Space Shuttle Enterprise from 1979

[LegendKiller]

It did the job it was designed for well. The problem is that its job changed after it came online. I don't think anyone ever intended for it to be our only avenue to space.

Sorry, but it didn't do the intended job well. If you look at what was "intended", it was far more than that. Furthermore, the intention was horrible and premise limiting and near-sighted. It was effectively a jobs program for the space industry and a huge taxpayer funded boondoggle that was overly complicated, poorly understood, and massively limited. Concentrating on LEO with silly little flying planes was a dumb idea.

But this is the typical thinking of America. It's just like everybody shitting on the idea of one-way Mars shots to build colonies. Awesome idea, far reaching and well thought out. It accomplishes a goal. However, it's not "cool" to send somebody one-way until you can build the infrastructure for two-ways, so instead of concentrating on whats practical *AND* far-reaching, we just continue to fuck around in LEO.

Now because of our stupidity we're depending on the Ruskies and their 43 year old Soyuz capsules. But hey, the shuttle did what it was "intended" to do, nothing.

 

[dandruff]

thanks for sharing !

 

[shiner]

Sorry, but it didn't do the intended job well. If you look at what was "intended", it was far more than that. Furthermore, the intention was horrible and premise limiting and near-sighted. It was effectively a jobs program for the space industry and a huge taxpayer funded boondoggle that was overly complicated, poorly understood, and massively limited. Concentrating on LEO with silly little flying planes was a dumb idea.

But this is the typical thinking of America. It's just like everybody shitting on the idea of one-way Mars shots to build colonies. Awesome idea, far reaching and well thought out. It accomplishes a goal. However, it's not "cool" to send somebody one-way until you can build the infrastructure for two-ways, so instead of concentrating on whats practical *AND* far-reaching, we just continue to fuck around in LEO.

Now because of our stupidity we're depending on the Ruskies and their 43 year old Soyuz capsules. But hey, the shuttle did what it was "intended" to do, nothing.

Yeah, its too bad the shuttle was around to do things like repair the Hubble and deliver components to the ISS. Total boondoggle....

 

[CaptnKirk]

I have an 'Un-Official' photo, on Kodak Paper, of the take-off of the 747 from Edwards AFB
for the 'Ferry-Flight' of Columbia from the Rockwell factory to KSC.

It is un-retouched, in that the picture has not been airbrushed to disguise the many missing tiles
that were omitted from insallation at the Palmdale facility, and where they had substituted
blocks of white styrofoam in the vacant positions to provide an aerodynamic surface for airflow.

Needless to say, it didn't quite work, as many of the foam blocks debonded from the glue,
and lifted away into the airstream, which allowed velocity airflow to get under the edges of the 'Real Tiles'
which lifted them off from the airframe skin, which shed and rattled down the sides of the shuttle
during the flight to KSC.

The Enterprise was used for the ALT (Approach and Landing Tests) where they climbed to altitude
and released the Shuttle for it's gluide and touchdown back at Edwards to prove the flight
characteristics and dynamic vehicle stability in landings.
Free Flight #1 was quite interesting.