drewbdoo2

I think I understand where you're coming from a lot better now! I totally agree that all is NOT well. The bad days are just beginning... But I meant to say that with all this Budget Shortening going on, NASA won't be able to do everything that they want to do. Commercial Companies, specifically SpaceX, are going to need to take over launches to the ISS (Unless we won't to keep on hitching a ride with the Russians) if NASA wants to TRY and focus on the Moon and beyond. No politics here, just my thoughts.

Thank you for your feedback! Just about to add that third category to the poll. From what you and many others have said is starting to make a lot more sense to me now. Every answer is relative to the situation... Edit: Can't figure out how to change the poll...

I just meant that if theoretically you could reach the speed of light (which IS impossible) would Newton's Third law still apply? Or is there some dark corner of physics that we don't know of yet? I mean to say this: When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body. With this reaction, your "fuel" would have to be "equal" to the force it takes to reach the speed of light, assuming you have an engine that gets "100% Efficiency". How can the human race ever create a reaction that would allow us to reach the speed of light ... or how could we find the engine and fuel that would let us reach that speed. And again, I have a VERY basic understanding of physics. If someone feels like blasting me on one of these ridiculous theories, feel free to do so.

Sorry, but when I read this, I sort of did take it the wrong way. I borrowed some lines from a Middle School Speech, which is where I bet you get this "propaganda" feeling. Do you mind telling me what made you feel like there was propaganda? I absolutely DON'T agree with the majority of politicians when it comes to the NASA budget. What "lie" do you think I'm selling when I say that the future of spacecraft lies with commercial companies? Charles Bolden agrees with me on that.

In the perfect world, where there are infinite resources and an even MORE infinite amount of money, I just wouldn't use the Space Shuttle. It's sort of like recycling... If we didn't need to conserve our resources than we WOULDN'T CONSERVE OUR RESOURCES. Why reuse everything when you can just manufacture a completely NEW rocket? The whole point of the Space Shuttle was to have a reusable launch vehicle, and they did manage to reuse ALMOST everything during the Space Shuttle days, reusing 2/3 of the Launch Vehicle. Wikipedia states: "Each Space Shuttle is a reusable launch system that is composed of three main assemblies: the reusable Orbiter Vehicle (OV), the expendable external tank (ET), and the two reusable solid rocket boosters (SRBs)" That kind of reusability, wasting only 2/3 of the Launch Vehicle is what kept NASA launching the Space Shuttle on 135 missions. And with a 98.5% success rate, the Space Shuttle not only showed its reusability, but also its reliability. But this isn't a perfect world. This is a world where we have to reuse as much as we can to conserve resources and the bills in the bank. Sadly, the Space Shuttle Program had to come to an end at some point with all the jerks in DC arguing over the budget. Luckily, it opened up the door for Orion, and Dragon. Now, my hope lies with SpaceX's Dragon to become the next vehicle to carry American Astronauts to the Space Station, instead of hitching a ride with the Russians. Private firms such as SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and Boeing are building the future of spacecraft. These new commercial firms are creating new jobs at home and keeping the U.S as the world leader in space. With SpaceX (hopefully) handling transport to LEO and to the ISS in the near future, NASA can take care of Orion, and get us back to the Moon and beyond.

Thanks for adding this! I guess I never really thought of the Universe not having a specific point to call "The Edge of the Universe".

You wouldn't do ONE huge rocket! That thing would look like a couple Saturn-V's taped together! (Even though I love the thought of that ) This Interplanetary Craft would be assembled in LEO. Here's what it looks like just to do an unmanned FLYBY of the Moon. Take a look on Youtube, there are plenty of videos in regards to the Orion Spacecraft heading to Mars.

So, my friend and I were talking about Science and the Big Bang and the Universe, and all of sudden we noticed that we both loved to talk about things that didn't really have any REAL answer (Or at least any answer that we could think of) So, I brought up escaping the Universe. Now, I have a Basic (REALLY BASIC) understanding of Physics, math, space flight, and most of all science, as I prefer Biology and Geology to math and Physics. My argument was that it's impossible to do because you could never get enough energy (With the human race's current understanding of physics as I know it) to create the velocity needed to "escape" the universe. I'm not asking for a 1000 page report on this, I'm just wondering what everyone else thinks! I love the KSP Forums as I've found plenty of fellow nerds who aren't afraid to talk about stuff they know (or don't know for that matter) anything about.