space shuttle

[tinger]

Just saw the space shuttle (on top of a 747) fly by a few times.. followed by a fighter jet..

Pretty Cool!!!

[capote]

Very cool

[azguy]

I love the space program but with the US $15 billion in debt we shouldn't be flying a space shuttle around on a victory tour

[kilyung]

Originally Posted by azguy

I love the space program but with the US $15 billion in debt we shouldn't be flying a space shuttle around on a victory tour

Enterprise is being delivered to a museum. LA gets one, Dulles gets one, NYC gets one, and KSFC in FL gets one.

[mws222]

These are some of the better pics I've seen although they were shot towards Jersey:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/27/29...k-fly-pictures

[AeroEngineer1]

Originally Posted by azguy

I love the space program but with the US $15 billion in debt we shouldn't be flying a space shuttle around on a victory tour

I wouldn't call national treasures that had years of service life left being housed in museums a frivolous victory tour.

[azguy]

Originally Posted by AeroEngineer1

I wouldn't call national treasures that had years of service life left being housed in museums a frivolous victory tour.

No offense, like I said, I love the space program or least what it was before it was gutted last year

The U.S. needs to realize they are not any different than any other American household. Spend less than what you take in or else it will catch up to you in the end...

I'm an financial advsior and economist by trade; the average joe has no idea what this debt level and cheap money will eventually do to this country.

[AeroEngineer1]

Originally Posted by azguy

No offense, like I said, I love the space program or least what it was before it was gutted last year

The U.S. needs to realize they are not any different than any other American household. Spend less than what you take in or else it will catch up to you in the end...

I'm an financial advsior and economist by trade; the average joe has no idea what this debt level and cheap money will eventually do to this country.

4/10ths of one percent of the federal budget to do all of what NASA does research wise (in addition to manned space flight) is not at all a waste of money. Nor does cutting the manned space program create any reasonable "dent" in our nation's debt level. I propose other cuts that could impart a meaningful change rather than axing scientific research endeavors. That's just me though.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by azguy

I love the space program but with the US $15 billion in debt we shouldn't be flying a space shuttle around on a victory tour

Isn't that $15 trillion, or $15.000 billions?

[Demosthene]

Definitely 15 Trillion!
http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/

[SennaFan]

Originally Posted by AeroEngineer1

I wouldn't call national treasures that had years of service life left being housed in museums a frivolous victory tour.

I agree....it is a Funeral for American Pride

[Wacker23]

I waited since i was 12 years old to see something like that(im 40) but when i saw that i felt said that this superpower had to end our space program.

[joeychitwood]

Give 'em hell, Story! Speaking out about the lack of a space program in the USA, atronaut Story Musgrave, now 76 years old, spoke against NASA's lack of future plans.

“The whole thing is chaos and a cop out. The whole thing is a Washington failure!"

Musgrave was a NASA astronaut for over 30 years and was a crew member on six shuttle missions. He performed the first shuttle spacewalk on Challenger’s first flight, was a pilot on an astronomy mission, was the lead spacewalker on the Hubble repair mission and on his last flight he operated an electronic chip manufacturing satellite on Columbia. He has seven graduate degrees in math, computers, chemistry, medicine, physiology, literature and psychology. He has been awarded 20 honorary doctorates and was a part-time trauma surgeon during his 30 year astronaut career.

Musgrave feels the space agency has no true goals or focus today...."We’re not going anywhere… there is no where, there is no what, and there is no when...There is no Mars program, none. There is also no Moon program. There is no asteroid program...Why are we so poor in our vision and so poor in our project management that we come to a point where it’s reasonable to phase out the current program and we have no idea what the next one is?”