Countdown to final Space Shuttle launch: Will engineers, space companies be able to fill the void?

I believe private company's will come up with something to launch things like communication satellites and the military has their own space launch capability's.
But we will loose several key things, first off is much of the spin off technology from space exploration.
The reason all the products came from NASA was its basic premise of were using government money so cost is not a problem.
NASA failed as a space transport program as they got bloated with modern Scientists and engineers(people who simply don't have the right stuff for that occupation) rather then the kind of Scientists and engineers they had in the 50's and 60's.
The basic difference in today's Scientists and Engineers and those of the 50's and 60's is today they are people who pass tests and in the 50's and 60's they were people who knew science and engineering.
One of the big problems today is schools not teaching people properly.
And there has been the idea that anyone can be a scientist or engineer, and the truth is it takes a special kind of mind to be a good scientist or a good engineer.
NASA changed from its original get the job done in the 50's and 60's to it can't be done today.
NASA today is full of people today who say a BEE can't fly my computer says so, from the people it had in the beginning, who would figure out why a bee could fly.
NASA started basically as a military style organization with a few really good engineers and scientists and a group of support people who would get a mandate to "go to the moon" and say "Yes Sir!" and get the job done, to today ware its "We have to do a computer study and see if its possible to go to the moon".
NASA could have done a moon trip with the shuttle, take the pieces up in sections, assemble it in orbit, and then send it on to the moon, but the computeneer's couldn't figure that out.
Instead it was we have to design a new "Saturn V rocket", its funny I remember the story about the computeneers at NASA, a couple of years ago, were going to government surplus company's and buying old rocket parts to figure out how the fuel pumps were made on the old rockets.

If ya do a search the info is on the internet, LOL!

Andy T is a very keen man. You have it all correct sir.
Insanity - Doing the same thing over & over and expecting different results. Keep electing our leaders based on smear campaigns instead of their position on important issues gets you the best mudslinger in office. That's really useful.
The average American, I am absolutely convinced, is an freaking dullard. (present company is definitely excluded or you wouldn't be reading this ...) Unfortunately even dumb-a$$es get to vote.
THis country will continue to fall until people get hungry enough to take things like education seriously. Who the he11 would think it's OK to drop out of high school?? I'll tell you - about 10% of my kids graduating class. Great career choice. Fat dumb and somewhat happy, that about sums up the current USA. If you don't believe me, go spend an afternoon people watching at any WALMART. Makes me sick.
Here's a fix -- Make people take a test before they can vote. That'll weed out the first 50% of dullards 'cuz they won't even be bothered with actually doing it. Weed out the rest by failing the test. And I'm not talking putting calculus on it --- Simple questions like "In which two countries are we currently involved in open combat operations?". You can't answer that, you have absolutely no business voting 'cuz you're flipping clueless. ACLU would love that wouldn't they?

Some of you have been asleep and are not watching the sleight of hand closely.
Re-entry shields and 30 story 5 engined rockets are 1950's tech. Look at what Burt Rutan did with carbon fiber and fiberglass...it FLIES up and it FLIES down, with no special tiles: scaled.com/projects/tierone/ That does not solve the issue of getting past 60 miles to close to 200, COMMERCIALLY.
Some also missed my point on Bachmann and Palin, and you are spewing a partisan political rant (partisanship is in name only - the collusion to rob us blind is an unsanctioned coalition) - it's easy to blame the morons on TV and the crooks spending OUR money, including turning a completely blind eye to writing US DOE specs in CHINESE to make it easier (!!???!!) for the Chinese to develop products for the US market(!!??!!)...it's tougher to blame the idiots that elected them or put them there in the first place....OURSELVES. Look in the mirror for whom to blame - our decline, our electing those in CONGRESS (working together for our demise and pretty much ignoring Obama) with other interests than the USA and ITS people...that is who is to blame for all of this. We elect based on STUPID, irrelevant, hocus pocus, issues and then they take carte blanche on the Treasury, our rights, and our jobs. A $200,000 per year cap for those in government service on all income going forward and campaigns would fix all this, not the kickback that our former Homeland Security Chief is now enjoying for popping out a $750M spend on backscatter machines before leaving office...who's willing to shoot themselves in the foot and be a high randing admin, Congresscritter or president merely to apply their extraordinary BRILLIANCE as a SELFLESS service to the NATION at COST? Better yet, who DEMANDS it?

NASA costs the USA less than 0.13% of GDP and has a 9x return on investment. Sounds like great value to me...
Also, it looks like the conflict in Iraq has cost more than what a manned mission to Mars would cost.
I think it is a real shame that NASA will be taking a back seat. Some things are worth the expenditure...

Well said, Andy T.

Critics have argued for decades that NASA is a bloated government bureaucracy whose space programs should be privatized. Yet the private space ventures that exist so far have struggled to match NASA's first manned suborbital flight of 1961 -- despite access to NASA's proven technology and experience. That 50-year head start is hard to beat. President Obama is giving the private sector a chance to step up and prove that a privatized space program can really work. But now, the same critics who argued for privatization are whining that Obama is dismantling an irreplaceable, high-achieving government program. Go figure!

The Space Shuttle has been the Icon of American Technological Excellence for three decades. It has inspired myself and many Americans to strive for the best that we can be. Many young men and women have dedicated their lives to becoming an astronaut, scientist, engineer and many other fields of excellence, due to the influence of the Space Shuttle. The shuttle has demonstrated to the world the ability of determined and talented people can achieve the impossible. We will always remember the brave heroes that were willing to risk it all to fly into the unknown, overcome the impossible, and focus on the horizon beyond the tragedies.
The Space Shuttle has expanded our knowledge beyond the surface of the Earth in uncountable ways. It has inspired the advancement of technologies that improves each of our lives. It has helped to break down political barriers between nations. The whole world paused when the shuttle first rumbled into space, and the tragedy of Challenger and Columbia. I expect the world will pause again when the last shuttle flies in July.
For the thousands of those involved in making the Space Shuttle a success we will have mixed emotions at the completion of the last shuttle mission; recollecting the success of so many missions, remembrance of those that have given so much and commemoration of the end of the shuttle program.
For those of us who have been a part of the shuttle program, perhaps the saddest of all is the realization that NASA has lost its ability to inspire the dreams of tomorrow. Each of the former NASA programs expanded that vision on the shoulders of the previous program: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle. As the wheels of the last shuttle Atlantis rolls to a stop in a few weeks, that will be the end of this grand journey. Building a commercial space program seems to be the flavor of the day. The dream of building a moon base and traveling to Mars has been sacrificed to the political quagmire of the day.
Flying to the outer edges of our atmosphere for a few hours or days will scarcely inspire future generations to reach beyond today and touch the stars. We surrender ourselves to not being able to look into our backyard telescopes; observing the moon launches to Mars. Instead we will watch the news observing the great NASA innovations launch into space with the sticker on the bottom: “Made in China.”
To the thousands and thousands of technicians, custodians, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, machinists, engineers, scientists, astronauts, accountants, administrators, and so many more; thank you for your efforts and hard work. It has been inspiring and a pleasure to be a tiny part of this great endeavor. Thank you for the legacy!

Mostly right Andy T. Right on about how the evolution of our Government is bankrupting our country. I can't fathom however how you bring Bachnman or Palin into the equation. Kinda like agreeing with the fact that Gore invented the internet....

Of course everything is Obama's fault. The wars in Iraq and Afganistan which will ultimately cost this country $5T to $7T after all is accounted for were clearly started by BHO and not the geniuses who preceeded him. The outsourceing of manufacturing to Asia, which is the root cause of our unemployment problem, is certainly all his fault as well. Between Sarah-next-door-to-Russia-Palin and Michelle-John-Wayne-Gacey-Bachmann, I'm sure that all problems will be resolved. More tax breaks for GE, Big Oil and Big Pharma will solve everything.

The U.S. has been rewarding failure and punishing success with our tax code and regulations for 50 years so it's no wonder the well has run dry. We'll just have to hitch rides with those who know better.

If anyone thinks that the space program hasn't been one of the most successful technology stimulus projects in human history, they're kidding themselves.
Technology for medical, electronics, instrumentation, aviation, and other physical sciences wouldn't be what they are without the space program spurring innovation.
It's not free, but the overwhelming advantages are not to be understated.
While politics play a huge part in the funding for NASA, namecalling and railing against the inequities does little to further the discussion.

I agree with Kevin L. that the best of times have passed. NASA is slowly coming apart mostly because Americans are poorer than they have been for decades, and the sentiment these days is to waste time and energy on wiping noses and bottoms of the poor, which is most of the rest of the world. The time when Space became a mundane Civilian Science of travel and exploration, the Flash Gordon attraction waned quickly. It seems the only way Space Travel can become American again is if it resumes the Military posture of Might and Right(however most of us snicker at the military missions, money is where it's at to support the other companion sciences we have been able to live off of). As for Spacex' successes, I only cheer them and hope some day they will ask for outside help!

In 1965 I asked a national IEEE convention meeting famous panel if there was anything other than rocket propulsion in the works. They immediately said "flying saucers", laughed and cut the panel discussion short. I had pointed out that rockets were too costly, too slow, and too inefficient for viable space travel. That is still true. The same problem today is what has destroyed much of our space program. Somewhere there is a non Newton's Third Law propulsion method that will make space travel economically and technologically attractive. In my view we should be looking for that solution instead of trying to make cheaper commercially made sails on the old sailing ships we call space craft.

The space race was an amazing achievement, but it some ways it was before its time, thanks to mandates and subsidies (not unlike nuclear power). Large amounts of energy are required to go in to even low Earth orbit, making the economics ("the allocation of scare resources for alternative purposes") challenging. Eventually, entrepreneurs (large groups and small) will make advances in space flight that meet the demand of customers (placing satellites in orbit, space tourism, maybe the mining of asteroids). The time-line here is much longer than in sci-fi stories of the 50s, but these things will happen, and innovative engineers will help bring the costs down.

How about using some of our engineering knowhow to fix problems here on Earth? Or what about creating things that truly improve the "quality" of life? What about half the population of the planet being without clean drinking water or enough food to eat? Flight and space travel have always fascinated mankind but we have lost sight of what is more important; maintaining our "spacecraft Earth" and the life support systems we need to survive. The amount of money and manpower that goes into the conquest of space internationally, could go a long way in bettering the planet.

A rise of commercial space companies?
It's already happening.
Google SpaceX.

I think with out of control government spending and economic collapse on the horizon.. there is nothing to look forward too... until Barack Hussein Obama is out of office. Then perhaps we can get back on track to strong economic development and a robust space program.
( Bauchman and Palin are smarter than Obama.)

Of course, the Palins and Bachmanns of the world have had little to with the status of NASA and the United States Space Program... there was a plan in place in 2008 - only to have it derailed and put in limbo by our current President. Our Space Program needs to be spearheaded by a man with vision, insight, and leadership - and PBO displays none of these attributes. The U.S. Space program will flounder, while talented engineers, physicists, and astronauts lose their jobs. Their talents will be wasted, and our young aspiring scientiste will pursue other avenues than aerospace for their field of study. Unfortunately, China & Russia will become the world's new leaders in space technology.

It takes nearly half a billion ($0.5B) to launch a single shuttle. $63M per passenger is cheap. The shuttle program as a whole is billions of dollars the US Government does not have due to the costs of war and welfare. Cut both areas and you have more than enough money to fund another space program. No President can change the budget; it is set and enacted by Congress. Broad scale change of the personnel in the Senate and House and you have a shot for real reform. That can turn around the economy, strengthen the educational system, and return the United States to an unmatched position of leadership and power fueled by technological growth. The future of the US rides on technological growth, not some archaic shuttle.

Yes well despite all your politcal rants. Its the great Barry Obama who is taking this dream away from the youth of the US. Following his example we can all become lawyers and organizers. That way we can sue and vilify those who would see us go forward as a nation with the dream of American Exceptionalism

Andy T, You said it perfectly... well done!

Thanks to Dumbocrats, Rinos, and Unions, the country has had it. We're broke, gummint "dependents" outnumber and outvote us productive folks, and OBUMMER'S end run around the mostly criminal congress to provide amnesty for illegals is gonna keep it that way. You can forget the space program!

Exactly right Andy T

We still have Pegasus, ICB, and anti-satellite missiles; and without a doubt a hypersonic space plane that's still being kept under wraps much like the F-117, U-2, and SR-71 were.
You wonder if we can "commercialize" space using technology 50 years after the first orbital flights, a time now where we don't need precision gears and bearings but a single microchip from ST or ADI for guidance, and where CNC and 3D printing are in people's garages? It's not a question of engineering, technology, or can we - of course we can, and we can do it BEST - it's a bean counter question - who will fund it?
Meanwhile, the tech advancement and jobs created by government space are vaporizing, creating another glut of tekkies and PhDs on the street, so sending junior off to engineering camp is money poorly spent - you should send him to Mandarin camp instead....that's who'll own not only engineering and design, but also space and the solar system, not the society that's been rendered toothless and in decay by external influences within. A society where killing and stealing has unlimited funding, where education and technology prowess takes the back burner, and has some serious issues that aren't being fixed.
Of course, any society dumb enough to tolerate the Palins and Bachmanns of the world as their "leadership" candidates, deserves what's coming. One thing that's certain, we can exploit high vacuum space terrestrially with no need for rockets at all - just utilize the volume between these candidates' ears.