Why Was Failure Not an Option for the Space Program?

[Cyrus]

I was just watching the program, "failure is not an option" on the history channel. Man, that was a very well made show. It went through the space program in the United States. The 60's and 70's were awesome times. The guys like Gene Krantz would give these eloquent speeches to their team off the cuff. Then there was the little speech the guys made when the orbited the moon on christmas eve that they quoted from genesis. You don't find a group of people like that anymore these days. Most people can't talk, none the less give eloquent motivational speeches and show such leadership. I also loved how they were ALWAYS smoking in all the video clips. Great stuff!

Its too bad we will never again see a space race like we did in the 60's.

 

[Mk]

Maybe, maybe not.

 

[Cyrus]

Nah, ant going to happen. Were too busy and broke from terrorism to possibly afford massive space exploration. Plus with Russia gone, we lack any reason to spend money to explore space.

 

[Mk]

I was thinking longer term.

 

[russ_watters]

Read the book!

 

[moose]

I watched the first one last night as well. The second one, I have recorded... woot

 

[zoobyshoe]

I watched it twice. Those guys were truly incredible people. Gene Krantz is larger than life.

 

[Evo]

As for Appollo 13 - Engineers at NASA were able to recalculate trajectories and burn durations, figure out new navigation and flight control procedures, and estimate how long critical supplies would hold out. Working with the crew, they developed ways to use the Lunar Module as a "life raft," using its environmental support systems, electrical batteries, and engines, to substitute for the lost capability in the Command Module. Four days later, the crew returned safely to Earth.

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:gLp9oEQzHI0J:www.professionalpractice.asme.org/engineering/syseng/resources/appollo13.doc+appollo13&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2

My first father in law was one of the engineers at NASA that figured out how to get them home. He has a plaque from the President thanking him.

Engineers ROCK! My dad was an engineer.

 

[Cyrus]

Im amazed that the average engineer was 26 and only had a B.S degree.

 

[FredGarvin]

Im amazed that the average engineer was 26 and only had a B.S degree.

It goes to show how drastically different the engineering realm was back then. You had tons of engineers to learn from that didn't have to worry about being eliminated to free up budget. On the job training was vital and produced some great engineers.

If you want an even better look at the space race, you should look into the books about the engineers that came in from Canada after the collapse of their aviation industry. "The great brain drain" had a huge effect on NASA's ability to do what it did.

 

[scott1]

Nah, ant going to happen. Were too busy and broke from terrorism to possibly afford massive space exploration. Plus with Russia gone, we lack any reason to spend money to explore space.

What about China?There sending up guys to space.I know there technology isn't that advance but it could within a decade or two.We should still explore sapce a Russian is going to build a minning station on the moon(I don't think they have money or technology) and if the Russians are going to build a moon colony for mining then we should too.
There are reasons to build colonise on other planets

Mercury has a higher iron content than any other object in the solar system. Several theories have been proposed to explain Mercury's high metallicity. One theory is that Mercury originally had a metal-silicate ratio similar to common chondrite meteors and a mass approximately 2.25 times its current mass, but that early in the solar system's history Mercury was struck by a planetesimal of approximately 1/6 that mass. The impact would have stripped away much of the original crust and mantle, leaving the core behind. A similar theory has been proposed to explain the formation of Earth's Moon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mercury

If it has a higher content of Iron then any other object in solar system I think it would be useful to mine it.

Amongst the findings from the Opportunity rover is the presence of hematite on Mars in the form of small spheres on the Meridiani Planum. The spheres are only a few millimeters in diameter and are believed to have formed as rock deposits under watery conditions billions of years ago. Other minerals have also been found containing forms of sulfur, iron or bromine such as jarosite. This and other evidence led a group of 50 scientists to conclude in the December 9, 2004 edition of the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#Geology
I think that would an ok reason for going to Mars but also Mars has storng prence of water and if there use to be life somewhere anyway for Earth I think it would worth going there and possibly terrfroming it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars

Ceres is one of the largest (and first) Asteroids discovered and orbits within the main Asteroid Belt. It is thought that a large percentage of the mantle of the planetoid is actually water ice [1] and it may in fact hold more water than the earth, as much as 200 million cubic kilometers. This huge reserve of water could easily be split into oxygen for air production for a base and hydrogen for rocket fuel as well as powering fusion reactors in the future. Ceres would make a logical location for research and industrial production base because of the low gravity, access to possible ore bearing asteroids,

If it has more water then on Earth I think it would be useful for colonization

NASA performed a study called HOPE (Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration) regarding the future exploration of the solar system. The target chosen was Callisto. It could be possible to build a surface base that would produce fuel for further exploration of the solar system. Since it is outside of Jupiter's radiation belt and also geologically very stable, it could prove to be a suitable place for a base. This base would also be a centre for exploration of the Jupiter system, for example remote exploration of Europa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_outer_solar_system#Callisto
I think it a fuel/supply base be useful

It seems that the surface of Titan is very young and active, and contains large amounts of water ice and perhaps oceans and canals of liquid organic compounds

I think it would a good idea to explore it to see if there is possible or going to be life on titan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_outer_solar_system#Titan

Exporting material to Earth in trade is more problematic due to the high cost of transportation. One suggested candidate is Helium-3 from the solar wind, which may have accumulated on the Moon's surface over billions of years, which may prove to be a desirable fuel in fusion reactors, and which is rare on Earth. Neither the abundance of Helium-3 on the lunar surface nor the feasibility of its use in fusion power plants have been established, however. China has made measurement of Helium-3 abundance on the lunar surface one of the goals of its exploration program.

H-3 is probally the best reason to mine on the moon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon#Economic_development
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~diedrich/solarsails/
Solar sails would probally be the best way for transportion to planets