Space shuttle recent accomplishments?

[Conan The Librarian]

Now that the shuttle program is over, I was trying to find a list of accomplishments. All I could find was some stuff related to experiments in low gravity and some satellite work that could probably have been done a lot cheaper without manned vehicles. Not to be too cynical, but I would think that if there were significant accomplishments, then they would be easy to find.

Have you seen a list explaining why the shuttle has been important for the past ten years or so?

I was all for the original shuttle missions because it did advance a new concept in near earth space flight, but after the initial accomplishments, it didn't seem to be of much value.

[magooch]

Well, from one report I heard, each flight ate up $460,000,000.  I never lost anything out in space, but hope we got our money's worth.

[Conan The Librarian]

I was all on-board with the original idea of a partially reusable space craft. That was still a good idea worth developing. I checked the NASA web site and couldn't find anything about benefits of the program.
 
One thing about NASA is that a lot of its less publicized missions are really the important ones with real value, like their studies of the atmosphere. Very cool stuff that affects our understanding of telecommunications and related activities. Also, some of those space probes are a lot of bang for the buck scientifically.

[BUGEYE]

I agree that it could have been done cheaper.  besides, the atlas rockets were more fun to watch.

[lakota]

Here is a list of sorts:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8652143/Shuttle-programme-by-numbers.html
 
$209 Billion total cost of the program. 1,323 total days spent in space. If I have done the math right(thats a lot of zeros) The shuttle program was a bargain at $157974.30 per day spent in space . Sounds like a day's spending on an Obama family and entourage vacation.

[Sourdough]

I think of all the side affects of the program.  Synthetic fibers for clothing, new types of electronics, new types of food preparation and storage, and so many others we are not aware of.  In the move to better equip our astronauts, suppliers developed lots of new products that is on the shelf today, things that improve our day to day life.

[powderman]

I'd imagine that a wealth of military info was gained over the years. That is all over with thanks to the obamination. I believe that in the long run we will regret dropping this. POWDERMAN. 

[Conan The Librarian]

A couple of things we can count on happening are:
1) Asian dominance of satellites in the foreseeable future
2) Private companies selling space services
3) Very likely a further decline in US space work because of a thirty year period of financial stress that is only beginning

[Conan The Librarian]

Here's one that matters a lot: The space program changed and refined a lot of research practices and methods. These methods have been applied to other disciplines such as medicine and engineering. I never would have thought of that as a benefit until I found a reference to it in an engineering web site. When I actually see lists of some of the products that the space program yielded, it's not that compelling considering the vast amount of effort and money that went into it.

[Spanky]

Most of the gadgets we use nowadays are bouncing signals off of some satellite. The knowledge gained through the space program is what allowed private companies to put them there.  
Think about that next time you mark the location of your hunting stand on your handheld GPS or make a call on your cell phone or turn on your computer or make a post on this site or..........
Shutting the program down is a huge mistake. If the goal was to reduce spending there are better ways to do it.
 
 
 
Spanky
 
 
 
 

[coss]

I can think of two direct benefits:
 
1.  It would not have been possible to build the international space station without the heavy lift capacity of the shuttle.  The science benefits of the station are substantial, and the cost of operation is shared with other nations.
 
2.  Repair missions of the Hubble telescope would not have been possible without the shuttle.  The Hubble is one of the better ideas to come out of a government agency in my lifetime.
 
That being said, the shuttle was an expensive way to get each pound of stuff into orbit.  It's reliability was also not impressive.  Still, it got the job done. 

[briarpatch]

russia and china benifited the most from the space program. Their technology cost them very little. They just waited for our government leaders to give it to them.
Russia owns the space station and use it more to spy on us than anything else. A gift from obozo.
The military took over the shuttle and precluded the scientist from the real work of discovery. Most shuttle missions were military.

[Conan The Librarian]

It would be really nice to see a list of what those science benefits were, and when they happened. Every reference I have found, even from NASA, has only old accomplishments, like 30+ years old. Even NASA and pro-space scientists admit that experiments conducted in unmanned vessels are not only cheaper, but can be more productive. Some even argue that using manned vessels has seriously limited experiments best conducted in space. I find it remarkable that the accomplishments are not boldly published for all to easily find on the nasa.gov web site. As for the navigational techology, I don't see what value the shuttle may have had in developing or implementing it. The basic technology is sputnik era space science, augmented with good inventions that apply it well. The essence of GPS and similar technology is that it must be simple to deploy and maintain, othewise the system would be too fragile.
 
As for Hubble, why is it important? Sure, the pictures are pretty, but what value does it have? Do we really benefit much from observational astronomy? I'm pro-science, but astronomy has always seemed to be a hobby more than a practical venture. It's not like we can use space for much, given the distances involved. I always liked the influence of the likes of Keppler and Brahe because they helped advance our understanding of physics, but there doesn't seem to have been much of a payback from astronomy since then.
 
On the other hand, seeing a lot of the other NASA projects that aren't as "sexy", I'm impressed with what they are doing. There's a lot of very interesting and really valuable scientific work being done. We just hear about the boondoggles.