Thread by @this_is_trek

God I can't wait till we finally get back to the #Moon and finally onto #Mars. Or even launching from the #USA again. So embarrassing that @NASA has been crippled for the last 9 years like this. Definitely worse than the budget cuts that killed the last 3 #Apollo missions. (1/7)

I understand the need to retire the #Shuttle, but doing so before you had a replacement for it in line in short order was just so short sighted. Even IF the @NASA_SLS didn't fall so behind schedule and run SO badly over budget (initially supposed to launch in 2018... (2/7)

and now not going to launch until at LEAST 2021 - as well as costing an insane amount per launch for a "disposable" rocket.)

All of that would have been fine with me except that initially there was a 7 year gap. A planned 7 year gap with zero launches from American soil... (3/7)

that has now run on for at least 10 years, and with how the delays have been going (not to mention @BoeingSpace's embarrassment with the unmanned test in December) I foresee even more delays. Thankfully @elonmusk and aforementioned #Boeing have stepped in to do LEO launches (4/7)

to the @Space_Station. I just hope that the @NASA_SLS doesn't fall even further behind, run more over budget and become the space aged Edsel - or even worse get canned. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo era brought so much innovation, inspiration, and hope for the future. (5/7)

The Saturn 5 rocket was actually designed for a mission to #Mars - that's where von Braun intended to go. After #Apollo11 the hope and dream for the future petered out, and I can't even express how sad that is. We should have been to Mars and further already. (6/7)

I'm sorry this has seemed to turn into a rant as opposed to just navel-gazing and a little venting of frustration at the lack of foresight and planning at the end of the #Shuttle program. If you've made it this far - I appreciate it. (7/7)