[FPSPACE] NASA's "Mission to Nowhere"

[LARRY KLAES]

On the plus side having NASA help out in a very visible terrestrial way may make at least some folks who do not and cannot relate to space exploration as having a positive effect in their daily lives. 

One small step towards the masses and all that. 

Larry

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: davidlrickman at aol.com
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:02:21 
To: <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] NASA's  "Mission to Nowhere"

Hi David, 
  
Since you brought up the notion of "polls", please share those with us. I can not take that statement at face-value. I need to see who took the polls, where they were taken, and what the precise questions were on these polls? 
  
I agree that Apollo was all about beating the Soviet Union, but that's not why Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon was the most broadcast televised event ever World wide. That was because there was great interest in Human Space Exploration. That's what made that particular area of propaganda so easy. Both countries were fascinated with the notion of Humans exploring space. Even Kennedy and Khrushchev discussed the possibility of a joint manned excursion to Mars, both agreeing that neither country was politically prepared for such an event. Which was a shame, as Chelomei would soon have a design that could well have taken humans there. 
  
However, back to your first statement: I completely disagree! Why are we sending out all these probes? Aren't we exploring remotely. Not nearly as exciting as if Humans were out there beyond LEO. But, as we both agree; NASA is far from being what it should, and that is the fault of the decision makers. 
  
And now we hear that NASA may be working for Toyota. Wasn't it John Belushi playing the part of Capt. Kirk on SNL who saw the end coming in the form of an automobile on his view-screen? Irony, or life imitating art? 
  
Best Regards, 
  
David L. Rickman 
  

  

-----Original Message-----
From: David Portree <dsfportree at hotmail.com>
To: davidlrickman at aol.com; fpspace at friends-partners.org
Sent: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 8:40 am
Subject: RE: [FPSPACE] NASA's "Mission to Nowhere"


David:
 
Spaceflight is not about exploration, except incidentally. It used to be a front in the Cold War, then it became a jobs program with occasional other purposes. The polls taken at the time of Apollo do not support the notion that NASA had support to go on to other worlds. The communists had been humbled, so it had achieved its intended goal. Shuttle transformed NASA into a jobs program - it was a permanent reusable civil service feed trough. That's not to belittle the people who participated in the program, only to make clear how the decision-makers saw it.

David S. F. Portree




 

----------------
To: fpspace at friends-partners.org <mailto:fpspace at friends-partners.org> 
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:06:48 -0400
From: davidlrickman at aol.com <mailto:davidlrickman at aol.com> 
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] NASA's "Mission to Nowhere"




While I don't particularly disagree with your opinion, David, I would add that there is another group of people who, while not advocates of "Human Space Travel" (or even necessarily interested in space exploration), do realize that the United States without a manned space program is a step backwards. 
  
That the US could go from Alan Shepard's sub-orbital flight to Neal Armstrong's "Giant Leap" in less than nine years back in the Sixties, and do not that same ability in this vastly more technological society is, at best, a shame. 
  

As I have pointed out before, we are a species of explorers. It is in our nature to reach for that which is beyond our grasp. It is my opinion that if NASA had been properly funded and managed, the average Joe would still eagerly tune in to see that "First Step" on another planet. And if that average Joe was an American, it would be with a sense of great pride not felt since 1969. 
  
Best Regards to all, 
  
David L. Rickman 
  -----Original Message-----
From: David Portree <dsfportree at hotmail.com <mailto:dsfportree at hotmail.com> >
To: pjp961 at svol.net <mailto:pjp961 at svol.net> ; fpspace at friends-partners.org <mailto:fpspace at friends-partners.org> 
Sent: Mon, Mar 29, 2010 11:50 am
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] NASA's "Mission to Nowhere"


The intriguing thing to me is the lack of furore outside the relatively small community of human spaceflight advocates and employees. This is as I have predicted many times in the past decade (not that I'm congratulating myself here, just noting that it's not news). People outside the space community do not especially care whether we explore space or not. This has been clear since at least the 1990s. Sure, they get excited when an astronaut drops by a school, but they also get excited when a park ranger brings a raccoon to a school. 

David S. F. Portree