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hmm, quite a lot of money had to be spent to decommission & prepare the shuttles for public display. what w/ rocket motors, fuel cells & batteries, they were chock-full of noxious / explosive hazards. then there's the expense of flying / barging / craning / trucking / dragging them into final position.

so i'm not gonna begrudge NASA for spending on a few extra 1,000 gallons of 747 fuel, fly-bys like this are all part of the service.

ORIGINAL: jmalter

hmm, quite a lot of money had to be spent to decommission & prepare the shuttles for public display. what w/ rocket motors, fuel cells & batteries, they were chock-full of noxious / explosive hazards. then there's the expense of flying / barging / craning / trucking / dragging them into final position.

so i'm not gonna begrudge NASA for spending on a few extra 1,000 gallons of 747 fuel, fly-bys like this are all part of the service.

Plus keeping a number of people in a job and countless millions of tourist dollars if they do it right.

they have a PR department, sure. organizing & publicizing these fly-bys is important to keeping the agency 'in the news'. but if i'm not mistaken, NASA's ambit extends to education as well as exploration.

i think they do v. well - i recall a class trip in 1970 or so, we went to see an Actual Moon Rock at a local venue. but not only do they serve the general public w/ museum displays, they cater to the high end of academia w/ access to collected data, or glomming observation time from their telescopes.

& i think it was the late 60s, my family traveled to Kennedy Space Center. Public tours of the facilities - we saw Pad 39, the VAB, & walked beside that huge crawler as it slowly rolled along.

public funds devoted to NASA is money well-spent, & the %age of that money devoted to public access & museum displays is an important adjunct. a family trip to Kennedy (especially if you witnessed a launch!) was part of growing up in America, like a trip to Washington, DC or a visit to Yosemite Park.

I think the soyuz is nearing or passing the number of sucsesful launches, if that is you're criterea for sucses.
Fact is that American astronauts fly soyuz today and the shuttle is musea hardware.

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

It's a great country all right, and a cool shot, but failing to let Houston get one of the shuttles is a crime. Johnson Space Center a/k/a Mission Control was kind of important to the space program and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love New York City, so this isn't a slam of Gotham. A cynic would analyze the politics of the states that got shuttles and the state that didn't and reach certain conclusions about the decision making process involved and the role of politics in said process.

I agree.

It is sad to me to, the passing of an era. Growing up I watched the first man land on the moon, and have been proud of NASA, but today we don't really seem to have much of a plan anymore, other than feel good photo ops.

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

It's a great country all right, and a cool shot, but failing to let Houston get one of the shuttles is a crime. Johnson Space Center a/k/a Mission Control was kind of important to the space program and stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love New York City, so this isn't a slam of Gotham. A cynic would analyze the politics of the states that got shuttles and the state that didn't and reach certain conclusions about the decision making process involved and the role of politics in said process.

I just thank goodness that you're not a cynic, nor would you be able to identify with one. [;)]

A cynic? Perish the thought! I have always found my fellow man to behave honorably so long as it was in his own self interest. [:D]

PS My Texas based grumpiness on the issue aside, it is a seriously cool photo. [&o]

Texas paid the price of keeping the shuttles running a few more years. If the Bush Administration had decided who got the Space Shuttles, Texas would have got one and NY and CA would have been Shuttle-less.

Politics! Ain't it awesome.

"I refuse to vote for anyone who would seek the office of President in the 21st Century." - me

I'm writing in "Bruce Willis" on my ballot in November. Die Hardest!

ORIGINAL: Historiker

I didn't really know what the Chiken was talking about, I only played that shit on my PC.

BTW: A new dungeon Game is published and looking great: Look at that video!

BTW: I also was able to take a picture! [:D]

- I'm calling SHENANIGANS! You stole this from George Takei's Facebook Page (I don't know where he stole it from

I see this swan song tour as being symbolic of the end of the big-government era of space travel. The future belongs to small, nimble players making money from niche efforts, such as asteroid mining. In due time, we'll see quite a bit more space exploration and exploitation from the private sector than we ever did from the public sector.

Cheers,
CC

I wonder how they got the shuttle through the TSA screening before it's flight?

Like your pic Phanatik.

I think government still has a role to play. I am NOT a big government fan but I think major project--like going to Mars--has to be coordinated. It is exciting to see commercial ventures taking off for space but there is still a role for NASA I believe.

ORIGINAL: Keifer

Texas paid the price of keeping the shuttles running a few more years. If the Bush Administration had decided who got the Space Shuttles, Texas would have got one and NY and CA would have been Shuttle-less.

Politics! Ain't it awesome.

Live by politics, die by politics. Why do you think Texas got a major NASA facility in the first place? Hint: his first name started with "L."