speeddemon1092 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

well ill admit you are right. But think about it for a second. If the shuttle shield had been designed to be much tougher by using a metal of some sort as a protective layer to prevent the heat from ripping the shuttle to bits, the Columbia would have had a much higher chance of surviving because even though the metal adds alot of weight, i would be able to put a bullet to it, and any hole that does open will be sealed by the second and third layers of thermal tiles.

jossj666 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

They are going back to apollo style...but it will be better than what they had...it will be a fusion of both shuttle and apollo...and we should be going back to the moon by 2020...around in there somewhere...updated software and safety systems will help when they get the project on the road..

jossj666 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

the reason that they use what they use is bc its cheap, yet very durable...in this case i think an inspection wasn't performed...I've seen the tiles that they use...they weight about 2 to 5 oz. each...which is handy bc you don't want too much weight...I've seen a blow torch be taken to one of these tiles, and nothing...and the cool thing is, it instantly sheds heat...if you get into using titanium and other metal alloys, the heat isn't shed and it weighs too much...trust me on this...

speeddemon1092 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

i dont think any was sent to NASA. The government doeant give a damn about space they just want money and power these days. To them, space is just wasted money that they want to use on themselves... And what about the possibility of using, say, 10 billion to put a permanent colony on the moon? AND once again be the envy of 99% of all countries on Earth? Although im pretty sure the countries who have helped with the ISS will help with a lunar colony

Unstung (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

And if only a fraction of that money was spent on NASA.

amandalockworth (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

Good video, almost too good. Pulls on the heartstrings. Godspeed.

speeddemon1092 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

LOL agreed... wait, the funding was part of that 700 billion bucks blown on the assholes on wallstreet who used it for thousand dollar lapdances and hunting trips to europe. Wait, did i say that aloud?

puFoNiT (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

The technology for better shuttle is here, the funding aint!

jigsaw1169 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

They need to scrap the shuttle, they should go back to Apollo type hardware. Walt Cunningham told me that NASA has lost the plot, imagine where we would be now if we were still using upgraded Apollo hardware. We wasted 30 years with the shuttle, now we are going back and start again with Orion, which is too big and too heavy. Give me just one billion I would have a man back on the moon within 3 years, using Soyuz hardware.

speeddemon1092 (January 1, 1970 at 12:59 am)

see, i think that NASA needs to develop a sort of 'armor' for the shuttle instead of just using that stuff they use right now. Instead of one layer of thermal shielding, how about (starting from the shuttle skin) 1/2" thermal shield, 1/4" thick titanium alloy, 1/2" thermal shield, 1/4" titanium, 3/4" thermal shielding. The armor would have a 2x redundacy, and the titanium would protect against projectiles breaching the thermal blanket and exposing the hull.