Norman Levitt wrote:

[snip]

> B) The ultimate cause is the concept of the shuttle itself, which ought to
> rank high on the list of all-time boondoggles. There was never a compelling
> reason to build a space program around a machine designed to carry a handful
> of "Astronauts" (I use sardonic quote-marks because these guys never got
> closer to the stars than you or I) into low orbit. Virtually all that has
> been accomplished by the shuttle in terms of pure science, useful
> technology, and military applications, could have been done faster and
> cheaper by unmanned rockets and, perhaps, a small, cheap manned system not
> designed to carry large cargo. The reason that NASA originally opted for
> the shuttle was not a technical judgment on the essential merits of the
> system but a political and bureaucratic strategy for maintaining funding at
> high levels.

[snip]

There are at least some interesting conjunctions -- I do not know the extent
to which there are causal connections -- here
between the American space program and the USSR.

(1) The way the USA ultimately won the "Cold War" and defeated
Bolschevism was by driving the Soviet Union into bankruptcy
before we drove ourselves into that state. The USA space
shuttle program seems to have motivated the USSR to try to
make its own space shuttle, presumably at similarly
high expense but on a far smaller GNP. So, whether intentionally
or not, the space shuttle may have comtributed to the USA
winning the Cold War.

(1a) There is a precedent here in the USSR program to
build a SST jet (the TU144, if I remember right).
The USSR copied the concorde design but
the West fed the USSR falsified engineering information which
led to the USSR SST having a catastrophic design flaw.

(2) Most of the USSR space program, like USSR military aircraft,
was grounded in relatively low-tech, highly robust
(AKA "brute force") systems, which, after the collapse of
the USSR has exposed their secrets,
have so impressed USA scientists that we are now
using some of the USSR designs.

Example: while the USA developed rockets with exotic and tempermental
fuels, the USSR developed highly efficient rocket that
used kerosene. (Similarly, whereas USA fighter jets
need extremely careful maintenance and perfect
runways, the USSR fighter planes are capable of
landing and takeoff from runways with potholes.)

Attention to such historical information may contribute
to our making our best possible science and engineering
policy decisions as we go forward.

\brad mccormick

--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)

<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / bradmcc@...
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