NASA's web team is lazy. I had to say it. The last Space Shuttle mission has been launched and the one of the world's most complex machines has safely landed at Kennedy Space Center. The program is over after 30 years. And yet whoever is in charge of NASA's webpage is asleep at the wheel because they still have a section under the "Missions" tab titled "See a Shuttle Launch." Come on guys! This is why so many people aren't taking you seriously. You can put men on the moon but can't manage your own website?
But all snark aside, I know many people there are probably reluctant to part with the memories of the awesomeness of the Space Shuttle, but it's time to let go. It was a great run while it lasted. Heck, we've been launching Shuttles longer than I've been alive. However, as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
How about this, NASA: you take down that tab and replace it with something about your conceptual designs for the new heavy-lift vehicle you're supposed to be working on right now. People look at the place where the Space Shuttle program used to be and see a gaping void. NASA, now more than ever, has to fill that void with awesomesauce.
A lot of people just don't care as much about the space program anymore, which is sad, but is also a fact of life. To truly get people fired up, they need something tangible to latch onto. Sure, unmanned missions are great, but to tap into people's primal need to satisfy curiosity and explore their surroundings, manned missions are the only way to go. You guys can put up a whole section about what expectations the new lift vehicle should meet, and what it's purpose is. Get kids exited about it! They're the ones that will probably end up flying on the thing to Mars one day, after all.
I'll cut this short before it turns into a rabid, foamy-mouthed rant, but basically what I'm saying boils down to this: I love NASA to death, but they need to get serious as an agency about sending people past the places we've gone before. That can start by fondly remembering past glories, but acknowledging that they are just that - past - and moving forward into the future with just as much determination to create awesomeness as before.
But all snark aside, I know many people there are probably reluctant to part with the memories of the awesomeness of the Space Shuttle, but it's time to let go. It was a great run while it lasted. Heck, we've been launching Shuttles longer than I've been alive. However, as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
How about this, NASA: you take down that tab and replace it with something about your conceptual designs for the new heavy-lift vehicle you're supposed to be working on right now. People look at the place where the Space Shuttle program used to be and see a gaping void. NASA, now more than ever, has to fill that void with awesomesauce.
A lot of people just don't care as much about the space program anymore, which is sad, but is also a fact of life. To truly get people fired up, they need something tangible to latch onto. Sure, unmanned missions are great, but to tap into people's primal need to satisfy curiosity and explore their surroundings, manned missions are the only way to go. You guys can put up a whole section about what expectations the new lift vehicle should meet, and what it's purpose is. Get kids exited about it! They're the ones that will probably end up flying on the thing to Mars one day, after all.
I'll cut this short before it turns into a rabid, foamy-mouthed rant, but basically what I'm saying boils down to this: I love NASA to death, but they need to get serious as an agency about sending people past the places we've gone before. That can start by fondly remembering past glories, but acknowledging that they are just that - past - and moving forward into the future with just as much determination to create awesomeness as before.
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