I still get a thrill from images like this.
It's strange but true that, unlike a great many people, I still find the whole space programme rather inspirational and compelling. It's a rare sight these days to see a Space Shuttle being transported like this (they prefer to land them back in Florida), and it does look rather old and clunky in many ways (it was designed nearly 40 years ago), but I think it reminds us of a more optimistic and idealistic time.
The Space Shuttle was born at the peak of the Space race, conceived during the golden Apollo years when everything seemed possible - after all getting to the moon had only taken 7 years. The reality was somewhat different - with NASA being pulled in different directions, budget cuts and persistent problems it was 10 years after Apollo when the Shuttle finally took flight.
The history of the Shuttle has, perhaps, not been flawless, but when you remember that until the dawn of the reusable spacecraft a very, very small number of people had been into orbit. At the end of 18 years of service, there are now a whole army of those who have left the Earth. Although the craft never became what NASA envisaged - never the cheap, reliable, day-to-day space transport, but its achievments are nevertheless, remarkable.
The Shuttle will be retired next year and it will be the end of an era. Not just the era of the shuttle itself, but the era of optimistic, idealistic spaceflight. It is the legacy of the Kennedy space race, a bold, ambitious move to make space more accessible and a fitting tribute to all those who laboured to let mankind take its first, small steps away from the planet. Despite being an outmoded, expensive and none-too-safe system, I, for one, feel sadness at the end of such an era. It remains to be seen if the ambitions of NASAs current flagship manned space programme, Constallation, will have the same ability to inspire and compel attention - based firmly, as it is, in the budget mentality. Time will tell, but time will also remember the Space Shuttle.
3 comments:
It's a shame the Shuttle never really lived up to its expectations, especially as things like Soyuz predate it and will out-live it.
But there is still lots going on. Virgin Galactic is interesting as is the Roscosmos business model of taking fare-paying passengers.
Also lots of cross-agency science stuff going on, but it's a shame there isn't the will and the money to do it, just because it's there.
I guess we need another cold war to kick off another space race!
For me, I get a thrill more from images like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantis_Docked_to_Mir.jpg
Liked your image too.
NASA has some really bad ways of doing things and doesn't ever seem to learn. It's a real missed opportunity, I feel - especially when I read that the new NASA programmes are in real trouble (might do a post on that sometime).
[Interesting sideline is that when the ISS is deorbited, the Russian modules are going to be left in orbit because they want to carry on using them ... NASA always wants new stuff]
Virgin Galactic looks like a very interesting approach which is fundamentally safer and more environmentally friendly. It will be very interesting when that starts to operate.
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