Space Shuttles are nothing but trouble

[Da Vikster the Ori]

I dont know if this has been discussed before, but ever since the Columbia disaster, every shuttle launch has been marred by loss of the insulating foam, like the recent endeavour launch, and NASA has been wasting bilions on the relics that they call spacecraft when they can just design a new type of spacecraft that can actually fly without endangering everyone on board...

What do you all think?
Would you think the money is better spent refurbishing the existing fleet or getting a new fleet of shuttles?

[Jarnin]

I dont know if this has been discussed before, but ever since the Columbia disaster, every shuttle launch has been marred by loss of the insulating foam, like the recent endeavour launch, and NASA has been wasting bilions on the relics that they call spacecraft when they can just design a new type of spacecraft that can actually fly without endangering everyone on board...

What do you all think?
Would you think the money is better spent refurbishing the existing fleet or getting a new fleet of shuttles?

I think this discussion should be continued in this thread.

[Nth]

If you want to know the cause of the shuttle problems look no further than environmentalism mixed with politics.

NASA used to use Freon in the making of its thermal insulating foam. The EPA leaned on them to use another more brittle and less sticky Freon-free foam. Result, Columbia burned up on reentry. NASA personal even knew the new foam was 10 times more likely to fall off but no one cared.

Similarly, Challenger was a victim of the same abuse. You knew how an O-ring in one of the solid rocket boosters failed. What you may not of known, it was because of a new type of putty was used to protect the O-rings. A putty that didn't contain bad-old asbestos.

Freaking hippies.