NASA renames Mission Control to honor 1st Space Flight Director - Polidicks

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJlDzgaDiSE[/media] [release]America's first human spaceflight director, Christopher C. Kraft Jr., received top honors from NASA Thursday (April 14) when the space agency rechristened its storied Mission Control Center in his name to mark his contribution to space exploration. Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. responds to a large crowd of admirers during a formal celebration of a naming for the facility and the unveiling of a new nameplate on the building. CREDIT: NASA View full size image During a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, center director Michael Coats unveiled a new nameplate on the legendary Mission Control building, designating it the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center. [Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight] "Without Dr. Kraft’s leadership, the concept of mission control would not be what it is today," Coats said. "The dedicated people inside this building have accomplished incredible things over the last five decades based on the foundations laid by Dr. Kraft and his early flight control development team." Hundreds of NASA employees applauded as the nameplate was unveiled, NASA officials said. Then it was Kraft's turn to speak. “When we started the Space Task Group in 1958, I don’t think any of us appreciated what we were up to, where we were going, what it was going to result in, the impact on the country, the impact on the world," Kraft said. "I’m pleased as I can be to have you name this building after me, and not because it’s me, but because it is the flight control people and those people here at the Johnson Space Center." NASA renamed its Mission Control center after Kraft during a landmark week for human spaceflight. On April 12, the world marked the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961. It was also the 30th anniversary of NASA's space shuttle program.[/release] [url]http://www.space.com/11397-nasa-mission-control-honors-flight-director-kraft.html[/url] [img]http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Astronauts/Chris_Kraft.jpg[/img][img]http://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/apollo/public/images/kraft4.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.rnasa.org/2007photos/Kraftcrop2007RNASA073.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Astronauts/S65-19374.jpg[/img] [img]http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2009/07/the_last_100_years_the_2000s_a/missioncontrol1969.jpg[/img][img]http://www.worldnavigator.info/data/gallery/00000026/NASA_mission_control.jpg[/img][img]http://i.space.com/images/i/9177/original/nasa-chris-kraft-mission-control-jsc.jpg?1302831583[/img]

Too bad NASA mission control is useless now

I wish they'd stop losing funding.

[QUOTE=fenwick;29182043]I wish they'd stop losing funding.[/QUOTE] Why the Hell would we want to outer space when we can't even resolve Earthly issues?

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;29182088]Why the Hell would we want to outer space when we can't even resolve Earthly issues?[/QUOTE] Because its god damn science, thats why.

That's like rechristening the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - why fucking bother?

[QUOTE=fenwick;29182043]I wish they'd stop losing funding.[/QUOTE] I don't agree with it, but you guys have to understand, the United States is recovering from the worst economic downfall since the great depression. Everyone, including the government is struggling right now, and things will need to be cut. Our best hope for space exploration is private companies.

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;29182088]Why the Hell would we want to outer space when we can't even resolve Earthly issues?[/QUOTE] Precisely because we can't resolve our earthly issues. It's the "fuck you I'm leaving" response to global issues. [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=EagleEye;29182200]I don't agree with it, but you guys have to understand, the United States is recovering from the worst economic downfall since the great depression. Everyone, including the government is struggling right now, and things will need to be cut. Our best hope for space exploration is private companies.[/QUOTE] Good thing you've drastically lowered the price of oil and other resources through the Iraq and Afghanistan war, otherwise the entire thing might have been a colossal waste of money! [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] Imagine if the government cut 10% of the armed forces, and put that into space exploration.

[QUOTE=EagleEye;29182153]Because its god damn science, thats why.[/QUOTE] [img]http://lifeboat.com/images/blue.ocean.jpg[/img] What about these?

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;29182088]Why the Hell would we want to outer space when we can't even resolve Earthly issues?[/QUOTE] Do you think they just go up there for fun?

[QUOTE=Contag;29182204]Precisely because we can't resolve our earthly issues. It's the "fuck you I'm leaving" response to global issues. [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] Good thing you've drastically lowered the price of oil and other resources through the Iraq and Afghanistan war, otherwise the entire thing might have been a colossal waste of money! [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] Imagine if the government cut 10% of the armed forces, and put that into space exploration.[/QUOTE] >Implying American's agrees with the war. The distribution of defense money into space money would be pointless, since we are still recovering from a massive recession, if we did cut 10% of our defense budget, it would stay cut until we get our economy under control. [editline]14th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182248][img_thumb]http://lifeboat.com/images/blue.ocean.jpg[/img_thumb] What about these?[/QUOTE] Go for it.

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182248][img_thumb]http://lifeboat.com/images/blue.ocean.jpg[/img_thumb] What about these?[/QUOTE] We can't research both? Spelling fail :downs:

[QUOTE=Billiam;29182348]When can't research both?[/QUOTE] Because it's expensive enough already to go into space. I say for now we focus on the oceans, there's so much about them we barely even know, and they're on our own planet.

[QUOTE=Billiam;29182348]We can't research both? Spelling fail :downs:[/QUOTE] RAISE TAX!

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;29182088]Why the Hell would we want to outer space when we can't even resolve Earthly issues?[/QUOTE] Maybe because theres a chance to start a new. Get off of Earth, to some planet where we can get away from all the bullshit "religion" that shouldn't be involved in politics in the first place but is anyways. Theres a chance to start on some planet that has a beautiful sea of blue and lush green islands filled with abundant vegetation and wildlife. New resources to export, and a chance to maybe get over our differences, and learn from our mistakes rather then repeating the same shitty ones we've always made.

[media]http://nerdnirvana.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/The-Mariana-Trench-Deepest-Known-Part-Of-The-Worlds-Oceans.jpg[/media] [editline]14th April 2011[/editline] Ow my automerge.

[QUOTE=EagleEye;29182315]>Implying American's agrees with the war. The distribution of defense money into space money would be pointless, since we are still recovering from a massive recession, if we did cut 10% of our defense budget, it would stay cut until we get our economy under control. [/QUOTE] I'm sorry, I was under the mistaken impression that America was a democratic state. 10% of the defence budget would have significant implications for space travel, exploration and colonization, whereas it would be the slightest dent in the deficit.

[QUOTE=fenwick;29182286]Do you think they just go up there for fun?[/QUOTE] Yeah, I don't think we can send out more astronauts when our government can't even decide how much money to spend on what in order to recover from a borderline depression

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182385]Because it's expensive enough already to go into space. I say for now we focus on the oceans, there's so much about them we barely even know, and they're on our own planet.[/QUOTE] Who's to decide which of the two is more important? Why not shift all of our resources to medicine or quantum mechanics? Imo, science should be used to answer as many questions as possible and removing the diversity of its studies leaves too many mysteries.

Contag is not the brightest guy Anyway, I would like to see more space exploration

[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;29182440]Yeah, I don't think we can send out more astronauts when our government can't even decide how much money to spend on what in order to recover from a borderline depression[/QUOTE] rofl "We had a recession, the government can't just go off spending money researching and stimulating its industry!" How do you think we ended the great depression?

[QUOTE=Billiam;29182498]Who's to decide which of the two is more important? Why not shift all of our resources to medicine or quantum mechanics? Imo, science should be used to answer as many questions as possible and removing the diversity of its studies leaves too many mysteries.[/QUOTE] I'm not saying that one is more important than the other. I'm saying that it should be much more of a priority to explore the oceans since they make up the majority of our planet.

Space is the future of humanity. It is our duty as humans to safely secure the proliferation of our species, and to not invest in space would be failing ourselves and future generations.

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182551]I'm not saying that one is more important than the other. I'm saying that it should be much more of a priority to explore the oceans since they make up the majority of our planet.[/QUOTE] And do what? Sure, we may be able to export natural resources there, and learn more about the origins of human life, but what can we gain thats more valuable then whatever lies in waiting for us in our own solar system, and even the entire galaxy?

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182551]I'm not saying that one is more important than the other. I'm saying that it should be much more of a priority to explore the oceans since they make up the majority of our planet.[/QUOTE] And yet space is the entirety of our universe.

[QUOTE=Sand;29182521]Contag is not the brightest guy Anyway, I would like to see more space exploration[/QUOTE] I'm sorry, Iraq and Afghanistan were great ideas (validated by the American public via the reelection of Bush )and the development of novel and innovative fields is a bad idea for the American economy. The government should stop spending money and let the economy contract until it has self-corrected. :downs: And it's not sad at all that they're renaming Mission Control after a pioneering man just as the government is crippling the space program. [editline]15th April 2011[/editline] Is that better?

[QUOTE=Billiam;29182666]And yet space is the entirety of our universe.[/QUOTE] And yet the ocean is the entirety of our planet. What's the point of going out to space when if we went into the oceans we could find something even more important? If you think about it, we've explored barely anything in space at all. A nanometer to a nanometer. We can keep investing in [I]developing [/I]space tech, but until we can actually do something useful in space, I say we explore the oceans. Hell, maybe we'll find something in the oceans that helps with space travel.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avuUhTn5d7I[/media]

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182742]And yet the ocean is the entirety of our planet. What's the point of going out to space when if we went into the oceans we could find something even more important? If you think about it, we've explored barely anything in space at all. A nanometer to a nanometer. We can keep investing in [I]developing [/I]space tech, but until we can actually do something useful in space, I say we explore the oceans. Hell, maybe we'll find something in the oceans that helps with space travel.[/QUOTE] There already is something in the oceans that can help with space travel, and it's most likely being utilized. However, colonizing a planet like Mars would be much more beneficial then exploring oceans.

[QUOTE=TheBrokenHobo;29182742]And yet the ocean is the entirety of our planet. What's the point of going out to space when if we went into the oceans we could find something even more important? If you think about it, we've explored barely anything in space at all. A nanometer to a nanometer. We can keep investing in [I]developing [/I]space tech, but until we can actually do something useful in space, I say we explore the oceans. Hell, maybe we'll find something in the oceans that helps with space travel.[/QUOTE] The ocean, in all its majesty, will likely never hold a candle to the infinite possibilities of the universe. And our exploration of space is mostly based on telescopes and mathematical theory, and when you take that into account, humans have a relatively excellent understanding of the universe. Also, I'm not arguing the "usefulness" of either; the investigation of both should be for science and let's face it, more people have an insatiable appetite for knowledge on space. That being said, I think the government should shift more of its scientific efforts to oceanography, because the environment is an immediate issue.