After 2 failed launch attempts do to poor weather (we can get on plains but the shuttle worth a few hundred million can’t fly?) it turns out that during the downtime a 4-5″ crack in the foam insulation was discovered on the fuel tank. Something along the lines of what caused the last shuttle to explode in a huge disaster. My issue is how many times does nasa have to be slapped before they realize that the NextGen shuttle program needs to be accelerated. We need a vehicle that doesn’t rely on crazy foam insulation that falls off with the slightest crack. I mean give me a break, Space Ship One was built for pennys compared to the spaceshuttle… sure it isn’t designed right now to take cargo and all that but the fact is the ship is leaps and bounds ahead of the space shuttle. With NASA supposed to be home of the smartest scientists in the world shouldn’t we be seeing something by now? We’re risking astronauts lives on ships that are far more risky and expensive than they should be.
Here’s an idea if NASA is really to the point that they can’t figure something out on their own or atleast get something done faster than 2010 maybe they should drop some of there research cash on purchasing a scaled up version of the SpaceShipOne from scaled composites… atleast that way the US would be able to get to space. Don’t get me wrong the Space Shuttle is an amazing piece of hardware, and it’s leaps ahead of the other countrys but the fact is they are so dated at this point some calculators probably have more processing power, and rocket powered cars are more safe. What will it take for NASA to realize something needs to be done NOW! Not in 5-10 years! We need to be at the forfront of space travel again not falling behind and loosing ships to foam disasters.
Source: Inhouse / SpaceFlightNow
