Space Shuttle Endeavour Heads To Space Station 79
RobGoldsmith writes "The STS-127 crew began its journey to the International Space Station at 6:03 p.m. EDT Wednesday when space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The shuttle crew will complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and deliver a new crew member, astronaut Tim Kopra, to the orbital outpost."
Re:And this is news? (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, I like my iPhone. It's nice. But compared to reporting on mankind's efforts in space I really don't think we're talking about the same level of importance...
Cheers,
Ian
no research, no results (was Re:And this is news?) (Score:5, Insightful)
The irony of your wondering ``What have we gotten from all the experiments done in space since the sixties anyway? Do these expenses justify the cost?'' and then posting a story about smart (cell) phones has pegged my bogometer, actually bending the needle.
Here's a clue --- all interesting smartphone capabilities are intricately tied into satellites --- which are the result of space exploration and experimentation.
William
Re:And this is news? (Score:2, Insightful)
The real news is, that that piece of shit called the "space shuttle" got to orbit at all, without breaking into its parts and killing everybody.
(You people convinced me that the space shuttle is this crappy, so you can call yourselves trolls if you disagree. ^^ Apparently it is discontinued for a reason, and is way below the usual reliability standards.)
Re:And this is news? (Score:5, Insightful)
> We've had decades of shuttle launches, that this is now routine.
It stopped being routine when Challenger blew up. It became even less "routine" when Columbia disintegrated.
Oh well, I guess people risking their lives (there's a current story that large pieces of foam struck the shuttle on launch) isn't news, but rather some uninspiring BS about phone "communities" is.
I know, I have been trolled, but this made me rage.
--
BMO
Re:And this is news? (Score:3, Insightful)
"We've had decades of shuttle launches, that this is now routine."
Call it routine all you want. Watching something the size of a building lift off to space has always, is, and will continue to be an impressive technical achievement for the foreseeable future.
The shuttle is an expensive, impractical, fragile, dangerous, whatever vehicle, but it is still a remarkable machine. It may not be the best solution to place stuff in LEO, or not even a very good one, but it's beautiful and inspiring and that counts.
As for putting stuff in LEO, well... 40 years ago, we ventured into the vast ocean of space, swam a little until the island we see close to the beach and came back with wonderful stories. Since then, we have restricted ourselves to our shores, learning how to do stuff, how not to do stuff and dreaming of our future voyages. It will be a very sad day the one when we give up exploring beyond the confines of our beautiful planet.
Robots can't tell stories and none can say how it felt to watch the Earth from afar.