Home » Science & Nature » Space Exploration » A Permanent Presence in Space

A Permanent Presence in Space

© b.w. white

For the first time in over two decades the United States currently has a permanent presence in space. With the November 2 docking of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz with the International Space Station (ISS), American astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko became the first crew to man the station for an extended period( http://cnn.com/space ). They will remain on board until another crew replaces them in four months.

But after the triumph of Apollo and the proven successes of the Space Shuttle, why did a permanent American presence in space take so long? While the Russians went in one direction and chose manned space stations in the 1970’s, the United States went another, and was quickly caught in an expensive spider web called the Space Transportation System, (the Space Shuttle). The longest the shuttle can stay in space is around two weeks. And while it is a reusable vehicle, and an invaluable tool for the space station, it seems to have hampered America's progression to a permanently manned space station. In a sense, the shuttle was really intended as a means to other bigger space projects, but ended up turning into an expensive project all by itself. Although, the shuttle is only a small chapter, in a long explanation, as to why it has taken so long for Americans to permanently inhabit a space station.

But you are asking what about Skylab? Well, today it seems to have slipped from the American consciousness. But yes, America has had a space station before. Skylab was an afterthought of the Apollo era when NASA decided that it could use the massive Apollo style machinery for purposes other than going to the moon. And when Congress and the public wanted NASA to turn its attention to science and research on earth, a space station seemed like a logical step. But what happened to it? Well, hold on to your seats. After only three crews (of 3 astronauts each) visited it between 1973 and 1974 Skylab became unoccupied and neglected ( http://Science.ksc.nasa.gov ). With a tight budget, and a commitment to the Space Shuttle in the late 1970's and early 1980's, NASA could no longer afford two massive projects at the same time (and realistically it couldn't). On July 11 of 1979 Skylab reentered the Earth's atmosphere over Australia ( http://Science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/skyl... ). Unfortunately, with its demise so went the hope of America's prolonged presence in space.