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[orange]

Today is the last launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

You can watch the launch at either Spaceflightnow or NASA TV.

Right now the weather at the abort locations is iffy (located in southern Europe), so the launch may scrub for the day.  It is about 3 hours from launch at the moment.

This is the second to last shuttle launch.  The last launch, Atlantis, is currently scheduled for this summer.

Discovery flew its final mission at the end of February.

[Saede Riordan]

*watches*

[Saede Riordan]

heads up, launch was scrubbed due to some issue with one of the fuel heater units.

[Akrasjel Lanate]

So you say this is important    

Update: Flight canceled / delayed.

[Esna Pitoojee]

"Oops" ?

[orange]

"Oops" ?

Sadly launches are delayed often despite the perception that they are routine.  The complex mechanical & electrical systems involved in controlling explosions for 9 minutes on the way to orbit means that if any part of that system is operating outside the "nominal" parameters, the teams tend to scrub and investigate.  The length of that investigation can vary and have different end results.

NASA will reattempt on Monday.

So you say this is important   

Update: Flight canceled / delayed.

In my bias opinion, yes, and more important than what the majority of the media is focusing on today.

[Ken]

The shuttle has had a great run and I've been to many launches myself.  I credit the program and the fascinating museums/tourable facilities at Cape Canaveral with inspiring my love of all things space and future.  Hope it's a flawless launch and smooth mission for Endeavor and crew on her last flight, but right now I'm much more interested in this.

[orange]

Check this out.

Ken, I have a side project doing the math to see if Falcon Heavy & Dragon can do an like Apollo 8 mission.  If what-I-intend-to-be conservative analysis shows its possible, the mission would be possible in the 2015/16 timeframe (assuming a FH launch in 2012/13 and crewed Dragon in 2014/15).

[Ken]

"This enables landing on any solid surface in the solar system"

If they can get through the next several years of commercial launches with a sterling safety and service record, win the lunar X prize, and diversify into space exploitation as well as transport, SpaceX will probably end up being the East India Company of the next several centuries.

[Jev North]

I learned it's commanded by Mark Kelly, husband of the congresswoman who got shot in the head at a public function a while back. She's recovered and waving him off. Small, weird world we live in, no?

[Esna Pitoojee]

Sadly launches are delayed often despite the perception that they are routine.  The complex mechanical & electrical systems involved in controlling explosions for 9 minutes on the way to orbit means that if any part of that system is operating outside the "nominal" parameters, the teams tend to scrub and investigate.  The length of that investigation can vary and have different end results.

Oh, trust me, I  know - I watched the last one; they ended up launching with literally 2 seconds to spare in the launch window, mainly 'cause assorted computer systems kept going down.



Anyhow, will be looking forward to see the re-try launch (they're predicting a delay of at least until Monday, I think). Incidentally, Jev, Gabrielle Giffords will be hanging out in Florida until they re-try the launch so she can wave her husband off into space for real.

[orange]

I have been watching the politics surrounding spaceflight/exploration for a few years now.  The truth is that Space politics (like most politics) are local.  The Representatives and Senators who actually care about space care about it because it brings jobs and funds to their districts/states.  This tends to mean those Representatives and Senators are invested in the status quo.

Current national civil space programs are "nice-to-have" symbols.  They lend national prestige and demonstrate technical capability.

The president took the advice of the Augustine committee and made decisions based on it.  Government programs of large scope and vague requirements quickly suffer cost and schedule growth; Constellation did just that.  But there are decisions made over the past 20 years that setup the US Government to be in this very position.

When the 25th anniversary (1994) of Apollo 11's landing was celebrated, I lived in Hampton Roads area and had the opportunity to go to the Hampton Roads Air and Space Museum more than once and visit the NASA Langley facilities.  At the Museum, they had a full mock-up of the HL-20.  The US Government never funded it to actually be built.  Fast-Forward 20 years, Sierra Nevada has purchased the rights to the HL-20 and is working to fly it as the Dream Chaser.  If the administration at the time had pushed to develop the HL-20 and purchase a few, there would not have been any US HSF gap. (1)

In the late 1990s, NASA was working on a concept called TransHab.  It was being looked at as an alternative to the now cancelled Habitation Module for ISS Alpha.  A lack of an escape vehicle able to carry more than 3, led to a decision that neither was needed.  Fast-forward 10 years and Bigelow Aerospace is planning to build entire stations (CSS) using this technology.  The first CSS, when complete, will likely be able to comfortably have 2x the residents of ISS Alpha (12 vs 6).

In February 2001, the X-33 flight demonstrator program was cancelled due to material engineering challenges.  The X-33 was to lead to development of the Venture Star, a resuable- single-stage-to-orbit (RSSTO) launch vehicle and suitable shuttle replacement.  It held the potential to revolutionize the American launch market.  Two years later, Columbia disintegrates on re-entry and leads to the executive (read POTUS) decision to retire the remaining Space Shuttle fleet once international obligations relating to the ISS are fulfilled.

Most recently, the company that supports Space Shuttle operations/maintenance offered to buy the rest of the fleet and continue to operate them!  The US Government declined the offer.

I relate all the above to say that in my (granted limited) experience, US elected leaders do not actually care about the long term success of an American space program.

[Ken]

US elected leaders do not actually care about the long term success of an American space program.

I agree and I don't think they really have since Apollo 11 safely returned to Earth.  Forty years of heavy government investment in spaceflight and satellite systems has thankfully proven that there is profit to be made in LEO and certainly beyond, a fact that many companies are now in position to exploit.  I, for one, don't care if the first human beings to set foot on Mars are employees of a private company rather than a government, so long as they do.

[Lyn Farel]

US elected leaders do not actually care about the long term success of an American space program.

 I, for one, don't care if the first human beings to set foot on Mars are employees of a private company rather than a government, so long as they do.

Same.

Though it would be so nicer if it was a joined international effort.

[Saede Riordan]

the government has never been the future of space. For the government, its nothing but cost with little gain once you get out of LEO. The push outward will happen because people want to go, and because corporations and firms and religious groups give them the opportunity to do so. NASA is a great step, and it was good for capturing the imagination, but its time is over.