Why is the US government allowing the space shuttle program to die? We should build 3 new ones with updated materials technology and replace the aging fleetInstead - we're going back to capsules - little round aluminum cans that get shot into space on a the tip of a rocket and then have to parachute back to earth.Parachute.In the 21st century.How can the Orion be used for mass evacuations of the ISS, or carry large crews into space, or carry grouops of high paying tourists into space? Or go out and repair sattelites (like the Hubble last week)?I suggest that every concerned US citixen (and international space exploration enthusiast) get off thier butts and start letting the Whitehouse and Congress know we're not happy - before it's too late.In a couple of years we will be back to 1968 level space exploration.Great.
Buy the type of yarn recommended for the patternWhen taking on a knitting project of this magnitude it would be safer to spend the money on the proper yarnYou could also take the pattern to your local yarn store and ask for a recommendation for something compatible.
Such a big differenve in gauge needs the pattern to be rewritten completelyMost patterns now give a block of each piece in the garment showing the finished measurementsKnitting a swatch with your chosen yarn to find the gauge with that yarn together with the block gives the data required to rewrite the pattern.
I agree with your comments i think the public always thinks there is an easy waythey don't want to pay for anything, but they always expect to get things for freethey are weak in the face of risk (space is all about risk)the fact of the matter is no country or company in the entire world has ever built and operated a shuttle with the capability that the US government and it's private contractors have createdHats off to SpaceShipOne, but it has a long way to go to perform the work of a Space ShuttleThere is no comparisonYou can fault the shuttle program for all it's failuresHowever, the shuttle itself has never failedIt's the launch system that has been problematic(SRBs, Exttank)The shuttles were designed for 100 flightsEven though it's been 20+ yearsThe most any shuttle has flown is about 35The shuttles have a lot more life in themThe shuttles provide capability that no other spacecraft can doWith the shuttles we have 20+ years of knowledge of using the systemWe have a proven systemIt would be a waste of government money to not utilize the shuttles given that they have not even reached the halfway mark in their design lifetimeThe new Orion/Constellation will not be able to perform the work the shuttle canIt is also not a proven systemThere will be setbacksWe should be building upon what we have learned from the Shuttle programNot reinventing the wheel with capsules that land in the waterWe should focus on building a Mars rocket, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel with transporting astronauts to and from earthlet the shuttles do thatWe know how to do it and we have the equipmentit's already paid forThe work those astronauts did repairing the Hubble is exactly the kind of know how our nation needsLet's keep that capabilitywe can use that know-how on the long voyage to Mars.
