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April 12, 2006
25 years of the Shuttle Program
On this day 25 years ago the first Shuttle mission blasted off into space. In 1981 the Shuttle Program represented a quantum leap forward is space craft technology. All of the craft expect for the external fuel tank was completely reusable and the new titles promised a completely new world of space technology. The Shuttle was the last great vestige of the Van Braun era at NASA. The program lacked the technical advancements to make the dream of the Shuttle a reality. The SSTO project of the Venture Star actually showed that the dream could be made into a reality, but the Republicans shelved that in hopes of pushing America backwards. On one level you can consider the Shuttle Program and abject failure, but the reality is that it lived up to many of the goals that it was built to achieve. The tragic accidents that the Shuttle programs suffered, were not technological, they were actually both tragic failures of the management of NASA to grasp the complex technology that the Shuttle program represented. For the hardworking generations of engineers and workers that made this program a reality I send out my whole hearted congratulations at your achievement.
Read more over at Space.com.
Posted by ManDrake at April 12, 2006 1:17 PM
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