"We have a saying back in Texas, 'It's time to walk the walk,"' said Brent Jett, Atlantis' commander, after arriving from Houston by training jet. "We are ready for the challenge ... All we need is a little good weather on Sunday and we'll be out of here."
This mission is the start of a renewed effort to finish building the international space station before the cargo-carrying shuttles are retired in 2010.
I wonder how much this is costing us? How many kevlar vests, humvee armor upgrades and such could we have bought instead?
Posted by Muddy at August 25, 2006 07:00 AMYou wouldnt have Kevlar if it wasnt for the NASA program. The pentagon could easily get more kevlar or upgrade humvees, they just dont care enough to do it. They have more important things, like spending untold billions on getting new planes for the navy and airforce. 5 or 6 f22 planes could probably buy enough kevlar for everyone in iraq now.
Are a handful of f22s more important than having body armor for everyone in iraq? I guess not.
Posted by: mooseboy84 at August 25, 2006 12:46 PMActually mooseboy, it would cost an obscene amount of money to retrofit humvees with kevlar with little to no benefit. Not to mention that it would defeat the reason they were built without it in the first place: fuel milage.
Btw, everyone in Iraq has body armor. Hell, I have it. Not that you'd have a clue what you're talking about.
The F-22 program (and the F-35 program for that matter, which is a joint server program) is important and will save lives also. Not to mention that the cancellation of those programs would cost untold jobs in our economy.
All that needs to be done to give humvee's more armor is for congress to mandate it and fund it. But they won't do that.
Posted by: skywalker at August 26, 2006 06:43 PM