Response from NASA friend to my suggestion to Restart Shuttle and my statement many think I am nuts!
Well, I don’t think you’re nuts but just a little (well, a LOT) unrealistic---no way that infrastructure could be put back in place—even IF the politics turned around! No doubt killing Shuttle was the DUMBEST NASA mistake ever (and, as you know, that’s saying a LOT!) but you don’t seriously think NASA (Bolden and whomever his successor is) and Congress or others would ever admit they made a big mistake. Now, 2 plus years after dismantling the infrastructure—and the Orbiters—and ending the ET production, etc., technically there is NO WAY (even for, say, $20B—what we’ll waste in the next 5 years on SLS and Commercial Cargo) it could be resurrected! This is my 50th year at NASA (although I’ve been fully retired for 2 years) and I’ve seen it all---but, nope, it’s sadly over. And, I don’t just mean Shuttle, I mean Human Spaceflight as we knew it for 48 years! Maybe in 10 years (or even 5-7, if Republicans get control) there will be some semblance of a new mission and vision---but I was always the eternal optimist! Sorry, Bobby, but you need to change your last name to Quixote!
Don Nelson's response.
If Shuttle is over, then HSF is over for NASA.
Bobby Martin
Rather spend money on shuttle restart, vs. On the wrong approach as we are now doing.
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