Just a simple question...

[dosb]

hi everybody!

i often remember the amazing manned missions in the past and these days there is nothing like this (except iss-transfers).
yes, iss is a fulltime manned mission and absolutely great but what i mean is something big like Space Shuttle and alle the incredible projects before.

so that took me to the point to shout out a question online:

HERE IT IS 

do you think like me or am i alone with all these memories and wishes for the future?

bye and greetings!

[Green Baron]

Welcome :-)

I personally think different. I do remember times when sonic booms were to be heard several times a day, including shattered windows and tense nerves (booms from airplanes i mean). I am happy that these times are over.

A NGMM (new great manned mission) needs a program to justify it. Just sending people to Moon or Mars for the lulz of it might please a billionaires heart or boost "we did it" feelings but is of little scientific use if it is not made clear what to do there.

Also, and that is probably the biggest hindrance right now, there is not the technology nor the money to do so. Tech is in development, money elsewhere, being printed at the central banks and ... stop .. politics :-)

And a little fundamental research for the impact of such journeys on the human mind and body wouldn't harm as well.

Also, i think, the times of the shuttle are over. The concept hasn't really proved to be viable, in all respects, safety, money, manageable tech. .... but i will probably soon be corrected.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Green Baron

[KSK]

Well there are a handful of new crewed vehicles supposed to be launching over the next few years. SpaceX's Crew Dragon, Orion and Boeing's CST-100. Mind you - if you hear a sonic boom from any of them, then something's probably gone badly wrong.

Orion will almost certainly be going around the Moon and there are apparently plans for Crew Dragon to do the same (how advanced or realistic those plans are I couldn't say), so you may get to see a couple of Moon flights over the next few years as well. A sustained crewed program beyond low Earth orbit? Personally I doubt it, unless NASA suddenly gets the political clout and funding to do anything serious with SLS, or some of Elon Musk's wilder ideas come to pass. Which of those scenarios is most likely (or least unlikely), I'll leave as an exercise for the reader.

Edited August 27, 2017 by KSK