DYNASTY HVY

Makes me wonder how we arrived at this point and why we as a nation have lost the inclination to get things done the way it was during the Apollo program.
I remember watching the movie 2001 one night with Fred and wondered if the human race would ever make that possible.



Ally

Kasserine06

I don’t think this is all doom and gloom. We have always been looking back on the Apollo program as the golden age and have always wanted to see it happen again ever since the 70s. The truth is, that was a rare moment in human history where technological advances, politics, and patriotism all lined up. It is not something that can be sustained. Humans have always been pushing the bar, but it is not a continuous process; it comes in waves and peaks. Sometimes the bar stays where it is for decades or centuries, and then jumps forward unexpectedly.

The things that allowed the Apollo program to happen are no longer around. There is no cold war to give us a sense of urgency, there is no one exploration goal that the country can get excited about, no politician wants to attach themselves to a large budget, and our rocket technology has reached a plateau. Although we have made huge advances in computing power, that won’t get our spacecraft to go faster.

We are waiting for the next jump in rocket technology. Maybe we will look at nuclear rockets again or centuries from now develop antimatter engines. While we wait, we can still push the limits in other areas. Just because we are not doing something new doesn’t mean humankind has stagnated. We can develop cheaper and easier ways to launch satellites which will one day aid in another manned space mission in the future. Commercial space travel is still something to be impressed with. Sure, SpaceShip Two is not going any higher than NASA’s earlier efforts, but they will do it with much less money and much more frequently. I remember the day SpaceShip One was launched and I am sure I will look back on it as those who remember Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.

III Corps

Simple. We are becoming a smaller, more isolationist country that wants guarantees. I was at a seminar last year and two of the presenters, from the Apollo era, said that recent studies showed that the majority of students admitted cheating on exams and indeed, said they had not honestly answered questions on the questionaire about cheating. The other, a former astronaut, said we have become a very risk-AVERSE society whether talking about space or the battlefield. It has to have guarantees and any loss has to be immediately mitigated. I asked both, "So we cheat, we are risk averse and we want a guarantee of success... doesn't sound like a good recipe for the future." They glumly nodded and one said, "We could not today take on a project like the moon launch, lose a crew and continue. Public and political outrage would call it to a halt."

atpwannabe

I was a junior at ERAU, (Daytona), and remember being in the parking lot just west of the UC. We were all looking up and saw the explosion. It was in between classes so there were quite a few people in the parking lot. Like a school of bait fish, everyone in the parking lot where I was standing, almost simultaneously ran for the UC. It was then that we had discovered what had happened.



atp

Kasserine06

I do agree that the current generation lacks the ambition of the Apollo era, but I don’t think cost can be ignored.

Cost of Apollo program: $25 billion
Real GDP in 1969: $97 billion
Percent GDP cost of the Apollo program: 2.6%

Proposed cost of Orion program: $1.0 Trillion
Real GDP in 2009: $14 Trillion
Percent GDP cost of the Orion program: 7.1%

In the future, when the cost comes down and the population really wants it to happen, I am sure we will go beyond the moon.