Shuttle For Sale, Cheap

The new asking price -- which basically covers travel costs -- is a recession-friendly $28.8 million -- a markdown of more one-third off the original $42 million fee.


However, you don't get title or the keys . . .

I wonder if it will fit in my garage?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I wonder if there is a diesel conversion kit available...

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

I find it extremely difficult to believe this country will be without manned spacecraft for quite some time. I also find it difficult to believe that no other manned spacecraft besides the shuttles have been built in the last 30+ years.

I'd like to believe that the military or possibly NASA do have spacecraft that have been kept secret for many years. If they don't, I would think the alien UFO phenomenon is very likely to be a reality. There are just to many sightings and much physical evidence of unknown spacecraft to be ignored or left unexplained. If they aren't ours, then who's are they?

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

It was ORIGINALLY designed to run on fryer grease....

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1987 300D (230,000 mi on a #14 head-watching the temp gauge and keeping the ghost in the machine)
Raleigh NC - Home of deep fried sushi!

Why do we even need manned space craft? We spend billions and billions sending us, creatures not suited for space, when computers can do the same job without the need for any of the biological overhead. Robots do not need a billion dollar toilet.

As far as UFO's go, come up with one shred of proof, maybe I'll give it a second thought.

Ares and Orion will come online soon. But you are right we should not have waited until the Shuttles were 30 years old to start designing the next generation ships. I guess since we have not found green chicks in steel bikinis out there yet Clinton had no interest in space exploration

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

1) We will need to get off this planet someday if our species is going to survive.

2) The spirit of exploration is deep inside us

3) Americans take risks and reap the rewards

4) What would a robot do with a green chick in a steel bikini?

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

The new rockets should get better MPGs at least.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

It's probably time to replace NASA and the other national space agencies with a single international agency.

I agree.
And, I would add to your “biological overhead”, “biological risks” as well.

The days of human necessity in space are pretty much gone.
The true “space heroes” are no longer the macho jet-jocks turned astronaut. But the unseen/unknown guys and gals we called geeks with pocket protectors and broken glasses.

As I see it -
Space travel falls into two categories: 1. Exploration and 2. Defense / Communication.

We’ve past the point where a man is necessary to do the exploring. Just as we have past the distance into space that man is capable of doing any exploring anyway. Electrons and silicon can stand the time and distance requirements that man can not. Not to mention; gather, process and transmit far more data (and a heck of a lot faster) than any human.
Human survival factors/studies for possible space colonization being one of few exceptions here.

The defense and communications side of the coin have pretty much always been unmanned anyway.

That leaves perhaps the necessity of being able to fix and/or retrieve. With high-tech reliability going up and costs coming down, we may be getting to a point where it’s cheaper to just leave things broken and shoot up another to take its place. In some ways we already have.

Closer to home for all of us. We see the same thing happening with atmospheric flight.
In just the 32+ years that I’ve been a licensed pilot. Advancements in technology have questioned human necessity in the cockpit. Our UAV/RPV program in many ways have answered said question. Commercial airline cockpits have gone from a three (sometimes four) man crew with physical and mental tasks at hand, to two man crews watching computers do much/most of the tasks. The same is happening with ATC tasks. What’s next ? I think we all know the answer to that one.

As for the UFO issue.
The other night I stuck my head out of the hangar just in time to catch a streak of some unlit jet propelled object ripping down the runway about 15’ off the ground.
I have no idea what/who it was exactly. So, I’m a UFO believer. There, is the proof of flying objects that could not be identified.
(that is until someone we know fesses up to the prank) (which wouldn’t be a first)

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

1) The key word there is “if”.
Also - You say that as if you know now that we can not survive if we don’t move off the planet. And, that there is somewhere for us to move to. If so, do we need “manned” space flight to find it? I think not.
2) Damn right. I agree 100%. That is one of the powers that have lead us to the point where we are exploring far past where manned flight can take us.
3) Yep. But not if they don’t have to. We’ll be just as happy to reap the rewards of exploration and discovery without the risks of human life.
4) Good question. Didn’t some explorer named James T. Kirk pretty much cover that one already?

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

We have millions of years to worry about it.

That's nice.

If you knew the Space Program the way I know it, you'd know it has become a stifling bureaucracy that is essentially a Job's Program for scientist's and connected government big wig's kids. If you ever want to get disgusted with the government, go to Johnson Space Center and watch the thousands of useless drones milling about. The place is a massive joke on the US taxpayer, and if you fired every damned one of them tomorrow, nobody would notice.

Very little in useful technical innovation comes from there anymore, the days of "Tang" are long over.

That would depend on his program. Perhaps we could include more than a Robot Arm?

Perhaps it's a "good thing" that presently, the human ability to physically explore the cosmos is relatively limited.

. "But the Air & Space Museum is only taking one ship -- Discovery -- which leaves Atlantis and Endeavour up for grabs -- assuming, or course, all three make it safely through their last year of flying. "