Thirty years ago today. Do you remember?

[JohnTheTexican]

I hated the way they played it over and over on TV. Like it wasn't burned into my brain the first time I saw it.

Oh... Never mind... I thought this thread was going to be about Joe Theismann broken leg.

 

[nemesis]

I wasn't born yet.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

You are correct that the general public lost interest because Shuttle Launches became routine and Low Earth Orbit was NOT getting the attention of earlier Moon Shots. The Cordless Drill as simple as it is was developed to travel to the moon to drill for soil samples...Now everybody owns one or two of them.

The deals were signed with private companies to supply Space Station so now tax dollars are funding private exploration companies instead of a Federal Government program. NASA is still working on heavy lift launch vehicles, but watch for the launch of the new Orion MPCV...Multi purpose crew vehicle.

The Engineers of the '60's-'70's built the most complex sophisticated machine ever...its mind boggling when you see all the sub-systems it takes to operate a vehicle capable of space travel built by the lowest bidder...they did it without computers...

I worked on the Orion program here at Lockheed in the Denver area from 2007 till I got laid off in a "reduction of force" in 2013. I was heavily involved in nearly every single Orion wind tunnel test that occurred during that time. There were only 2 or 3 that I didn't have my hands in, because I was busy with others. Since, I've worked on 2 of the 3 Commercial Crew vehicles, so you could say I've been pretty heavily involved in the next "step" of US manned space travel.

Having said that, I'm not entirely sure I think we're headed in the right direction. IMO, there is NO such thing as "commercial" space... Every "commercial" space company is funded, to some degree, by our tax dollars. No different than it's always been, just a different way of dressing it up. Instead of doing a single program the right way (i.e. fully funded), the money is being spread thin over multiple programs, hurting all of them, and delaying everything. Orion should have been flying manned missions no later than last year, but without proper funding, the program has been delayed time and time again. Instead, we're also paying whatever the Russians ask in order to send our astronauts up to the ISS instead of putting that money into our space program(s). I'm going to get political if I go any further, so I'll stop there.

 

[littlehoot]

I worked on the Orion program here at Lockheed in the Denver area from 2007 till I got laid off in a "reduction of force" in 2013. I was heavily involved in nearly every single Orion wind tunnel test that occurred during that time. There were only 2 or 3 that I didn't have my hands in, because I was busy with others. Since, I've worked on 2 of the 3 Commercial Crew vehicles, so you could say I've been pretty heavily involved in the next "step" of US manned space travel.

Having said that, I'm not entirely sure I think we're headed in the right direction. IMO, there is NO such thing as "commercial" space... Every "commercial" space company is funded, to some degree, by our tax dollars. No different than it's always been, just a different way of dressing it up. Instead of doing a single program the right way (i.e. fully funded), the money is being spread thin over multiple programs, hurting all of them, and delaying everything. Orion should have been flying manned missions no later than last year, but without proper funding, the program has been delayed time and time again. Instead, we're also paying whatever the Russians ask in order to send our astronauts up to the ISS instead of putting that money into our space program(s). I'm going to get political if I go any further, so I'll stop there.

Yep, as I said, the space program is big here, it's a difficult line to walk on the forum to not get too political

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Yep, as I said, the space program is big here, it's a difficult line to walk on the forum to not get too political

Oh I know. Been to Huntsville a few times. Have spent a LOT of time just North of there at AEDC too. What isn't tied to politics these days?

 

[Busto]

I worked on the Orion program here at Lockheed in the Denver area from 2007 till I got laid off in a "reduction of force" in 2013. I was heavily involved in nearly every single Orion wind tunnel test that occurred during that time. There were only 2 or 3 that I didn't have my hands in, because I was busy with others. Since, I've worked on 2 of the 3 Commercial Crew vehicles, so you could say I've been pretty heavily involved in the next "step" of US manned space travel.

Having said that, I'm not entirely sure I think we're headed in the right direction. IMO, there is NO such thing as "commercial" space... Every "commercial" space company is funded, to some degree, by our tax dollars. No different than it's always been, just a different way of dressing it up. Instead of doing a single program the right way (i.e. fully funded), the money is being spread thin over multiple programs, hurting all of them, and delaying everything. Orion should have been flying manned missions no later than last year, but without proper funding, the program has been delayed time and time again. Instead, we're also paying whatever the Russians ask in order to send our astronauts up to the ISS instead of putting that money into our space program(s). I'm going to get political if I go any further, so I'll stop there.

The Orion project was sold on the premise of replacing the Orbiters as a way to explore beyond LEO... The claim was the Shuttles were OLD need to be retired. The POTUS at the time GDUBYA was looking to push for bigger NASA budget. The new POTUS BHO Appointed Charlie Bolden (A man with no balls) who went along with every cost cutting idea BHO came up with for all space flight programs most notably Orion which as you have seen was shelved. All the NASA centers were hit hard with "RIF's" you felt that as trickle down to the Contractor level...We lost a lot of great young talent... Hope it Picks up for you Brother!!