m not advocating we try a trip to the sun (pun intended) but there is much to be learned about our galaxy and beyond. Plus, space very well could be weaponized in the future and that is a threat that we need to be as prepared for as one can be.

[Moonshot_1]

Have had some thoughts on space over the years.

Space Shuttle - Technological marvel, yes, but the program was disappointing. Problem with the one size fits all design of the orbiter. That dynamic got folks killed. Crew safety, as related to the design, wasn't at the top of the list. Multiple designs with crew safety as the priority should have been the program from the start. (One design for crew transport, one design for cargo transport (minimal crew), etc.

Space travel/Manned missions- The logistics to Mars, closest logical planet, are, from a practical perspective, insurmountable. This wouldn't be a weekend trip. A minimum 6 month one way trip in a very confined space. 10 day window on Mars before the return, miss that and it is another 18 months before the window returns. A plan to go to Mars would have to have a first step at immediate colonization. Basically, you are not coming back and we will send your mail there.

What we should do in regards to space is to begin an infrastructure effort in space. An industrial complex in Earth orbit. Micro gravity and weightless industry. Ultimate Isolation labs. Even look to the Moon for low gravity industry infrastructure. Even tourism. Even healthcare possibilities.

[carolinarider09]

Moonshot:  I understand your comments but....

There are assumptions and self imposed limitations in our current policies and processes regarding space exploration. 

The first thing that is needed is a place to launch from.  Earth is not a good place.  That means either from an orbital space station or the Moon.

We will need both but the moon should be a priority.  It offers a low gravity meaning less power needed for liftoff.  Factor in nuclear power both for power plants on the moon and for propulsion.  We have the technology we just need to be able to use it.  We don't have to invent anything, the technology already exists.

Colonies on Mars should only be considered once we have the necessary presence and infrastructure in earth orbit and on the Moon.  It has the same limitations as Earth, gravity.  Putting a colony there will be costly and not beneficial to what needs to be done first.

What we, the US and Earthlings lack is the "desire".  Today its all about making things better here on earth.  The term better is a misnomer.  Things are pretty good, if you look back in history.

But the earth is a limited resource and as our population grows we will soon find there are limitations we don't want to really consider, "population control" comes to mind.

All the things we need to do can be done, today, tomorrow, not decades from now. 

What was it, nine years from when Kennedy started the space race until man first set foot on the moon.  And then we "retreated". 

Remember today, if you want to get a someone into space you have to pay the Russians.  Consider that for a moment, we beat the Russians to the moon and now we have to pay them to get an Astronaut to low earth orbit 

We have what we need, what we lack is the desire.  And yes, space will be weaponized sooner or later.  I'd much rather we had the weapons and not China or Russia. 

[Bighead]

Lay the pipe down and back away from the keyboard.

[Jess from VA]

I'm afraid I view space (mundanely) as another (very expensive) government spending program. 

Better than some in goals, but beyond providing immediate benefits (to the US) in things like communication, weather, mapping, GPS, surveillance, intelligence, and national defense, it's way too expensive to justify long-term generic exploration and scientific study.

If we could ever reduce our exploding budget, and fix our existing myriad of other domestic problems (like rebuilding infrastructure just for one), and say turn a budget surplus for ten straight years and build an actual savings account, then maybe we could talk about generic exploration and scientific study.  Realistically, that could take about 300 years as things stand now .

I have watched some amazing documentaries on the discoveries from deep space probes which are truly fascinating.  But it does not seem to pass any kind of cost-benefit analysis.   

[hubcapsc]

What was it, nine years from when Kennedy started the space race until man first set foot on the moon.  And then we "retreated".

We weren't doing it for money then... the monetization of space is beginning to roll now...

-Mike

[ridingron]

If we could ever reduce our exploding budget, and fix our existing myriad of other domestic problems .....   

I don't think the exploding budget will ever be reduced until the government realizes the "Great Society" experiment was a failure 50 years ago. California is living proof in todays world.