I wanted to see the space worms video.. and couldn’t, because I don’t live in the Us, its blocked. Whatever happened to the free exchange of ideas and information???????

You have to understand that both the US and USSR have had space experiance since 1957. And the United States basicly started the ISS to give the Euro wimps a bike with training wheels to learn how to venture into space. And if it were not for the Space Shuttle all Europe would have to brag about is the Mars probe, which needed NASA’s orbiting Mars Communications Relay Network to not lose connection with Earth due to Solar Storms.

Yes we have made mistakes and errors but that is far more likely to happen to those at the front of the line than those hiding for shelter at the back of the line. And if Europe had been at the front of the line, it’s possible they may have made even Russia’s errors look small.

If Europe had the balls they would try something new like go to an Asteroid and mine it for it’s materials and sell it to the US or USSR for their space projects. But hurry up NASA is looking to do that after we land on Mars. And in some 30 years a possible Space Elevator from a cable from Earth to an orbiting Asteroid. That means even Joe Blow with only his cell phone may one day only need street Skives to go to Mars and play Soccor (or in Euro-speak Football. you know the easy non Pig skin game).

But given that I’m English and fiercely patriotic, probably not much room for me to pass comment! :-)

What? How has NASA turned its back on ISS? ISS was designed for a 15-year service life and first element launch was in Nov. 1998. Space Station operations are approved through 2015 (more than 15 years), and there is interest on both sides of the Atlantic to extend it through 2020 (much more than 15 years.) Beyond that, ISS will almost certainly start to act like Mir was in its old age… astronauts constantly fixing parts that are breaking down, instead of doing any real science. Shuttle’s retirement in 2010 leaves a big hole in US support for ISS, but hopefully only temporarily: NASA is funding two commercial vehicles (SpaceX’s Dragon and OSC’s Cygnus) to provide cargo delivery to ISS. SpaceX plans to eventually launch crews on Dragon, as well.

NASA is “going it alone” on the new Orion, true. But Orion is just the manned spacecraft part of the program, and it isn’t unreasonable for NASA to want most of Orion built in America, just as most of ATV is built in Europe and most of HTV is built in Japan. International partners are already talking to NASA about how they can participate in Project Constellation’s later objectives, including the moon base. Spacesuits, robotics, rovers, and lunar habitats are all areas where it seems likely international partners will be involved.

And remember, NASA still has a bad taste in its mouth from Pres. Clinton putting Russia in the ‘critical path’ on ISS. Bringing in Russia in 1994 was proclaimed to save the US several billion dollars and a couple of years development time, because Russia already had Space Station hardware to sell. Turns out, Russia was broke, and they couldn’t finish that hardware on time, and making the Russian hardware work with the US hardware was a lot more complicated and expensive than it looked on paper. ISS ended up being $5 billion more expensive than the last Space Station Freedom design, and first flew in late 1998 instead of Freedom’s 1996 target launch date. And because the US abandoned its own lifeboat in favor of paying Russians for their Soyuz, the US had no independent transport to ISS after the Shuttle Columbia went down, leaving the US vulnerable to whatever price and political favors Russia demands in order to get crews to a Space Station that is 75% American.

So yes, NASA is a little wary of depending on international partners for key parts of their next generation space program.

That is why Ant Trekkie (or post 1990’s Trekker) is far more likely to help save or at at least make a better world than your drug loving or just fun loving person. People with Trek in their mind are more likely to think in the frame of what can I do that will help everyone else and who cares if it helps me and if it does it just proves that it can help all equally. As where the other frame of mind likes to think it’s got to improve me or my life first before all the losers get helped.

And on this 4th of July the one thing that the world has selfishly viewed the America as is we are the pigs and hogs since we have freedom and can take or steal every thing first. They fail to see that our freedom or any ones freedom if their leaders can stop taking from their peoples freedoms to give themselves greater power and money. The people of those places can go even farther and fast than America has, all because we have done it and blazed roads of troubled paths they now know how to travel those roads in much more safety.

America has shown what freedom can give, all any one or place on this planet if they have freedom can thus become the fore leader of this planet. America still dreams of being a leader the big problem these days is today they feel it needs to become a zero gain sum of anyone doing better can not because your gains are to be equally enjoyed by the bum in the park as you the inventor gets.

By this zero sum gain the dinosaurs that are now gone have equal right to be alive and we are doing genicide by burning up their remains in our cars. And when the next asteroid comes we have no right to protect ourselves because the dinosaurs were unable to protect themselves. To make everything a zero sum gain we must die when the next big space rock arrives.

I could go on for days on how to regain what the zero sum gain people have converted to their majic number of zero value, but most may not understand at to reach those that do understand may have no interest in coming here to a forum that is not meant to cover those topics and is far better at expressing dreams of a better future and what tools we may use to make a better future.

Just remember this 4th that even evolution has winner an losers, and those that think progrss is evil is not or ever was in the hearts of those that inspired the fireworks that you will enjoy and have enjoyed since July 4th, 1777 or for 232 years.