ISS has hurt space exploration in the eyes of the public. How? By sopping up huge amounts of money in program costs and then BILLIONS in cost overruns it gives ammunition to the critics who moan that we're wasting money on space that could best help people here. Now they have facts & numbers. John Q Public can't say to himself that the adventure and exploration and expansion of the human spirit is worth it as with more adventurous and exciting alternative uses of $100 Billion in manned space exploration.
Worse yet, since ISS is really SkyLab II, we're doing nothing new. So there is no sense of adventure or exploration. The only excitement was the visit of a commercial tourist. Excitement that NASA perversely worked to suppress.
If we believe NASA PR that it takes 3 people full time to "run" this flying turkey, how come SkyLab didn't have this "requirement'? We have 30 freakin' years of automated computer control advancement since SkyLab and it takes 3 people full time to ride this thing in a fixed orbit? Bullfeathers. Or, did NASA REALLY screw up in designing a stupidly high maintenance SkyLab II? Hello?
As an alternative, humans exploring the lunar poles for ice or exploring a readily accessable NEO would be an adventurous and more scientifically rewarding goal.
-philw
Space/Science » in reply to NASA spolight: a thought
Why SkyLab II hurts space exploration