The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched today on its, and the entire shuttle fleet's, last mission, beginning the end of a legacy that started 40 years ago. The concept for the Space Shuttle was actually in it's early design in 1968, before the first moon landings. With the decline in budget support for the Apollo missions, NASA designers moved their focus to this new idea; something reusable, with the promise of cheap and constant space flights.
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| Orbiter Enterprise on a Atmospheric test flight |
The shuttle program was launched in 1972 during the ongoing Apollo and Apollo-Soyuz Programs. The first orbiter was completed in 1976 and was named Enterprise. This lesser known orbiter was used for atmosphere flight tests and was never intended to fly in space. The first fully functioning orbiter was completed in 1979 and was named Columbia and first launch on April 12, 1981.
Today, July 8, 2011 marks the last launch of a Space Shuttle ever. The reasoning for this was a Presidential decree by George W Bush in the early 2000s. The plan at the time was to retire the shuttles in 2010 and have the next manned spacecraft in full development to be launch in the mid 2010s. That new program was the Constellation Program.
I do not have a problem with the retirement of the Space Shuttle. It was and is a modern marvel of human capabilities and still is the most technologically advanced piece of equipment built by man. It has done wonders for the American space program, led to spin off technology currently used by people everyday, and almost entirely build the International Space Station, the largest cooperative endeavor by any grouping of nations. That said, it was never built to leave Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It has never flown over 400 miles above the Earth, and that is well under the 238,857 miles to the nearest celestial object, the Moon. For the past 30 years, the shuttle fleet has been a transport service to LEO. While this a phenomenal feat in-and-of-itself, there is no great scientific or exploratory journey involved.
The Constellation Program was another Rocket based launch system that focused on returning to deep space journeys; something the shuttle fleet could not do. The amount of funding involved in both would only allow the government to operate one program at a time, so naturally, the shuttle fleet was cut. In this day and age, commercial space flight is taking off (pun intended), and can take over the basic hauling needs for satellites and LEO trips to the ISS, while NASA spends it's time on returning to deep space.
Then comes along a new President. NASA, being a government organization, is under direct control by the President. Each administration mandates a new direction in the space program, and up until now, most have just carried on the former's plans (or a very similar version thereof). This time, the Constellation Program is scraped in favor of a new program to be announced. Meanwhile, the shuttle fleet is still set to retire. The problem here? For the first time in NASA's history, there is no new vehicle program to transition into. From Mercury, there was Gemini. From Gemini to Apollo. Apollo to Apollo-Soyuz, then the Shuttle. And now...nothing. The was a 7 year gap between Apollo-Soyuz and the Shuttle flights, but the program was there and NASA had direction. This time, there is no plan, no direction, and thousands of people are set to be laid off. Extremely experienced people and the best in the world when it comes to manned space flight, and they will be dismissed with the shuttles. Bureaucracy at it's finest.
This is why the last shuttle launch saddens me. For my entire life, I have watched NASA send people to space and personally have longed to be a part of that legacy. Now, I get to watch my favorite organization put together by man fall into but a shadow of what it once was. No, manned space flight for America is not over. Commercial companies will carry that along well, and NASA will return with a capable vehicle to fly into the solar system. But the release of so many experienced people who know spaceflight better than anyone else in the world due to the scientific ignorance of politicians just disgusts me and the knowledge they take with them will not be replaced any time soon. And the absolute loss of interest by the American public for spaceflight does not bode well for the future. In a society expecting immediate gratification, it will be an uphill battle for another "giant leap for mankind".
