Quote:
Originally Posted by BigChiefDave
I don't know about the hate, but they've had issues with this foam for yrs now even after losing 7 astronauts and a Shuttle. Seriously. They put a man on the Moon more than 40 yrs ago, and they can't solve the foam problem.
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Well, to be fair, putting a man on the moon involved a whole lot of physics and deep thought but, technologically, it wasn't exactly "Star Trek". It was a big three-stage booster and then pretty much gravity and aim. They programmed those suckers using IBM Punch Cards and the computer had less capability than your average calculator. Hell, the first computers in the Space Shuttle couldn't hold a candle to a decent late-80's Color Macintosh. Humanity is pretty ingenious about doing some amazing shit with much less technology than you'd think.
The shuttle, on the other hand, has all those plane parts. Like brakes and engines and ailerons and flaps and landing gear. The missions to the moon were "ride it there, then turn the engines on and ride it back home and plop down in a tin can with a parachute". The lunar lander itself was intricate, but even that wasn't exactly a mystery in terms of the physics involved. And once the tin can landed, it's job was done; on the other hand, having a reusable craft that can land like a plane is an amazing feat.