As someone who has the rare privilege of saying that he watched  man step foot on the moon for the very first time on his thirteenth birthday I will say that watching the decline of the U.S. space program to nothing more than a bystander after the final space shuttle trip has been a little on the depressing side.

I apparently am not alone as two of NASA’s Apollo era astronauts have become very vocal on America’s relinquishing of being a leader in space exploration.

At a recent hearing by the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Neil Armstrong; the man I watched at 13 place man’s first footprint on the Moon, had a few strong words about the situation.

“We will have no American access to, and return from, low Earth orbit and the International Space Station for an unpredictable length of time in the future,” Armstrong told the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

“For a country that has invested so much for so long to achieve a leadership position in space exploration and exploitation, this condition is viewed by many as lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable.”

via Discovery

Next up, Eugene Cernan, who commanded the last Apollo moon mission and was the last man to step on the Moon, had this to say about the current situation with the International Space Station and NASA in general.

“You want a launch vehicle today that will service the ISS? We’ve got it sitting down there. So before we put it in a museum, let’s make use of it. It’s in the prime of its life, how could we just put it away?”

Cernan hailed the vision of John F. Kennedy, “a bold and courageous president who started us on a journey to the stars,” and said thousands of Americans have been inspired by the space race with the Soviet Union.

“Today, we are on a path of decay. We are seeing the book close on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration,” Cernan said.

via Discovery

Such a sad state of affairs, especially for a country who wrote the book on going to space and the moon.

Two Apollo era astronauts lament the decline of NASA – “It’s embarrassing” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Space shuttle Atlantis has successfully docked with the International Space Station for the last time, marking the final docking for the 30 year old NASA space shuttle program.

Docking to the station, space station astronaut Ronald Garan Jr. proclaimed:

“Atlantis arriving,” while adding, “Welcome to the International Space Station for the last time.”

The shuttle, which carried four tons of food and provisions to the outpost will allow astronauts aboard the ISS to conduct business as usual for the next 12 months.

The station docking marks the 46th and last of the shuttle program.

Now all that’s left is for the shuttle to return to Earth after ending a 12-day mission at which point it will be retired from services for good.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Docks At International Space Station is a post from: The Inquisitr

NASA officials on Wednesday cleared the space shuttle Atlantis for it’s final voyage to the International Space Station. The flight is meant to take place on Friday, July 8 but only if weather plays nice with a stormy forecast on the horizon.

Officials for the space agency unanimously voted for the launch which will end the agency’s 30-year space plane program.

According to current weather reports the shuttle is suppose to launch on a day that includes a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms and rain showers, both of which would delay the launch.

If the weather plays nice the shuttle will take off at 11:26 a.m. EDT (1526 GMT) on Friday.

Officials are most notably worried about lightning, clouds and rain in the shuttle’s patch. NASA scientists are also worried about storms by a nearby landing strip which could become necessary in the event of an emergency landing shortly after takeoff.

If the shuttle’s departure is a success it will be manned by a rather small crew of just four astronauts who will take part in a 12-day mission aboard the International Space Station in which they will make their final delivery to the space lab.

This final Atlantis mission also marks the 135th shuttle launch for 30-year-old program.

[Photo: collectSPACE.com/Robert Z. Pearlman]

NASA Clears Space Shuttle Atlantis For Last Launch, Weather May Not Cooperate is a post from: The Inquisitr

NASA space shuttle Endeavour has witnessed it’s final mission. The shuttle’s final crew floated through the shuttle’s door on Sunday morning and closed the hatch.

Commander Mark Kelly said of the mission:

“We’re looking forward to getting home and we’re going to leave these guys to some peace and quiet and not disturb their space station anymore.”

The crew was set to undock late Sunday night before making the two-day trip home.

Cmdr. Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Gifford and his crew were on a 16-day mission aboard Endeavour as part of the shuttles 25th anniversary.  The shuttle will be placed in a California museum when it lands next Wednesday.

NASA will also send Atlantis on it’s final mission on July 8.

Space Shuttle Endeavour Crew Prepares To Complete Final Mission is a post from: The Inquisitr

A sonic boom occurred over Los Angeles and could be heard across southern California today as the Space Shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards Air force Base at about 5:50pm Pacific.

The Space Shuttle Discovery made it’s descent late this afternoon, causing it’s normal sonic boom as it glided in over Los Angeles shortly before 6pm. Unpredictable weather caused NASA to make the decision to land the shuttle at Edwards Air Force base in California rather than at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Discovery started it’s de-orbit burn shortly before 5pm, where they burn the engines for about 3-4 minutes to slow it down enough to begin it’s descent. 50 minutes later, Discovery landed at Edwards, ending a 14 day supply mission to the International Space Station that covered some 5.7 million miles.

With a Sonic Boom, Space Shuttle Discovery Lands at Edwards Air Force Base is a post from: The Inquisitr

Shuttle Landing Schedule

With Friday’s return off, the shuttle landing schedule now shifts to Saturday. Atlantis will have four opportunities to land then, both at Kennedy and at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. The first possibility comes at 9:16 a.m. ET at Kennedy.

The space shuttle is wrapping up an 11-day mission repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. If need be, Atlantis has enough resources to remain in space through Monday.

Shuttle Landing Live Webcast

The following is a live Webcast from NASA TV about the shuttle landing and other space-related news. Click the play button to begin the stream.

LIVE WEBCAST: Shuttle Landing Delayed Due to Weather is a post from: The Inquisitr

Shuttle Hydrogen Leak

The shuttle was originally set to launch at 9:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The weather was good and everything looked to be a go until engineers saw explosive hydrogen gas coming out of the main fuel tank. Such a leak could have potentially sparked an explosion had the shuttle lifted off as planned.

Shuttle Timeline Now

If NASA is able to find the source of the leak and repair it, Discovery will lift off at 6:43 p.m. Sunday. The launch could likely be pushed back to Monday or Tuesday, however. If Discovery is not ready to leave by Tuesday, the mission will have to be delayed until April 7 due to a Russian Soyuz capsule launch already scheduled.

NASA officials say the space shuttle Discovery’s mission may be cut short because of the timing changes. If a Sunday launch occurs, the mission will last 11 days instead of 14. At least one of the planned four spacewalks is expected to be cancelled as well. By Monday, the trip will be cut down to 10 days with only one to two walks, and for Tuesday, the mission will be shortened to nine days with a single spacewalk.

You can read more about the plans for the mission and see a live stream of NASA’s latest efforts at the Kennedy Space Center at our Shuttle Launch Live 2009 page.

Shuttle Launch Delay: What Happened and What’s Next is a post from: The Inquisitr

NASA’s space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center tonight — March 11, 2009 — at 9:20 p.m. EDT. You can watch the shuttle launch live, plus keep an eye on all the activity leading up to it during the day, right here.

Space Shuttle Discovery: The Delays

NASA scientists had pushed back Discovery’s launch by about a month because of tiny cracks discovered in the engine compartment’s hydrogen valves. Crews ended up replacing all of the shuttle’s valves as a safety precaution and now say the shuffle is safe to travel.

Discovery’s Mission

Discovery’s mission will include four spacewalks on which astronauts will install a 31,000-pound addition to the International Space Station. The truss, as it’s called, has two solar array wings that’ll convert solar energy into power for the station. It is the final piece of the station’s new backbone. Discovery will also bring a replacement for that much-discussed system that converts astronauts’ urine into drinkable water.

Discovery’s crew is made up of Commander Lee Archambault; Pilot Tony Antonelli; Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and John Phillips; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Shuttle Launch Live 2009 Webcast

Below is a live stream from the Kennedy Space Center, courtesy NASA TV. (Note that NASA may come in and out of coverage during the afternoon hours. Nonstop coverage should begin by evening.) You can find the minute-by-minute breakdown of Discovery’s timeline on our Space Shuttle Launch Schedule 2009 page.

Shuttle Launch Live 2009: Discovery Webcast is a post from: The Inquisitr

The space shuttle Discovery is set to launch tonight — March 11, 2009 — at 9:20 p.m. EDT. After four weeks of delays, NASA says the shuttle is ready to lift off and head out on its two-week voyage to the International Space Station.

Read more about Discovery’s delays and what’s involved in this mission on our Shuttle Launch Live 2009 page. There, you’ll also find a live streaming Webcast of Discovery on the launch pad and during its launch.

Space Shuttle Launch Schedule 2009

As of Wednesday morning, the weather at the Kennedy Space Center is expected to cooperate with the launch — in fact, chances of “excellent conditions” are currently set at 90 percent. Weather is also predicted to stay good at the three overseas emergengy landing sites.

Assuming everything stays on track, here is the current space shuttle launch schedule for March 11, 2009:

Demate orbiter mid-body umbilical unit (3:30 a.m.)

Resume orbiter and ground support equipment closeouts

Resume countdown (7 a.m.)

Main engine avionics, pneumatics and controller checkout completed (7:30 a.m.)
Begin filling pad sound suppression system water tank (8 a.m.)
Pad sound suppression system water tank filling complete (11 a.m.)
Begin star tracker functional checks (2:50 p.m.)

Enter planned hold at T-11 hours for 13 hours, 7 minutes (3 p.m.)

Activate the orbiter’s communications systems (7:15 p.m.)

Launch Day – Wednesday, March 11

Move Rotating Service Structure to the park position (1 a.m.)
Perform ascent switch list
Fuel cell flow-through purge complete

Resume countdown at T-11 hours (4:55 a.m.)

Activate the orbiter’s fuel cells (6:05 a.m.)

Switch Discovery’s purge air to gaseous nitrogen (6:55 a.m.)

Enter planned 2-hour built-in hold at the T-6 hour mark (9:55 a.m.)

Clear the blast danger area of all nonessential personnel
Launch team verifies no violations of launch commit criteria prior to cryogenic loading of the external tank
Clear pad of all personnel

Resume countdown (11:55 a.m.)

Chill down propellant transfer lines (11:55 a.m.)
Begin loading the external fuel tank with about 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants (about 12:05 p.m.)

Enter planned 2-hour, 30-minute built-in hold at T-3 hours (2:55 p.m.)

Complete filling the external tank with its flight load of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants (about 2:55 p.m.)
Final Inspection Team proceeds to launch pad
Perform inertial measurement unit preflight calibration
Align Merritt Island Launch Area tracking antennas

Resume countdown at T-3 hours (5:25 p.m.)

Perform open loop test with Eastern Range
Crew departs Operations and Checkout Building for the pad (5:30 p.m.)
Complete closeout preparations in the White Room
Check cockpit switch configurations
Begin Eastern Range final network open loop command checks

Flight crew begins entry into the orbiter (6 p.m.)
Astronauts perform air-to-ground voice checks with Launch and Mission Control
Begin to close Discovery’s crew hatch (7:05 p.m.)

Perform hatch seal and cabin leak checks
Complete White Room closeout
Closeout crew moves to fallback area
Primary ascent guidance data is transferred to the backup flight system

Enter planned 10-minute hold at T-20 minutes (8:05 p.m.)

NASA test director conducts final launch team briefings

Resume countdown at T-20 minutes (8:15 p.m.)

Transition the orbiter’s onboard computers to launch configuration
Start fuel cell thermal conditioning
Close orbiter cabin vent valves
Transition backup flight system to launch configuration

Enter estimated 40-minute hold at T-9 minutes (8:26 p.m.)

Launch director, Mission Management Team and NASA test director conduct final polls for “go/no go” to launch

Resume countdown at T-9 minutes (9:11 p.m.)

Start automatic ground launch sequencer (T-9 minutes)
Retract orbiter crew access arm (T-7:30)
Start APU recorders (T-6:15)
Start auxiliary power units (T-5)
Terminate liquid oxygen replenish (T-4:55)
Start orbiter aerosurface profile test (T-3:55)
Start main engine gimbal profile test (T-3:30)
Pressurize liquid oxygen tank (T-2:55)
Begin retracting the gaseous oxygen vent arm (T-2:50)
Fuel cells to internal reactants (T-2:35)
Pressurize liquid hydrogen tank (T-1:57)
Deactivate bi-pod heaters (T-1:52)
Deactivate solid rocket booster joint heaters (T-0:50 seconds)
Orbiter transfers from ground to internal power (T-0:50 seconds)
Ground launch sequencer go for auto sequence start (T-0:31 seconds)
Booster gimbal profile (T-0:21 seconds)
Ignition of three space shuttle main engines (T-6.6 seconds)
Booster ignition and liftoff (T-0)

Shuttle Launch Live 2009: Watch Discovery Lift Off Here

Space Shuttle Launch Schedule 2009: Discovery’s Timeline is a post from: The Inquisitr

The above video surfaced on Gizmodo and is alleged to have been shot by a passenger on an Air Canada flight during a Space Shuttle launch. There’s no reason to believe that it’s fake, and ignoring the commentary on the video, it’s pretty cool. The speed of the Shuttle as it rises is phenomenal. According to NASA, the Space Shuttle does zero to 17,000 mph (27,400kmh) in 8.5 minutes

Space Shuttle Launch from Air Canada Plane is a post from: The Inquisitr