Comments by "spaceflight101" (@spaceflight1019) on "SmarterEveryDay" channel.

  1. Like the time on Big Bang when Sheldon dropped his original Apple computer down the stairs?
    7
  2. ​ @MichaelJohnson-ey1nv Let me tell you a secret: Nixon hated JFK so much that he wanted to cancel the entire space program but was talked out of it because it was a diversion from Vietnam, the Cold War, and the riots that were burning the cities down every summer. As soon as Armstrong's boot touched the lunar surface he began to cut the program back. I was a senior in highschool and stayed up late to watch the last liftoff from the moon of Apollo 17. I knew that we would not return to the moon in my lifetime, if ever. Our species peaked between 1969 and 1972. No farther.
    1
  3.  @lucasrem  good heavens, that stuff is worth money! LOL!
    1
  4. Something that you aren't understanding about the entire Mercury/Gemini/Apollo program is that they were the trailblazers. Nobody could say for sure what would happen if they did something, because the math hadn't been invented yet. We have because risk-averse, unwilling to take a chance because someone might get hurt or die. I became involved with the program after STS-107 and encountered this frequently. It leads to paralysis and forward motion ceases. Progress dies along with it. There are two kinds of risks: the kind you can manage and the kind you have to live with. You do the best you can to reduce the risks that you can't do anything about.
    1
  5. ​ @bbgun061 You really should read "Failure Is Not An Option" by Gene Kranz. It wasn't until after the Apollo 1 fire that they tested the flammability of Teflon insulation in a pure oxygen atmosphere. It wasn't until after Columbia disintegrated that they actually tested the impact survivability of the RCC.
    1