The Big Event

NASA. "STS 106 Launch" via wikimedia 7/18/2010. Public Domain.

What caused this whole change in the system of NASA. Why does our government need to use commercial programs? Here is the event that sparked the debate below. Did you feel like you were at this event? Let me know below.


The 135th and final Space Shuttle launch, NASA only hope to blow its way into space, STS 135 was the last kick of the overblown program that met success with mediocrity, and blew up twice along the way with Challenger and Columbia. While launch day was filled with fears of bad weather, the really fear was that this was the last launch of the Space Shuttle, and commercial companies had not yet picked up the slack of sending cargo to the vulnerable ISS, floating miles above in orbit. A 30% chance of launch changed to 60% as launch approached. At T-31, the countdown stopped, shocking the crew, as well as watchers, who heard no count but saw the shuttle, waiting in the humid air, rain showers happening miles away. A simple camera correction and confirmation allowed the clock to continue, an error that never occurred before in shuttle history. As the clock hit zero, the crowd of nearly one million cheered, filled with body odor in the Florida summer in mid-July, watching the blinding smoking billow up from the engines, hearing the thunderous roar of the engines, feeling the rumble in the air, as two and a half minutes later, the main boosters separated off the shuttle, and moments later, the shuttle was out of site completely. From now on, Russia and its Soyuz craft would be the only supplier of the ISS, at least until commercial companies, such as SpaceX or the United Launch Alliance caught up and were certified to dock with the ISS, and lifted the worries of NASA and its engineers.