Re:Don't Mourn the Space Shuttle. Privatize Interstellar Exp...
by TeMPOraL on Thursday April 19, 2012 @04:21AM
(#3861931)
> Its a rocket.
It's not just a rocket, it's a rocket capable of reaching orbit and returning [1]. But the things that NASA (along with russian space agency and others) did was things like figuring out, e.g., reliable ground-orbit radio communication, deployment and use of satellites, and a hell of procedures regarding pretty much everything from setting up a spacecraft, to lauching it, to orbiting, deorbiting and landing it, not to mention occasional orbital transfers to other planets. And let's not even get started about ground-side logistics.
There is LOT more to a space mission than just building a rocket. NASA and others did a fine job of doing that, and building neccessary experience in the process.
It's not just a rocket, it's a rocket capable of reaching orbit and returning [1]. But the things that NASA (along with russian space agency and others) did was things like figuring out, e.g., reliable ground-orbit radio communication, deployment and use of satellites, and a hell of procedures regarding pretty much everything from setting up a spacecraft, to lauching it, to orbiting, deorbiting and landing it, not to mention occasional orbital transfers to other planets. And let's not even get started about ground-side logistics.
There is LOT more to a space mission than just building a rocket. NASA and others did a fine job of doing that, and building neccessary experience in the process.
[1] - yeah, I know, ICBMs can do that too.