Sunday, April 17, 2011

NASA's Shuttles Could Fly Again!

I know I wasn't the only one devastated when I learned that NASA's space program would be discontinued with their last mission later this year.

I was heart broken. As a kid I visited the NASA visitor center countless times, I even wanted to become an astronaut. I still am heart broken that NASA's shuttles are scheduled for discontinuation.

However, the shuttles do have a slight chance to see the outside of our atmosphere again.

According to SPACE.com, United Space Alliance (USA) wants to fly two shuttles (Atlantis and Endeavour) commercially after building new fuel tanks for them.

Apparently NASA is working on some new orbital spacecraft, but those won't be seen for some time. USA's vice president Dan Brandenstein (who is a former NASA astronaut) told SPACE.com that they wanted to keep the space program running while NASA worked on those new spacecraft and came up with the idea for two commercial flights a year.

Wait, what? Commercial?
Yes, commercial. Apparently USA wants to fund their two flights a year with money they will receive from investors and customers who want to fly into space.

Another motive for this would be to alleviate NASA's reliance on Russia for trips to and from the International Space Station.

Hmmm, I wonder if they took the idea of commercial space flight from Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic campaign. He's set to start training astronauts for that here shortly. (be sure to check out the Virgin Galactic site, there are some pictures up of their new space shuttles and they look...insane!)

I wonder how much a trip into orbit would cost.

FOLLOWERS:
1. What do you think of commercial space flight?
2. Do you think a market war between NASA and Virgin Galactic will erupt?
3. Do you think USA took the idea from Virgin Galactic? (it is a great concept)
4. Would you like to step foot on the moon?

38 comments:

Brandon Sample said...

1. its been talked about for a long time, I suppose it's alright.
2. maybe, I think it would be a good thing though.
3. the idea has been around for a really long time, i dont know who had it first.
4. I would if given the opportunity.

Benny said...

1. Necessary to move forward in the space program.
2. eh... probably not for a while.
3. Perhaps. but it has been a part of american culture for a while.
4. I would, but I don't want to deal with all the bad sickening things of space.

Chist said...

1.If they need money, they should do commercials.
2.Not sure if will, but i hope so.
3.Yes.
4.Hell yeah !

Danny Murphy said...

1. Unless we have a Space Race similar to the one in the 1960's, this time between USA and China to get to Mars then commercial space flight is the only way forward.

2. I hope so, anything to drive forward progress.

3. The idea of commercial space flight has been around awhile so I doubt it.

4. Yeah!

Darkkal said...

1. maybe its alright, but it really depends on the cost
2. i think it had already happened?
3. meh, more like evolved it
4. sure why not

ed said...

1. definitely will happen in future
2. nasa will win
3. maybe idk
4. no thanks

ds said...

1. The more flights the better. They will reduce the cost and the future for space exploration looks better.
2. No I don't think so.
3. I don't think it's relevant where they got the idea.
4. Sure.

VersionDouble said...

Wow best news ever cheers for posting.


1. Its the way forward!
2. Unfortunatly things only seem to get done if two sides are "at war" - so i kinda hope it does!
3. More than likley, everyone bites!
4. Would LOVE to.

Mike Litoris said...

great post !

Our Blog said...

1. It would be awesome if ever perfected.
2. If it did, it would be great for the price.
3. Probably not. I'm sure NASA thought of this ages ago. They have been wondering about how to fund their project before Virgin even started.
4. Oh hells yes.

Unknown said...

1. Indulgent
2. Plausible
3. Yes
4. No, it's just a rock floating in space. The first 15 minutes of staring out into space would be extraorinary. After that there's just not much else to do there.

Anonymous said...

1. I think soon we'll be living on other planets :D
2. They might fight or merge together
3. I think this idea has been thought about many times
4. No, I rather eat a piece of the moon!

Grafted said...

1.Awesome
2.Maybe
3.Not really
4.YES

Kicking Rocks said...

1. i think they should do it
2. probably
3. most likely
4. who wouldn't!

Nope said...

1. YESYESYESYES oh wait, you need to be rich...
2. I don't think there's big enough demand for that to happen.
3. I don't think so, commercial space flights are a pretty common idea, I had the idea myself as a 7 year old.
4. That would be damn cool!

gman said...

1. Great, as a species we need to explore space but as individuals it certainly doesn't hurt either
2. No, its too much of a niche market as it is.
3. Most probably
4. yup, I wouldn't pay a million bucks to do so though lol

Jay said...

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Let the courts decide
4. Yeah!!!

The Game Store Guy said...

Commercial works for me. Let's do it.

Brock said...

1. Why not, if someone`s willing to pay right?
2. Sure, why not? But it would be a good thing, consumers would be the winners
3. Nope
4. Nah, the moon is so yesterday, I'd be up for mars though

Endless said...

1. care
2. not sure
3. no
4. yeeees

Unknown said...

1. absolutely needed to progress
2. no
3. yes
4. YES

StonedBlogo said...

FOLLOWERS:
1. boo
2. yes
3. yes
4. no

BTN Hip Hop said...

1. Yes, no questions
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. OF COURSE!

Jesper said...

Nice pic!

noone said...

1. Pretty Awesome
2. Meh yeah, might happen
3. YES
4. I'd like to yes, since no one was ever in the moon.

duffboi said...

1. scary, but kewl
2. potentially
3. possibly
4. yep

King Elysium said...

1. I'd buy a ticket
2. Government funded vs. privately funded
3. Dunno
4. I suppose, dunno if all the danger is worth it though.

Sam said...

It's just continued development in business really..
Another direction with money at lovely heights :)

Jung said...

Your blog has the best layout I've seen.

Clueless Dolphin said...

ahh! so exciting, all dem birds
too lazy to answer your questions but yeah haha

T. Banacek said...

I think the commercialization of space was inevitable. They really will name planets after corporations one day.

Schla.mp3 said...

very exciting

Tibble said...

1. Yes
2. No
3. yes
4. YES

Watch out for space junk!

CandleintheDark said...

1. I dunno
2. Maybe
3. Possibly
4. Duh! :D

davidbloop said...

1. Definately yes
2. Nah
3. Ye probably
4. of course!

Xuian said...

Nasa announced funding of over 100M $ to 4 private companies today for development of private space flight to assist in getting to the ISS. I think it's a good idea, but I agree with Congress that NASA should do it. Getting more ideas out there never hurt, but you can't beat the experience and resources NASA has.

Anonymous said...

Dont really think it is a good Idea to make them fly again...

Piets said...

1. Sick!
2. Bahahaha! unlikely... i think nasa would win
3. wouldn't suprise me
4. i want to do the first backflip on the moon

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