Were the shuttle and ISS mistakes?

by Eric R. Hedman

Monday, October 31, 2005

Michael Griffin made news a few weeks ago when in an interview with USA Today he was quoted as calling the shuttle and the ISS mistakes. The clarifications that followed from Michael Griffin and NASA definitely did not get the same attention in the media. Regardless of whether or not Michael Griffin was correctly quoted still begs the question, “Were the shuttle and the ISS mistakes?” I have to admit that, when the architecture for returning to the Moon was unveiled, the thought that the last three decades of human spaceflight were a visionless mistake crossed my mind. The phrase “Apollo on steroids” just emphasized the thought that Apollo could have been put on steroids in the 70s and 80s.

In judging if something was worth it or not, one technique is to put together a balance sheet of the pros and cons. The value of the items on each side of the sheet are dependent upon individual subjective valuations. Some may even disagree as to which side of the sheet an item should go. Part of the judgment should be what else could have or should have been done with the money and the opportunity. The projects also need to be judged as to what was possible when they were started and not just by the hindsight of history. The people who made the decisions on the shuttle and the ISS did not have the advantage of knowing what we know now.

More at: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/484/1