STS-132 - ULF4

[christra]

No, seriously, that smell of space thing makes me really curious. I also wonder if the Apollo guys did actually smell the Moon dust after their EVAs. When they ingressed the Lunar Module again their space suits were literally filthy by Moon dust.

They did. It smells like gunpowder.

[JLM]

They did. It smells like gunpowder.

I'm guessing that the lunar regolith is rich in magnesium (or is it silica)?

[Admin]

Atlantis about to undock for the last time in about 20 minutes!

Let's bid her good luck and a safe (last) return home.

What a momentuous and sad moment 

/Admin

[Admin]

And a few seconds ago, Atlantis left the ISS for the last time.

/Admin

[Moonwalker]

What a momentuous and sad moment  

Yes. It was already a sad moment when Mir was deorbited back then. After Shuttle retirement, the ISS remains a big and exciting consolation at least.

I see it from this point: I'm glad that I've got the opportunity to witness one of the greatest eras of manned space flight for now, after I've missed the Apollo era. And I'm sure that, no matter what happens within the next very few years, we'll see something bigger and more exciting in the future

[bradleyjs]

Hear, hear +1 -- I hope so...

[bjbeard]

Hey they are conducting SURF DRV tests! Perhaps this will be in a future upgrade? The elevons just finished getting tested. Shutting down APU as I type.

[bjbeard]

Ok, here we go!

Anyone else plugged in? It's 0240CDT(0740z) and Atlantis is getting ready for her final deorbit...  

[bjbeard]

Flying STS-93 for simultaneous re-entry.

[Derrick]

Touchdown! Welcome home Atlantis! A flawless landing and perfect career ending moment! We thank you Atlantis!

[Admin]

"No Deltas" pretty much summes up this landing! A befitting landing to a great lady!

Sad and inspirational moment - I hope that there will be somebody at NASA and in the US Gov to take the cue and elevate the manned Space Exploration to its next natural evolution - to the Moon and beyond.

/Admin

[bjbeard]

Don't hold your breath. That yahoo in the White House cant even tell BP where to stick it. Perhaps in 2012 we will get a space centered administration.

Rest Well Atlantis, your work is finished.

[Huron_Serenity]

"No Deltas" pretty much summes up this landing! A befitting landing to a great lady!

Sad and inspirational moment - I hope that there will be somebody at NASA and in the US Gov to take the cue and elevate the manned Space Exploration to its next natural evolution - to the Moon and beyond.

/Admin

I disagree slightly. The next frontier in human spaceflight is certainly the Moon, NEOs, Mars, and beyond, but I don't view as the next natural evolution.

In my opinion, the next natural evolution for human space exploration will be the expansion of commercial spaceflight in Earth orbit. Tourism, of course, suborbital to start, but rather swiftly moving onto Earth orbital tourism, plus with the space stations and spacecraft used for that purpose also being involved and supporting research and other commercial endeavours in low Earth orbit.

Who knows? Possibly the rise of the suborbital tourism market might also spawn the rise of rapid point to point transport, using the same technologies that support suborbital and orbital tourism.

To me, the expansion of commercial spaceflight over the next 10-20 years is far more exciting than the human exploration of the Moon, NEOs, or beyond. It reminds me of the early days of commercial aviation in the 1920s and 1930s. It's incredibly exciting; spaceflight will be gradually opened up to more and more people, rather than just the lucky chosen few and the even fewer that can afford the current tourist visits to the ISS.

[bjbeard]

Huron, are you holding a spot on Virgin Galactic?

Seriously, the next logical step is construction of a vehicle in orbit, with simultaneous commercial development and continuous orbital operations.   

The hoops the USAF is putting SpaceX though will have to be streamlined. Just because Boeing or Lockheed didn't build the rocket is no reason to think another company cant do it too.

[Moonwalker]

There is no natural evolution in space flight. There is human decisions based on ideas and opinions. Administrations, agencies and companies decide what's next and what's not next.

As for my opinion: I agree to a lot of space people and former astronauts, especially Buzz Aldrin, that manned space flight should be available for literally everybody. Manned space flight currently is not that much contributing to the wide public, and the science also is quite minor than lobbyists try to make it look like (most of the time of the ISS program is spend for construction and to keep everything up and running fine).

However, there is a huge problem a lot of people ignore: we still do not have the technology to make space flight easy and cheap in a way commercial aviation is available for almost everybody. Space flight does happen in a different, extreme physical environment. You need a certain technology to be able to travel within that environment. And you need even more certain technology to do it cheaper and less elaborate than NASA and all the others do at the moment. Even SpaceX will be more expensive than projected. Not to talk about Virgin Galactic. Their estimated ticket prices are more than optimistic. It already begins with supersonic commercial aviation: too fuel-hungry, too expensive and especially too noisy. We don't even have the technology to make a second Concorde economical and ecological reasonable. And there is only one reason for commercial aviation: airlines that buy aircraft they can use to make profit with. Boeing and all the others are only able to produce their aircraft because they get orders, otherwise they don't produce. And for space flight, well, there is not even a market.

We are still very far away from commercialization of space flight in a scale it happened with aviation. And I do not talk just about 1 or 2 decades. It's way longer into the future until it "might" happen. The dream of commercial space travel existed already before there was any sign of something like NASA...