Re: NASA's vision lost on Web generation

Jim wrote:
Yes, the shuttle was oversold; so what?

Your great concern for the taxpayers is noted.

> Has it not contributed to the greater good?

Wasting resources doesn't contribute to the greater good.

> Could we have built the ISS without it?

What makes you think ISS was a good thing? It's primary
accomplishment is to make (by comparison) the shuttle seem
like a model of good policy.

Keep in mind when NASA realized that the shuttle could not live up to expectations billions of dollars had been spent.

NASA managers knew they were lying from the get go. They cooked
the books to make the case for shuttle.

> Eventhough it fell short, it could meet some of the
demands.

Shuttle had no chance of being economically rational. Its purpose
was to keep the iron ricebowl filled at NASA and the contractors.

Who determined that the shuttle was oversold? It was the Rodgers and Gehman (I lilely misspelled that) commissons that limited the shuttles effectiveness. Those commisssions determined the eventual demise of the STS program. (another discussion thread).

Who determined? Anyone who compared the promises to the actual performance.
And, no, the commissions did not make it fail, they merely recognized
its failure. It could not fly at a rate that would allow it to achieve
competitive operational costs, much less pay back the development cost.

BTW, it was a public admission of programmatic failure when they capped
the initial production of orbiters at four. This long preceded any of
the accidents.

Also, what is so wrong in keeping jobs?

Ah, the plaintive bleat of the tax-fattened parasite. What's wrong
is that the taxpayers should keep their money, not pay for useless makework.

Paul

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Relevant Pages

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