I watched the first touch down, along with people from neighboring factories, on a small B&W TV.

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I remember when the first Mercury ship went straight up and came right back down. That was the first time man had been in space. And now it all seems to be over.

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Incorrect on both counts. Gagarin beat Sheppard into space, and people in general, and Americans in particular will be on the international space station for at least the next year. Log after Atlantis has returned.

But really, next stop for us should be Mars.

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On the kinkometer, my kink measures as a sine wave.

He was the first American in space, although there's an argument that Scott Crossfield beat him in the X-15.

An almost unknown Russian by the name of Yuri Gagarin beat Al Shepard jr into space, and he did a full orbit.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Not quite as unknown as some agencies would have preferred at the time and certainly well known in the eastern hemisphere.

ScarCrow is right though about the first US rush of rockets after Sputnik in 57. There was a lot of criticism for giving the world grandstand seats to the literal flops of it's sudden entry into the space age. The laughing stopped as the world watch the USA put it's full attention to a new task again to produce success and results that has benefited every person around the world in everyday life. As part of this new direction for mankind, NASA produced this shuttle program that gave us Hubble and made the ISS possible, to point at only a couple accomplishments. The knowledge advancements for the specie has been greater than any other individual effort in history and in less time. This happened in a different time with different people.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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I find it a bit disgraceful that we are now dependent on Russia for transporting astronauts into space. Oh well, maybe in the next year or two we can buy rockets from China.

This is among a number of things some of us find disappointing for MY country.

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That part of it is.

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Eudaimonia

If you think about it, decommissioning the space shuttle somewhat makes sense. The technology it uses is far surpassed by our smart phones. That's not to say it doesn't still work just fine, but should probably be updated. Who is to say that NASA isn't going to design and build something that could take us, not just to the space station and the moon, but to Mars as well? I don't think of it as the end, but just a pause so that the next chapter is even better.

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"BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Will he offer me his mouth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his teeth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his jaws? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Again, will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes! GIRL: Yes. BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Yes. BOY: I bet you say that to all the boys!" -Meatloaf

Congress & the White House.

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Eudaimonia

Both of which are more than willing to spend the tax payers dollars for anything these days. Besides, I never said when it might happen. Could be in 20 years when they finally develop something like that. Could be another 50. All I'm saying is it's a possibility.

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"BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Will he offer me his mouth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his teeth? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his jaws? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes. GIRL: Again, will he offer me his hunger? BOY: Yes! GIRL: Yes. BOY: On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? GIRL: Yes. BOY: I bet you say that to all the boys!" -Meatloaf

I am afraid that as far as the USA is concerned NASA and the space program is dead unless private money becomes involved. The government is giving all of our money to their own causes.

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I don't like the idea of having to get a visa from the Chinese or the Indians to visit the Moon or Mars.

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Let's see ... we can borrow the money from China to hitch a ride on a Russian rocket. What happens if we get a man up there and the Chinese decide not to lend us the money to bring him home?

Just asking.