Whitechapel - International Space Station might be abandoned Tue, 21 May 2013 07:17:50 -0700 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.1.4 & Feed Publisher International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307831#Comment_307831 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307831#Comment_307831 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:29:27 -0700 Lactamaeon
International Space Station might be abandoned in November ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307942#Comment_307942 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307942#Comment_307942 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:40:47 -0700 256
If that's not good enough then, yes, it might be time to call it a day.

(That said, I think the article is referring to a temporary dehabitation of the ISS, which doesn't seem unreasonable if there is anything that needs to be fixed with the Soyuz.) ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307943#Comment_307943 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307943#Comment_307943 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:45:32 -0700 SteadyUP International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307945#Comment_307945 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307945#Comment_307945 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:48:24 -0700 Jay Kay International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307947#Comment_307947 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307947#Comment_307947 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:59:40 -0700 William George
As sexy as the idea is, the anti-science barbarian hoards are currently sacking our Techno Rome. I think these showy things need to be put aside and focus and resources placed on education and, sadly, political lobbying. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307950#Comment_307950 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307950#Comment_307950 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:25:59 -0700 James Puckett I think these showy things need to be put aside and focus and resources placed on education and, sadly, political lobbying.

Absolutely. It's time for smart people to stop whinging about pet projects and focus on breaking down the military/industrial/financial complex before it kills us all. I'm not wasting my time worrying about space stations, I'm going to worry about how to smash the GOP so I can watch Nancy Pelosi grinding Michelle Bachmann face first into the dirt and not letting her up until she cries uncle through a mouth of broken teeth and gravel. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307960#Comment_307960 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307960#Comment_307960 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:37:09 -0700 John Skylar I'm going to worry about how to smash the GOP

This is not at odds with the ISS! Smashing the GOP will be very easy with an orbital death laser.

Also, in all seriousness, the ISS is an important project for real, Earth-based political reasons. It shows that international collaborations can work to support US-based industries. Those tend to be more of a "Democrat" thing when they're constructive (though the GOP sure has cornered the market on destructive international collaborations). The existence of the ISS has created a big incentive for companies like SpaceX to work on manned vehicles, supporting advances toward more lucrative manned spaceflight possibilities. These kinds of things will create an economy that even further incentivizes education, leading to a lot of the things you've come out in support of. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307966#Comment_307966 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=307966#Comment_307966 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:46:25 -0700 William George
Money is wasted on projects that 1% of the population and 0.005% of the power holders understand because they won't give the support they need. Education first, big dreams second. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308038#Comment_308038 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308038#Comment_308038 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:08:48 -0700 Alan Tyson
Problem with that is, China doesn't really have anything to gain by doing anything amazing in space. And that's maybe what depresses me more than anything else. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308055#Comment_308055 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308055#Comment_308055 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:41:18 -0700 256 China doesn't really have anything to gain by doing anything amazing in spaceOh, I don't know about that. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308095#Comment_308095 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308095#Comment_308095 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:32:02 -0700 johnjones Daemon and Freedom. Less high profile symbolism and more bedrock sustainability projects (and also sword-wielding robot motorcycles). ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308136#Comment_308136 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308136#Comment_308136 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:26:14 -0700 Jason A. Quest science matters. Ask any working middle-aged scientist why they got interested in that field as children, and they will probably mention Apollo and/or Star Trek before the conversation is over.

The ISS in particular is important, in much the same way that the Apollo-Soyuz link-up was back during the Cold War. Two governments that were usually not on speaking terms with each other at the top level, and which were busy posturing and "sending messages" thru diplomatic channels, were actually collaborating and cooperating face to face on something thru their space-science agencies. It re-opened and kept open communication channels between the US and Soviet governments. ISS has turned that into a multilateral nexus, and could be even more valuable if we got China and India on board (literally). Participation of some sort could even serve as an opening into North Korea. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308141#Comment_308141 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308141#Comment_308141 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:33:53 -0700 purvision International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308178#Comment_308178 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308178#Comment_308178 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:04:00 -0700 Lactamaeon I didn't even realize they'd finished building the fucking thing.

That's because the International Space Station isn't complete yet.... :)
The " Nauka " - the Russian Federal Space Agency's MLM (Multipurpose Laboratory Module ) will be their primary research module as part of the ISS, and will be used for general microgravity experiments, docking, and cargo logistics. The arrival of Nauka in May of next year will *then* complete construction of the Russian Orbital Segment and it will be the last major component added to the station.
Returning to the problem at hand,The ISS crew have more than a year's worth of food and water on the Station, the main issue is that the attached "escape" vehicles have a operation life of 200 days. The crew can survive up there if need be, but if there was some kind of emergency, there would be no way for them to escape. So until the Russians analyze and fix their Soyuz rockets booster malfunction , the Station will most likely be abandoned by either November and December ( The ISS won't really be truly abandoned, like the old Skylab was back in '79 - The ISS can be remotely monitored and controlled by ground crew if need be, until a replacement crew can return )
( Originally, the ISS program was to end in 2016, when the Station was to be decommissioned , abandoned and then a powered deorbit into the Pacific, but it's shelf life was extended until 2020, due to President Obama's "Space Policy" speech back in April 2010 ).

There won't be a Space Shuttle Replacement Vehicle until 2016 at the earliest.......Thanks, NASA for your great long term planning skills.... ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308185#Comment_308185 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308185#Comment_308185 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:37:19 -0700 Oddcult International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308193#Comment_308193 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308193#Comment_308193 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:58:37 -0700 256
There won't be a Space Shuttle Replacement Vehicle until 2016 at the earliest.......Thanks, NASA for your great long term planning skills....

NASA are great at long-term planning. They are, however, not very good at getting long-term funding. Which, bearing in mind the small-time short-term fuckers who hold the purse-strings, is absolutely understandable. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308237#Comment_308237 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308237#Comment_308237 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:07:33 -0700 Alan Tyson If I can get up to it, it's mine, right?

I think you have to lick it, first. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308238#Comment_308238 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308238#Comment_308238 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:04:05 -0700 William George Relevant.

(assuming I was able to fix the mobile URL to a browser URL...) ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308246#Comment_308246 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308246#Comment_308246 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:04:44 -0700 flecky International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308280#Comment_308280 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308280#Comment_308280 Sat, 03 Sep 2011 07:34:51 -0700 Lactamaeon Am I right in thinking Mir was temporarily abandoned and then reinhabited during it's lifetime? Or it might be completely the opposite, that they couldn't ever leave it unmanned.

I believe that Mir was continuously manned and occupied for it's 15 year operational life, until it was abandoned and deorbited in 2001 ( due to the lack of funding by the Russian Space Agency, funding which instead was diverted to sending up the first couple of ISS modules ).


NASA are great at long-term planning. They are, however, not very good at getting long-term funding. Which, bearing in mind the small-time short-term fuckers who hold the purse-strings, is absolutely understandable.


I stand corrected, you're absolutely right about that fact.

According to one of "The Myths of the Space Program" that were mentioned in William George's link was that "The average American thinks that NASA gets 1/4 of the U.S. total budget " ( 24 % ), when in fact, NASA's budget for Fiscal Year 2010 equates to a little over *one-half of one percent* (0.53%) of the total U.S. federal budget of $3.1 Trillion.
That translates to 18.7 billion , which sounds like a lot of money, but when one considers for the 2010 fiscal year, the base budget of the Department of Defense spending on "overseas contingency operations" is * $663.8 billion*, or about 20 percent of U.S. federal spending .
( Yes, it's the DOD that get's almost 1/4 of the US total budget - and many say that the percentage is probably even higher than that.... )

Afghanistan and Iraq combined totals $9.7 billion a *month*.
For the cost of one month in Iraq and Afghanistan, NASA could have launched the space shuttle five more times.

For $663.7 billion *a* year, ( not including a 33 percent return on investment , which is *quite* good for a federal agency ) we could have , ( if not on our way to ) not only fully manned and sustainable Lunar bases, but multiple O'Neill Orbital Colonies at Lagrangian points 4 and 5, continuous manned missions to Mars ( if not outright colonization ) and the outer reaches ot the solar system. Among other ventures.

Oh well.
There is always the "private sector"...Right?....hahaha.. ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308286#Comment_308286 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308286#Comment_308286 Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:22:15 -0700 William George International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308289#Comment_308289 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308289#Comment_308289 Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:18:04 -0700 government spy Oh well.
There is always the "private sector"...Right?....hahaha..

Hey, that's my only hope for getting into space, when the private sector starts building space jails... ]]> International Space Station might be abandoned http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308290#Comment_308290 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=10185&Focus=308290#Comment_308290 Sat, 03 Sep 2011 10:27:53 -0700 Lactamaeon Hey, that's my only hope for getting into space, when the private sector starts building space jails...
Not going to Space Jail ]]>