Shuttle Program Comes To An End - From Space Coast to Ghost Coast
This post by Lenn Harley’s post - Atlantis - Home Safe inspired me to write about what happens next as the Space Coast turns into a Ghost Coast as pink slips will be handed out to over 2,000 employees by week’s end.
Unemployment - Rocket Scientists such a specialized field, where will they jobs - Russia?
Economy - For cities surrounding Space Coast like Melbourne, Titusville, Cocoa, Palm Bay will tourism be the only resource left?
Space Program - Why is it that we have not taken this to the next level?
American Astronauts will be hitching a ride to the space stations with a Russian space ship at $60 million a seat - Who really won the cold war?
Barely remembering the landing of the moon, watching from the backyard quite a few lift offs, shocked and saddened by setback as the Challenger and Columbia exploded. Although I never seen a liftoff first hand as the earth rumbled, I never missed a moment whether it was on TV or in my backyard watching the space shuttles. It saddens me today, no in fact I’m angry that such a magnificent program comes to a halt because of politics.
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If this is the end of the cold war, America didn't lose, Obama surrendered.
Lenn - True!
Our government would rather give away freebies. Than work americans in a worthwhile and productive activity. Some see the future as bright and exciting. Other's like to dash the hopes, desires and exuberants of the doer, to reward the slacker. It is the tempoary end of an era that could be predicted, and can be reversed. Depends how many ants and how many grasshoppers there are in our society. Users and leachers.
It just doesn't make sense and I had such misty eyes this morning as the shuttle landed for the last tiem Petra...
I'm curious, what 'politics' brought the space shuttle program to an end?
Karl, if you would talk to those that work from within the NASA program, along with most ex-astronauts and employees in the know. They would wholeheartedly state that politics played a major role in the decision to shut (slow) down the U.S. space program. But come on Karl, what's not politics in todays world? You and I don't have to like it, are wished it. But politics is growing and intruding into our daily life, that our forebearers would be shocked to see. OH, Karl! The answer to your question on "what politics" brought the space shuttle program to an end. FUNDING Pretty simple answer. You may agree with the cut in the space funding. It could even be the right move. I don't think so. But "politics" brought the space shuttle program to an end. Our leaders chose where to spend. That's called politics.
Hey...I'm all for funding NASA, but their budget has not been cut; their priorities, that were defined by a previous administration, have been changed.
Karl,
It's the kind of "politics" of today that "if it's not in my district and there nothing in it for me, then I'm not going to vote to fund it". They could care less about "Do It For The USA".
How long before these lost jobs show up in the weekly unemployment numbers? Will Wall Street use this as a way of ignoring the increase from one week to the next?
I appreciates everyone's comment here and Shane you took the words right out of my mouth, thank you. I do want to add that the funding was not stopped by the previous administration, it was stopped by President Obama.
Yes, Karl -
Obama sure did change NASA's priorities!
Most of us remember how last year, here, in the first 1:39, Obama's own hand-picked head of NASA, Administrator Charles Bolden, told us in his own words that Obama charged him with 3 things as the head of NASA, with the strangest and most troubling of the three being,
"… and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and uh, engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations, uh, to help them uh, feel good about uh, their historic contribution to science and engineering - science, math and engineering …"
Yah, that's what we want our tax money going for - that and Illegal Aliens. We'll just try and bum a ride from the Russians, if we ever want to go into space again.
The Shuttle's chief purpose over the next several years will be to help finish assembly of the International Space Station. In 2010, the Space Shuttle — after nearly 30 years of duty — will be retired from service.
— President George W. Bush
January 14, 2004
And as far as the Muslim outreach program and NASA, didn't Reagan and Bush do the same thing?
Karl, ever heard of the Constellation program? Obama cancelled that program last year. In regards to your comment "The Shuttle's chief purpose over the next several years will be to help finish assembly of the Internation Space Sation. In 2010, the Space Shuttle--after nearly 30 years of duty --will be retired from service. -- President George W. Bush January 14, 2001 ***** Now Karl, your quote is correct. But you sir intentionally misled all that read your comment with that quote. Because the issue is not that the Space Shuttle is ending. That was planned thirty years ago, that the program would get to point where it would it. Kind of like the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. I guess we could include Skylab in the mix. But you Karl, left off the rest of the story. The obvious intent of those other administations, including President Bush's speech in 2002, was to merge from a present but older technology to a new technology with no break in man flight. Obama has not allowed the proper funding of a new manned space program in which to transition to. Yes, we will get to space again. But much later. At a greater cost. (we are laying off ten of thousands of rocket scientist who will have to go on to other avenues, including those completely outside of science) Karl, you have every right to your opinion. Many good americans see the money spent at NASA as a waste. We can all choose our opinions, and agree to disagree. But your original and continuing comments are disingenous. Not your opinion(s). Funding has been cut. As most people realize, when policy is changed, the changes occur in the next or out years. So don't play coy with the present spending this year. Next year and the following years have been cut. With support by both parties. But if Obama wanted to keep the Constellation or one of the other related competing programs alive, with man flight by Americans on American made rockets. It would happen. Obama wishes to move money from NASA and other areas, to other areas of his choosing. He has a right to that action and opinion. As do I, as do you and all. But don't change the language of meaning. As a side note: Your streaching again, concerning the Muslim outreach program trying to tie Obama with previous adminstrations. The shoe don't fit, even with funnel. Weak, very weak.
The 2011 budget compromise Congress and the White House reached April 8 to avert a government shutdown includes $18.485 billion for NASA, or about 1.3 percent less than the $18.724 billion the U.S. space agency was given for 2010.
Details of the proposal, which includes a $38 billion reduction in nondefense spending, were posted April 12 on the House Appropriations Committee website.
Most of the NASA savings were achieved by funding Space Operations — an account that includes the international space station and soon-to-be-retired space shuttle — at about $600 million below the 2010 level and denying increases the White House sought for Science, Aeronautics and Education. There's also no funding specified for Space Technology, a roughly $300 million account NASA hopes to boost to $1 billion next year.