"It's really REALLY hard."

[eddielee]

I am cheering for them. I want them to succeed, but I know they must be very careful, even if to the average person they are being too careful. It would be bad news to have the rocket explode on the launchpad, and even worse to have it happen with astronauts on board.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I don't know if the average person thinks they are being too careful. More likely quite the opposite, that they haven't taken enough care to test the subsystems adequately.

And it's more of the lameness of whining about hydrogen rather than discussing the design flaws that have led to the faulty sensor and the leaks.

It's tantamount to running into the pier and then protesting that ships have a LOT of momentum when in motion and are pretty hard to stop. Ya think?

NASA has trafficked on its assumed virtue for far too long. Eisenhower warned Americans about the might of the military-industrial complex and ever controlling it. Make no mistake about it. NASA as it exists today is an unofficial branch of the military, regardless of how much it touts itself as civilian. It's chief customer is the Pentagon.

And its bloat and inefficiency is infamous. It doesn't deserve the lack of criticism that it enjoys from the national media. It's plans and actions should very much be challenged, just as much as Boeing, Lockheed, or any other big prime contractor or the agency that employes them.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Years after shuttle, NASA rediscovers the perils of liquid hydrogen [Ars Technica]

"Every time we saw a leak, it pretty quickly exceeded our flammability limits."

 

[smokeshadow]

They didn't always contain the Hydrogen successfully.

Surprisingly, of the 97 people on board the Hindenburg, only 36 died in the disaster as well as 1 person on the ground. Considering the massive fireball, fatalities could have been higher.

 

[cabinfever]

People are fascinated by their curiosity about space and I wonder how much NASA depends on and plays into this. I'm sure a poll would reveal that the majority of Americans support what NASA is doing because, you know, rocket ships are super cool. In this respect, the space program functions primarily as entertainment.

My dad was a NASA research scientist and specialized in optics and when I was a kid I got all kinds of NASA "gifts" - I don't think I could have cared less about any of it. I was - and still am - more concerned with how we are treating THIS planet.

When he died I had shelves and shelves of projects he had worked on and papers he had written or studied - all went in the trash.

 

[NotHardUp1]

The major difference between the Zeppelins and the rockets is that hydrogen was not under high pressure in the balloons, but is within the rocket tanks. That means the rockets are dealing with ridiculously cold temperatures and the instability of metal and other connections at those temperatures.

But it is an inherent flaw in the overall design. It is one more reason why the whole concept is ultimately doomed.

And the reason why the mean old Congress dictated using Space Shuttle technology was EXACTLY because the military-industrial complex hogs at the trough saw to it that they would not lose their feeding tube after the Shuttle was terminated.

This is the sixth failure at fueling that rocket.

 

[Peloso]

My dad was a NASA research scientist and specialized in optics and when I was a kid I got all kinds of NASA "gifts" - I don't think I could have cared less about any of it. I was - and still am - more concerned with how we are treating THIS planet.

There's still so much we don't know about this world aside from how to stop destroying it. I don't see the point of spending so much money, time and brainpower on figuring out how to inhabit a profoundly inhospitable environment. Even if we do succeed, it's not going to end well.

Why did they blur out Meryl Streep's tits but not all the dicks?

When he died I had shelves and shelves of projects he had worked on and papers he had written or studied - all went in the trash.

I hope you have no regrets.

 

[cabinfever]

I hope you have no regrets.

He died in 1999 and that is when they went into the garbage.

No regrets so far - I am kinda the opposite of a hoarder. I do collect different things but even with my own collections the second I don't "love" some object or piece of art anymore I get rid of it.

I also have a habit of family and friends when they die - I like to just keep one thing that reminds me of them the most and I would never throw any of those things away. The keepsake helps me to remember and feel like a part of them is still with me.

 

[Peloso]

^ My father was a physician and he used to give me medical textbooks and occasionally medical instruments. Once he gave me a small disc-like piece of some kind of metal he extracted from a patient. It was probably worth some money. I'm not sure what it was, but it was heavy for its size and didn't sink in water. It used to make this humming sound at 3:15 every morning and sometimes fucked up our TV reception. It glowed, too, with different colors that made it look like something inside was moving. I remember he told me the guy he got it out of had been an astronaut or something, but he lied about a lot of things. It reminded me too much of him so I just threw it out.

 

[LeicsDom]

It seems there was also a sense that the USA cannot let China claim all the moon exploration (and exploitation) to themselves, That just will no do.

I wonder if the so-called treasures available to be mined on the moon will ever be economically viable

 

[eddielee]

^ My father was a physician and he used to give me medical textbooks and occasionally medical instruments. Once he gave me a small disc-like piece of some kind of metal he extracted from a patient. It was probably worth some money. I'm not sure what it was, but it was heavy for its size and didn't sink in water. It used to make this humming sound at 3:15 every morning and sometimes fucked up our TV reception. It glowed, too, with different colors that made it look like something inside was moving. I remember he told me the guy he got it out of had been an astronaut or something, but he lied about a lot of things. It reminded me too much of him so I just threw it out.

That would creep me out. Good that you threw it out. No telling what it was, or how dangerous it could have been.

 

[Rickrock]

I don't mind going to the moon and space exploration as long as it doesn't preclude accomplishing things on earth.