The sorry state of the U.S. space program.. or how the mighty have fallen.

[Jesrad]

The Airforce currently perform exactly Zero manned space missions.

...that the general public knows about.

[Nibb31]

...that the general public knows about.

It would be pretty hard to hide a manned orbital program. It would also be pretty useless.

[clivman]

Well...I guess I will put my hope in JAXA and ESA then. Makes me really sad that despite all the recent achievements in space science, they still get a cut like this.

Id rather put bets on ISRO and CNSA, if the Chinese stop all the secrecy stuff.

[Linear]

...that the general public knows about.

Rockets are big. People are expensive to look after. Can't see the USAF having much use for people in space.

[Kryten]

It would be pretty hard to hide a manned orbital program. It would also be pretty useless.

And a good bit harder to hide a large re-entering spacecraft and a recovery operation.

[Nibb31]

Id rather put bets on ISRO and CNSA, if the Chinese stop all the secrecy stuff.

There isn't that much secrecy. The problem is that western media doesn't relay much of what's happening in China.

[Bill Phil]

Had the Saturn I/Ib shared the same engine as Thor (it didn't), it wouldn't even have been able to get off the ground. (Thor's engines produced about 2/3rds the thrust of the H-1.)

Actually, the BM-3 used on Thor did become the H-1, however, Thor never used the H-1. It did, however, use the RS-27 later on, which is a modified H-1. RS-27As are flown on Delta IIs now.

[Cyrious]

...that the general public knows about.

With very rare exceptions, every launch done these days is a fairly public affair. When the X37B went back up, ground observers found it and its orbit within weeks. A manned capsule would be even easier to spot due to the solar panels being deployed

[PB666]

I'm not sure how to keep this politically correct

Its not just NASA, there are those that wish to fund only the military and their own salaries and health insurance and nothing else.

[PakledHostage]

Its not just NASA, there are those that wish to fund only the military and their own salaries and health insurance and nothing else.

And it isn't unique to America either. Our government in Canada has muzzled all scientists who are federally funded. They aren't allowed to speak to the media without first having their responses vetted by the party to ensure they don't contradict party ideology.

Science Under Seige - Part 1

Science Under Seige - Part 2

Science Under Seige - Part 3

[Vanamonde]

Guys, discussions of politics turn into arguments. We're not saying it's not relevant. We're saying the discussions invariably go bad. Now please, stick to spaceflight itself.