6 ms·
The last time the US government made something to be proud of was 50 years ago with the Apollo program. Counter examples welcome!
by billions 6y ago
The last time the US government made something to be proud of was 50 years ago with the Apollo program. Counter examples welcome!
- ceejayoz 6y agoThe Hubble Space Telescope? (and the other "Great Observatories" satellites)
- billions 6y agoHubble was funded in the 1970s with a proposed launch in 1983, but the project was beset by technical delays, budget problems, and the 1986 Challenger disaster. It was finally launched by Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990, but its main mirror had been ground incorrectly, resulting in spherical aberration that compromised the telescope's capabilities. The optics were corrected to their intended quality by a servicing mission in 1993. Meh.
- ceejayoz 6y ago“Figured out on-orbit repair and upgrade of a school bus sized telescope” sounds pretty cool to me.
- damon_c 6y agoTCP/IP is pretty awesome. How about that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite To be fair... it's also from about 50 years ago. Hmm...
- damon_c 6y agoUgh... The GPS project was started by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1973...