Sahil K Gupta’s Post

Sorry to poop the nostalgia party but this Shuttle video gives me the chills for a completely different reason than most responses in the original post. I remember (watching live on UK TV) the 1986 Challenger disaster and being with a peer group of space enthusiasts and professionals at the International Space University during the catastrophic last mission of the Columbus in 2003. I had a Challenger poster on my bedroom wall as a kid. I was a fanboy. And then I started to learn more about the avoidable deaths (14 lives tragically cut short). To me the Shuttle programme represents some of the worst wrongs of the space industry. A badly compromised design that lost track of its purpose, in part due to meddling from the defense stakeholders, a culture of mission pressure and ass-covering over candid risk management at NASA (aka “go fever”), and a huge amount of lies and exaggerations told to the US public about its safety and cost. Despite Feynman’s lucid and credible account of his investigation into Challenger (great read btw), NASA largely ignored the urgent need for culture change and more died as a result. Factoring in lifecycle, it ended up costing $1.5B per launch, had over 1% fatality rate and was (in my view) over-used for missions that were better suited to un-crewed launchers. I operated satellites that had been designed to be launched on the shuttle, but were eventually launched on other vehicles following Challenger’s catastrophic failure. Asides from self-justification (i.e a better denominator for the cost equation), nobody could explain to me why one would launch a GEO communications satellite from a crewed vehicle. We have come a very long way technically since the Shuttle was designed - but if the wave of upcoming human space missions are to be a success and merit their cost and risk, I sincerely hope people have taken heed of the many lessons the history of the Shuttle can teach us. https://lnkd.in/e3WejpYr

If you look at the aerospace technology landscape, you will come across a distinct time-line around the 1970's which I call the BEFORE and AFTER Shuttle. A launch vehicle worth revisiting as to how the folks from NASA and Rockwell International (Downey, CA) made technical and program decisions that we would have to live with until 2011. Today, given the commercial landscape that NASA has facilitated and promoted extensively we find ourselves re-engineering solutions that at first appear innovative but will require continuous engineering to assure similar longevity of a Shuttle program (Apollo Lessons Learned, Mil-Std, NASA Standards, etc.). Maybe a new NASA standard developed with an aerospace industry representative technical panel (Lockheed, Northrop, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc.) needs to be considered and agreed upon to further streamline manned spacecraft certifications that actually could make use technology and components that become available without putting astronauts to any additional risks (i.e. make manned spaceflight safer than Apollo, Shuttle, ISS missions).

NASA’s 'Protect Earth Plan'; 1,000 spacecrafts to intercept large asteroids heading towards earth #latest #vanakkammalaysia #NASA #ProtectEarthPlan #1,000spacecrafts #intercept #large #asteroids #heading #towards #earth #trendingnewsmalaysia #malaysiatamilnews #fyp #vmnews #foryoupage

NASA’s latest project that combines art and technology!!! It is an innovative tool that lets you write your name using the Earth's Landscapes. Just type your name and see it on the satellite imagery. (You can experience this unique feature by accessing the tool given below) https://lnkd.in/gBvirgAp #NASA #Landsat #SpaceArt #Innovation #Technology #DataArt #SatelliteImagery #EarthFromSpace #ArtAndScience #CreativeTech #DataVisualization #ArtisticExpression #SpaceScience #TechMeetsArt #PlanetArt #SpaceTechnology

🚀 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝟏𝟏: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲! Let's explore how data analysis propelled NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon! 🌕 • 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: 🌟 Data analysis navigated the lunar module through challenges like gravitational forces. • 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: 🚀 Real-time data guided mission control, ensuring astronaut safety. • 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬: 🌌 Data analysis post-flight improved future space exploration. The Apollo 11 mission showcases data's extraordinary power. What other data-driven feats inspire you? Share below! 🌠 #Apollo11 #SpaceData #MissionSuccess #NASA #HistoricalAnalysis

NASA’s 'Protect Earth Plan'; 1,000 spacecrafts to intercept large asteroids heading towards earth #latest #vanakkammalaysia #NASA #ProtectEarthPlan #1,000spacecrafts #intercept #large #asteroids #heading #towards #earth #trendingnewsmalaysia #malaysiatamilnews #fyp #vmnews #foryoupage

NASA has issued an alert about a 580-foot asteroid, 363305 (2002 NV16), scheduled to pass near Earth on October 24, 2024. While it will approach at a distance of 4,520,000 kilometres, experts confirm there is no impact risk. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/gfm6TAGJ (𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒓: 𝑨𝑰-𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.) #nasa #asteroidalert #spacenews #nearearthobject #asteroid2024 #spaceexploration #asteroidwatch #cosmicevents #astronomy #sciencenews #planetarydefense #spacesafety #asteroidmonitoring #earthandspace #spacefacts

Humans have not yet been to Mars, but scientists have sent spacecraft there to help them research this fascinating planet. Enjoy reading these interesting facts about Mars. #MarsFacts #SpaceExploration #RedPlanet #MarsDiscovery #SpaceFacts #PlanetaryExploration #CosmicCuriosity #ScienceTrivia #Astronomy #NASA

That’s right! Thanks to brilliantly optimized software and super-resilient infrastructure, these rovers manage to send back complex data across millions of miles, giving us those incredible images and insights about Mars from all the way up there! The reason? NASA builds their infrastructure for reliability, not speed. It has to withstand Mars' harsh conditions, so durability and radiation resistance are key. Even though it may seem slower, the rovers use specialized software designed for the job, letting them perform complex tasks and beam back crucial scientific data from across space." #Plumelo #SoftwareDevelopment #Infrastructure #MarsRover #NASA #SpaceTechnology #OptimizedSoftware #ScienceAndTech #MarsMission

On #thisDayInScience in 2014, NASA’s Van Allen Probes revealed how the inner Van Allen belt's electrons reach near-light speeds: a two-fold boost from initial mechanisms and Whistler waves. This insight helps protect satellites and astronauts. #NASA #SpaceScience Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog: https://lnkd.in/gAzuvgPU