Most Noteworthy NASA Mission?

[FAKrogoth]

I know that many people are disturbed by the Colombia disaster, and wish to show their appreciation/support for the NASA program. What I want to know is, which mission(s) should be most celebrated, and why?

[Kit Gerhart]

I voted Apollo 11 in the poll, and, overall, I feel that it was the most noteworthy mission. After all, it was the first mission which actually landed a human on another celestial body.

Though it was not on the list, I consider the first Mercury mission to be a close second. It marked the first sign of the US' catching up with the Soviets during the start of the "space race." At that time most people in the US, and probably in the Soviet Union as well, considered success in space travel to be a major source of national pride.

[FAKrogoth]

Watashi wa baka. I completely forgot about the Mercury program. I agree that Mercury 1 should be on there, because it first showed promise for NASA's primary objective.

Being younger than much of the Space Program, I find that I can't really judge the older accomplishments well. Thus, I chose something I can understand. Also, the repairs to the Hubble were definitely impressive. I probably would consider Apollo 11 more significant, if we hadn't completely abandoned the Moon.


Unfortunately, I can't edit the poll . .

[AJ Quick]

Every trip we make into space should be considered important, and noteworthy.

[Jnadke]

If you want significance overall... definately Mercury... just getting into space is the biggest achievement.

I voted for STS-107, for a different reason. Change comes about in great times of need and/or tragedy. September 11 is one example of this fact. World War 2 is another (UN was finally created).

The recent events will bring about a public/political need to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the current space agency. In the last 4 years, 2 Mars orbiters/landers have crashed and the Challenger space shuttle destruction, costing taxpaying Americans billions upon billions of dollars. Every time the space shuttle is launched, it costs $400 million dollars. It costs $2 billion just to make the thing. They also wasted a few million for a charter plane to Russia. Even though NASA launches often, they only command 20% of the commercial sector, a potential major source for profits.

The space shuttles are getting out of date. The concept is 20 years old. You can only slap new technology over the old designs for so long before the limitations shine through. Over the past 20 years, NASA has been trying to design new shuttles (8 to be exact), but can't seem to get it right. They waste billions of dollars in the process.

I'm not saying the space program should be scrapped at all. It should be re-evaluated. Management needs to be evaluated to figure out where the mistakes were made so they do not happen again.

[Matt Krass]

Mercury Three, even more important, it was the first human in psace, or first American, not sure which, but I think that merits a vote

[John Bono]

I'm gonna have to go with Apollo 8. Something about connecting two indipendantly lauched spacecraft just says cool to me.

[Ken Leung]

I voted for Apollo 1, because without that accident, there wouldn't be the changes made to the space craft. They ended up skipping Apollo 2 to 7, and it made Apollo 8 and future missions much safer.

Sometimes it takes a painful mistake to teach people a valuable lesson. Hopefully, after a few of them people don't need to learn them the hard way anymore.

Success will eventually be achieved... Its the lessons that lead to the success that's more important, because without the intermediate steps, the journey never finish.

[EStokely]

Man walked on the MOON!

How long have we, as a race, looked up and saw it hanging there. Wondering.

Hands down in my mind is that single first step.
Everything before that was leading to it.

I also remember Michael Collins, the guy that got to orbit while the other guys took the walk

Honest I still get chills remembering it.

(Good poll by the way. Positive note and all that)
Thanks

[Cheese Head]

Originally posted by AJ Quick
Every trip we make into space should be considered important, and noteworthy.

Yes I absolutely agree. Still I voted for Apollo 11. I mean humanity had finally left the Earth and had actually traveled to one of the great many heavenly bodies. Everything that the Apollo program stood for was realized on the fateful day of that landing.

[MRL180YTL2002]

Even though I voted for Apollo 11, they all are significant in some way. A number of missions was to first conduct spacewalks with new equipment, simple stuff like that to build a base for the next mission. What NASA has done is truly for the better of mankind as a civilization.

Safety manuals and regulations, the modifications, are written in blood, the blood of those that the safety regulations and measures if taken could have spared them from injury or death. Those safety manuals are the true bibles of which we live by. I don't mean to suggest that they are better than bibles or an equivalent religious text, just that they should be known equally as well as religious/spiritual/philosophical scholars to prevent unnecessary injury and/or death.

[Jeff Waegelin]

Originally posted by MRL180YTL2002
Even though I voted for Apollo 11, they all are significant in some way. A number of missions was to first conduct spacewalks with new equipment, simple stuff like that to build a base for the next mission. What NASA has done is truly for the better of mankind as a civilization.

That's about what I was going to say. I voted for Apollo 11, but all were significant in their own way.

[dlavery]

The #1 slot is a tie, between:
- Yuri Gagarin's flight aboard Vostok 1 - the first human foray into space
and
- Apollo 11 - the first human contact with another heavenly body

After that, comes the Mars Exploration Rover-2003 mission, which launches two rovers to Mars in May and June of this year (this one makes the list because it is my mission!)

-dave

[EddieMcD]

Originally posted by dlavery
After that, comes the Mars Exploration Rover-2003 mission, which launches two rovers to Mars in May and June of this year (this one makes the list because it is my mission!)

Cheap pop! (that, and the link doesn't want to work for me)

Anyhow, I went for Apollo 11. Imagine humans leaving this little marble we live on and going to another (albeit smaller) marble in this marble arena which is part of many marble arenas which make up our galaxy. Who knows, we might be leaping out of our own arena soon enough.

Second place goes to Apollo 18/Soyuz 20-something (I think it was Soyuz) for being the first time astronauts and cosmonauts linked up in space.

[dlavery]

Originally posted by EddieMcD
Cheap pop! (that, and the link doesn't want to work for me)

... yadda yadda yadda ... something about marbles... yadda yadda yadda ...

Second place goes to Apollo 18/Soyuz 20-something (I think it was Soyuz) for being the first time astronauts and cosmonauts linked up in space.

The link works now ($^%@#* fingers can't type).

I think you mean the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), which was the first time spacecraft from two different nations met in space.

-dave