zerm - 4/5/2006 7:33 AM(I won't talk Soviet... because according to them, every flight was perfect... ya' know how those darned Soviets used to be)
I know full well the flaws in the STS... I also know the flaws in my toaster. I'm happy with both systems- because they do the job.
As groundbreaking as it was, being the first meant that it had to do more that it's fair share of hard-way lesson-learning. Boeing, on the other hand, was able to apply their knowledge from building the B-47 and B-52, as well as from observing the Caravelle and the Comet, when they were designing the 707.Shuttle was the first reusable launch vehicle ever, so it's not surprising that it ended up being slightly imperfect. It's too bad that there was no opportunity to either build another vehicle with the lessons learned from the first 33 shuttle flights, or perhaps to build a much smaller vehicle to learn with and then go for something Shuttle-like.
vt_hokie - 4/5/2006 8:09 PMQuote As groundbreaking as it was, being the first meant that it had to do more that it's fair share of hard-way lesson-learning. Boeing, on the other hand, was able to apply their knowledge from building the B-47 and B-52, as well as from observing the Caravelle and the Comet, when they were designing the 707.Shuttle was the first reusable launch vehicle ever, so it's not surprising that it ended up being slightly imperfect. It's too bad that there was no opportunity to either build another vehicle with the lessons learned from the first 33 shuttle flights, or perhaps to build a much smaller vehicle to learn with and then go for something Shuttle-like.Exactly my view on the subject! I think what we're doing by regressing to Apollo derived capsules would be akin to abandoning jet airliner development after the Comet's problems, and going back to props instead of ever building the 707.
vt_hokie - 4/5/2006 10:21 PMThat's where capitalism falls short. If profitability is an immediate requirement, we will never advance. Almost no new technology starts out being cost effective.
Paul Howard - 6/5/2006 10:04 PMThe Shuttle is an amazing machine. In fact, it's so advanced they are ahead of their time in reality. That's why it appears we are going backwards with the CEV.