Why Did The Space Age Die?

[Bleipriester]

The space age died because they encountered too many aliens out there.

They couldn't explain it all to the people on Earth.

I mean it.

Seriously?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The government didn't tell people to stop caring about space. There was no massive propaganda blitz to turn people off space. Quite the contrary, NASA tried for years to get people interested in Space Lab, Apollo-Soyuz, the Shuttle. Not one of these had the drawing power to reignite the country's infatuation with Space.

Every part of every American spacecraft was made by private industry. What prevented American companies in 1969 from taking the project, or a more ambitious project, over themselves?

What impetus would there have been to do that? What impetus is there for us to do it today?

If American's hadn't lost interest in manned space so completely, it wouldn't have mattered who was running the program.

What impetus is there for us to do it today?

Profit. Let's see if Elon Musk can build an AI run automated solar panel factory on the Moon.
Maybe build some solar powered mass drivers to launch them into Earth orbit?

 

[skye]

Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

From the horses mouth....I believe him I believe Buzz!

 

[Bleipriester]

Yes, seriously.

And those are really undocumented ones. Maybe they told humans to stay on their planet. All possible. But not very likely.

 

[skye]

And those are really undocumented ones. Maybe they told humans to stay on their planet. All possible. But not very likely.

Yes, who knows what is happening, who could take the truth? so they keep silent.

 

[Synthaholic]

The space age died because they encountered too many aliens out there.

They couldn't explain it all to the people on Earth.

I mean it.

We know you do.

 

[skye]

We know you do.

View attachment 674360

Why? because I trust Buzz Aldrin? Who comfims the USO sightings when he went to the moon?

Then I have no problem with your nonsense.

 

[Orangecat]

Ever increasing levels of socialism killed the space age. Too many losers who vote money into their own benefit packages (i.e. democrats) to afford such grand investments in our long term survival. Mankind has reached its peak and we are now on the decline.

 

[Synthaholic]

Obama also cut NASA's budget 20%

Obama to slash NASA budget. Will space exploration suffer?

NASA’s planetary science division would shoulder a heavy share of the cut. Under the president’s proposal, its budget would drop from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, a 20 percent reduction.

www.csmonitor.com

From your link, wingnut:

Obama's budget would continue to push for commercial partnerships to develop reliable access to the space station and lessen the reliance on Russia, whose Soyuz spacecraft will be carrying US astronauts to the ISS until a shuttle successor is developed.

So President Obama wanted private enterprise rather than tax dollars paying for it. Good to know! Isn't this what Republicans want?

STRIKE 1!

The draft budget proposes 850 million dollars in 2012 as seed money to help companies like SpaceX -- which has already successfully launched a prototype space capsule into orbit.

Isn't that rightwing darling Elon Musk's company? Wow, Democrats financed his start-up, and now Republicans exalt him as a self-made billionaire! How 'bout that!

STRIKE 2!

A final US budget for fiscal 2011 has not been approved because Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on spending levels in the runup to last November's mid-term election. At that time, Obama and fellow Democrats decided to maintain 2010 levels.

But Republicans won control of the House of Representatives and they are vowing massive spending cuts for the remainder of fiscal 2011 and beyond.

"We don't know what NASA will get in 2011," one administration official said.

Another administration official close to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, speaking anonymously, warned that deeper cuts could put the space programs at risk.

"If the Republicans get their way all of this is in jeopardy," the official said.

STRIKE 3! YOU'RE OUT!!


Don't fuck with me, kid. You'll lose every time.

Like I said: Republicans.

 

[yidnar]

From your link, wingnut:


So President Obama wanted private enterprise rather than tax dollars paying for it. Good to know! Isn't this what Republicans want?

STRIKE 1!



Isn't that rightwing darling Elon Musk's company? Wow, Democrats financed his start-up, and now Republicans exalt him as a self-made billionaire! How 'bout that!

STRIKE 2!


STRIKE 3! YOU'RE OUT!!


Don't fuck with me, kid. You'll lose every time.

Like I said: Republicans.

i was answering the claim by a leftist that republicans shut down the space program ... at the time of Obamas cuts NASA was the leader of space investment and explorations ... lol ! dunt f#%k with you i'll lose every time ! lol ! i've been stomping your ripped and torn gay ass for yrs ! lol ! all it takes to defeat a leftist is truth ... all it takes to confound a leftist is common sense ... and in less than 3 months you and your sick perverted leftist leaders will lose power in congress ... no power in congress and already no power on the SC ! 2/3rds of the fed gov is lost to you ! and in 2024 when either Trump or DeSantis or even better both take the WH as POTUS and VP the loud effeminate shrieks coming from you and your weak ,cowardly, homosexual, communist , comrades will be music to my ears ! oh and by the way dems have to run Harris as the nominee in 2024 ...or will the woke left primary the first black female VP ! lol ! the left is screwed ! and like most idiots they did it to themselves ! lol !

 

[flacaltenn]

It's not so much the cost as many have mentioned. Surprising fact that the entire Apollo project "only cost" $170Bill in TODAYS DOLLARS (or at least 2010 dollars).

Think that's about 1/2 of JUST what got LOST/WASTED/MISSPENT out of Covid relief.

It was Woodstock time. Still dealing with Vietnam war and the LEFT was showing resistance to spending the money. A large fraction of America looked at this program "as a trophy" for the American ego. Kennedy/Johnson were the key exceptions.

With the Shuttle program which I worked on briefly, it had several beneficial missions functioning as a "AAA" "orbit-side" service for misfunctioning satellites. And as "an Uber/Lyft" service to ISStation. But there was no credible VISION for a continuing presence in space. And as the Cold War got stinkier, our "space mission" was centered more on strategic defense. Which was also hotly contested.

People DID lose interest. But that intuition that it's the right thing to DO -- IS STILL THERE. You saw that with the Mars Rover missions, and Voyager and other deep space expeditions. Just need the old StarTrek mission statement --

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

 

[hjmick]

Why did it die so quickly and completely?

The answer is so very, very simple...

As a nation, we became risk averse.

Especially the government. They fear the fallout and anger they would incur were something tragic to happen.

Risk averse and scared.

 

[rupol2000]

It all started with the fact that Eisenhower overthrew Stalinism in the USSR and installed Khrushchev. The 50s were golden years for America and the USSR, and they were friends

It was during these years that the entire space industry was built in the USSR. The left removed Khrushchev and killed Gagarin, after that there was drunkenness in the USSR and hippies and decline in the USA

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

I don't think the world has ever collectively experienced any event (at least not a positive one) as they did the 1960's Space Race.

Americans and The Soviets peacefully duking it out to be first in as many new achievements as they could, with The Soviets starting out in a commanding lead.

Nothing caught the public imagination (not just in America and Russia, but globally) than our race to get into space.


A combination of politics and competing priorities hobbled the American Space Program for the first few years, but Kennedy gave our program purpose and we put our collective national energies behind a program to land men on The Moon.

However, The Soviets essentially conceded the Space Race a couple of years before the Apollo landing and with no goals after landing on The Moon, the public very quickly lost interest in space except as a setting for adventure dramas.

We have made many very important technological achievements in the decades since. Many of which could never have been dreamed of by even the most forward looking dreamers of the 1960s and '70s. But, space, as a destination for humans, is all but abandoned by The Human Race.

I can see the end of The Space Race a turning point in our country as well. We quickly voltefaced from an optimistic people, eager for a better, grander future, to a nihilistic, pessimistic people who seem to long for dystopia.

Why did it die so quickly and completely? Will humans ever again think about going into space outside of a movie theater?

If we did, what would be the reason(s) for it?

The Moon and Sixpence

NA$A's childish Trekkie circus was an indication of a decadent society wallowing in escapism. The real frontier is below us, all the way to Earth's core. We've barely scratched the surface of the resources available to us, but we are duped and charmed by Zero Growth impotent nerds with a seductive power over our minds.

 

[BackAgain]

Why Did The Space Age Die?​

Astro was a sniveling bitch Russian spy.

 

[Mushroom]

However, The Soviets essentially conceded the Space Race a couple of years before the Apollo landing and with no goals after landing on The Moon, the public very quickly lost interest in space except as a setting for adventure dramas.

They hardly did that at all.

During the mid to late 1960s, the Soviets were working frantically on the N1 super-heavy rocket. At the time of Apollo 4, they were completing tests on the new 110R launch pad at Baiknour Cosmodrome for the launching of N1 rockets to the Moon and beyond.

However, even at the time of Apollo 11, they were still expecting to land on the moon by 1974. But the problem with the N1 were many, including it was excessively complex. The launch stage was powered by 20 engines, as compared to the 5 of the Saturn. The second stage by 8 rockets, instead of the 5 of Saturn. The third stage by 3 rockets, as opposed to the 1 of Saturn. They launched 4 of them between 1969 and 1972, and each one was a catastrophic failure. The explosion of the forth rocket caused the Soviets to finally give up any plans of reaching the moon.



So it should be clearly seen, they had hardly "given up". It was the failure of 4 of the 4 moon rockets they had designed from 1969 to 1972. In fact, the final explosion of the N1 happened only a month before the December 1972 launch of Apollo 17, the final lunar mission. So it should be obvious they never "gave up" as you said it "years before the Apollo landing", but in fact shortly before the final landing.

 

[Mushroom]

We did those things because it was hard.

Generation Smart Phone is soft and fluffy.

 

[fncceo]

They hardly did that at all.

During the mid to late 1960s, the Soviets were working frantically on the N1 super-heavy rocket. At the time of Apollo 4, they were completing tests on the new 110R launch pad at Baiknour Cosmodrome for the launching of N1 rockets to the Moon and beyond.

However, even at the time of Apollo 11, they were still expecting to land on the moon by 1974. But the problem with the N1 were many, including it was excessively complex. The launch stage was powered by 20 engines, as compared to the 5 of the Saturn. The second stage by 8 rockets, instead of the 5 of Saturn. The third stage by 3 rockets, as opposed to the 1 of Saturn. They launched 4 of them between 1969 and 1972, and each one was a catastrophic failure. The explosion of the forth rocket caused the Soviets to finally give up any plans of reaching the moon.



So it should be clearly seen, they had hardly "given up". It was the failure of 4 of the 4 moon rockets they had designed from 1969 to 1972. In fact, the final explosion of the N1 happened only a month before the December 1972 launch of Apollo 17, the final lunar mission. So it should be obvious they never "gave up" as you said it "years before the Apollo landing", but in fact shortly before the final landing.

The Soviets continued a manned space program, but they gave up The Moon Race after repeated failures with docking the Soyuz craft. They were still experimenting with rendezvous in LEO even months after Apollo 11.

The Soviets never went beyond LEO during their entire manned space program. They didn't even complete their version of the LEM, the LK, until well after Apollo 11. They tested the LK only three times, all unmanned and all in LEO until finally retiring the LK in 1974.

 

[Mushroom]

The Moon Race after repeated failures with docking the Soyuz craft. They were still experimenting with rendezvous in LEO even months after Apollo 11.

The Soviets never went beyond LEO during their entire manned space program. They didn't even complete their version of the LEM, the LK, until well after Apollo 11. They tested the LK only three times, all unmanned and all in LEO until finally retiring the LK in 1974.

Because without a working N1, there was no point in finalizing anything else.

But they kept working on the N1 well into the early 1970's. That is a fact. SO any claims that they had given up before Apollo 11 is wrong.

 

[Stryder50]

I don't think the world has ever collectively experienced any event (at least not a positive one) as they did the 1960's Space Race.

Americans and The Soviets peacefully duking it out to be first in as many new achievements as they could, with The Soviets starting out in a commanding lead.

Nothing caught the public imagination (not just in America and Russia, but globally) than our race to get into space.


A combination of politics and competing priorities hobbled the American Space Program for the first few years, but Kennedy gave our program purpose and we put our collective national energies behind a program to land men on The Moon.

However, The Soviets essentially conceded the Space Race a couple of years before the Apollo landing and with no goals after landing on The Moon, the public very quickly lost interest in space except as a setting for adventure dramas.

We have made many very important technological achievements in the decades since. Many of which could never have been dreamed of by even the most forward looking dreamers of the 1960s and '70s. But, space, as a destination for humans, is all but abandoned by The Human Race.

I can see the end of The Space Race a turning point in our country as well. We quickly voltefaced from an optimistic people, eager for a better, grander future, to a nihilistic, pessimistic people who seem to long for dystopia.

Why did it die so quickly and completely? Will humans ever again think about going into space outside of a movie theater?

If we did, what would be the reason(s) for it?

It may help to engage slightly more precise language, and concepts here to make more productive comments and exchanges.

Your thread title uses the term "Space Age" yet your OP text tends to focus on "Space Race" ~ as in the effort to be the first to "put a man on the Moon" between the USA and the USSR.

A little while ago I stepped outside to enjoy the cooler evening air and do a bit of star gazing. Wasn't out there for long before seeing a small light moving steady in a South to North track, a satellite. Interestingly, just after spotting this one passing overhead, I noticed about two degrees to one side, another 'light'/satellite tracking parallel with the first one.

They might be military; 'USA' or 'Russian', or they could be some sort of Earth survey, like "Google Earth" or similar. But point is they were just one of those regular and frequent examples that we are living in the "Space Age". Have been for over 60 years now (and likely would not have seen in the night sky back then).

Had I been up for staying out longer/later, odds are I'd have seen these two objects about 90 minutes later, again tracking South to North, only they would have been either a bit to the East, or West of the tracks they had when I first spotted them. Polar orbits have this tendency to 'drift' in the path they follow over the Earth's surface.

As for "Space Race", well the USA may have "won" in 1969 being the first to land men on the Moon, but the path since they isn't what many thought it would be back then. And now it is even more different when we see what the agenda of CCP China ("People's Republic and Worker's Paradise" there-of) is regards wanting to make their own manned(crewed) landing on the Moon.

Between my observation a couple hours ago, and many other aspects of our lives now, after being in the results of the "Space Age" as played these past 60+ years: weather satellites, communications sats that relay our phones to TV broadcasts, GPS = Global Positioning Satellites, the many new products and processes of modern tech ('computers') driven and developed by 'Space Activities', etc.; I'd say we are firmly in the "Space Age" ~ and will be for some time.

Admittedly, the human presence "out there" in orbit and beyond isn't as large and great as we thought it would be 50-60 years ago, but this reflects the somewhat unexpected gains and serendipity that have developed along the way as technology improved because of and as a result of humans efforts in space. here in the 50-60s we thought many uses of space would require direct human presence, the tech of 'robots' via electronics and miniaturization have expanded the role of machines in place of humans for many of our projected uses of Space Activities and Exploration.

More in the next post(s) as we examine some of the nuances and pathways taken in getting from then to now, and likely into the Future.