Successfull liftoff!

May I also congratulate NASA for a perfect Lift-off, some of the numbers still astound Me though like 14,000mph +. HAPPY 4th JULY.

Scott.

Yeap!  And Apollo went up to twice that speed to escape earth gravity and go to the moon.

LOL! I like how they moved the goalposts. To me "Space" is outside not only the Earth's atmosphere, but it's gravitational pull. I guess the International High Altitude Station just doesn't roll off the tongue as well as International Space Station.

I hope NASA dumps the shuttle as the obsolete technology it is, and starts building manned SPACE ships once more. I have never forgiven them for taking the last Saturn V and turning it into a monument.

Be patient, you're gonna love the new Ares vehicles.

Congradulations indeed. I hope that they will be able to get these next 16 missions in during the next four years. I still think they should've given the program another two years to 2012, to ensure safety, and a hubble fix. The new Ares are impressive, but you are limited to what you can put up there. Research in engines that lift more tonnage should still continue. Whatever happend to the Buran Energia heavy lift LV?

My son, 15 years old, sent me an e-mail yesterday.  He's visiting my mother for a little summer vacation on the Oregon Coast... He wrote:

"Did you see it? They just launched the space shuttle discovery today. That was the first shuttle I watched go into space. Happy fourth! "

Made me feel really, really small.... I always thought we'd watched at least one or two launches together.  Considering my wife and I always talk about space and being interested in such things at least casually, and having grown up seeing on TV the glory days of space exploration - with the early orbit and moon shots... I really, really do feel small indeed.

Some things you can never re-enact and get right with your kids... so, when you think of little Johnny or Suzy, be sure to ask, "Did I have my kid on my lap to watch the shuttle launch?"  If you haven't, do it now, before they experience it without you to share in the excitement.

My kids could care less about the shuttle. I remember my mom waking me up at 3AM to watch the Apollo launches, and I recall being glued to the TV listening to Walter Cronkite covering the story on TV. I tried to get the kids to pay attention, but I think I may have passed along my bitterness over the Shuttle program.

I'm glad that my oldest son (5 years old) is much interested by the space program.  His room is full of posters and rockets models.  He's the first to tell me when he sees a space shuttle or the ISS on TV.  And of course ... he WILL be an astronaut.

heh... My son from early on really loved space and science along with sci-fi, but he has always firmly believed he should remain planted firmly on the terra firma, as an astronomer of some associated scientist, and let others "go boldly where no man has gone before."  Safe and sound and learning from home, eh?

My son was indifferent, but my daughter was very much interested. Can't wait to see thier reaction for the next moon shots, if they do happen. They will be out of college by then.