End of Shuttle Era

[Garth]

NASA wanted to deorbit it in 2016. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews

Not exactly accurate, per this article: http://www.universetoday.com/34891/de-o ... bet-on-it/

Suffredini also told the panel that discussions with the partners indicate all involved would like to see station operations continue past FY2016. NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told Universe Today that the heads of the participating space agencies recently reaffirmed their common interest in using the station “to its full capacity for a period that is meaningful for our stakeholders and its users.”

It's been 2 years since that statement was made, and in that time it's become apparent that while strictly factual (given that there was no agreement between the partners beyond 2016, and therefore the official "plan" was to deorbit) it was thrown out mainly for shock value.

More recent articles (see http://www.dailytech.com/International+ ... e22277.htm ) indicate that the bar has now been moved to 2020. I'd guess that, beyond that, it will all come down to additional funding from the partners.

[Saville]

Since you know what would have happened if, what should have happened if, and what needs to happen, why are you wasting our time on this message board? A billionaire like you should get a life!

Actually, I did manage to cobble a tiny scrap of a life together:

I work for the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, on the CHANDRA Orbiting X-Ray Observatory (ACIS Instrument). We control, point, configure the instruments, snap the "picture" receive the data and process it, and deal it out to the observers, right here in Cambridge. I worked on the instrument team that designed, built and tested one of the two instruments flying on CHANDRA (HRC) and now my job is the care and feeding of the other science instrument (ACIS). Been on the project for 16 years. NASA is, of course, project manager for the mission.

Google on:

Gregg Germain chandra

and see what you get. Just for fun. Go ahead..we'll wait......

Before that I worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines in Florida on military jet engine simulations (mainly the F100); Hamilton Standard on the fuel controls for said engines; F-15 radar simulations at Wright Patt. AFB, The Artificial Intelligence Technology Lab at the now-defunct Digital Equipment Corporation.

And before all that I learned to fly courtesy of the AF, and got a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering, a Bachelor's in Computer Science and a Masters in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence focus).

But other than that, I really haven't the slightest basis for anything I say.

Play nicely now

[APG85]

I'm not sure how you did it, but the quote above (the billionaire thing) attributed to me (APG85) is not mine. I never posted that and now I'm annoyed. Please correct it...