60 years and we’re back to a cramped little capsule stuck on top of a rocket.
With LCD touch screen controls.
The US couldn’t make the space shuttle today. We don’t know how.
Hell, I am half surprised NASA is going to let this happen. I am not sure we have the infrastructure to do this.
I kind of feel the same way. The shuttle was such a step forward in capability, and certainly looked cooler. However, a teardrop-shaped capsule is necessary for flights to higher orbits and to the moon. Something like the shuttle could only be used in relatively low Earth orbit because the re-entry velocity is much lower. Re-entering at the higher speeds involved coming back from the moon, for example, requires a capsule configuration to survive it.
So we’re going to be seeing a lot of capsules for the foreseeable future, from not only SpaceX but also Boeing and others. Of course, there is one exception which is the SpaceX Starship, if they can get it to stop rapidly disassembling during tests.
This is the first commercial/private manned spaceflight in history. And at no cost to taxpayers, the possibilities of escalation are great. Brand new technologies have been developed and deployed for today’s launch.
That’s the significance of this. Cut us some slack for being excited.
Exactly. I watched those 1960s space launches as a boy and figured by now, space travel would be a routine event and even tourists would be going to the moon for lunch, a corned beef sandwich while watching the Earth spin around, then be back on Earth for dinner.
When the launch last week was scrubbed for clouds, well that reminded me of back in the 1960s.
“60 years and we’re back to a cramped little capsule stuck on top of a rocket.”
Not hardly. The capsule is 12 foot across and about 20 foot long. Has seven seating arrangements.