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About Me Varied / Professional Premium Member ArcassUnited States Groups group avatar #StarTrekArtistsUnite
Star Trek Artists Unite
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Deviant for 4 Years
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Given by *Teri-Minx
Statistics 841 Deviations 18,503 Comments 119,833 Pageviews

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With the recent flyovers of the retired Space Shuttles to their respective museums there has been much waxing nostalgic about the glory days of the Shuttle era. Call me a hater if you must but they were not NASA's finest (decades long) moment. Not only was the cost of the program greater in treasure (aka "tax dollars") and human lives than another manned space vehicle, but the thing was cutting edge 1972 technology. Sure, it could land on a runway (if it didn't blow up on ascent or burn up on reentry), but we'd been taking men to space and landing them that way since the X-15 program in the 50's.

NASA's engineering reputation was built in the 60's, during the space race. During that time their designs were at the cutting edge. In a single decade we saw three manned launch systems go operational without a single in-flight casualty! The following four decades saw one system – the Shuttle – and claimed fourteen human lives, including one civilian and Israel's first astronaut (who perversely met his death over Palestine, Texas).

If you listen to recent media interviews by NASA personnel there is often a bitter undertone to it and a general impression that American spaceflight is dead. They seem loathe to mention the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Service) program, initiated under the Bush administration, to introduce commercial aerospace industry alternatives to routine orbital access for cargo and personnel. It's in the COTS participants that you find that flame of 60's NASA still shining brightly. Innovative thinking and ideas that go from "drawing board" to launch pad in the matter of a few years. And designs built on modularity/expandability and long-range planning.

Next week will see a milestone in the COTS program as Space-X launches its first Dragon supply capsule to the ISS [link] . Plans for the manned Dragon capsule [link] already well underway and could be flying within the next two years (ahead of the best estimates for the now-cancelled and more expensive Ares booster to fly the same mission).

So all this panicked hand-waving the mainstream media (from ABC News to NPR) is spewing about "an unprecedented gap in American manned space access" is just sour grapes and hyperbole. The '76-'81 gap was far more real and significant. Today astronauts still fly over our heads each day, a new generation of launch vehicles is ON THE PAD, and NASA continues to plan and create the hardware for missions beyond Earth orbit [link] .

And now.... ART! Stuff to look at if you'd missed it. Click to see the bigger versions:

  • Listening to: SOMA-FM
  • Reading: "The Drowned Cities" by P. Bacigalupi
  • Watching: scurrying self-important primates
  • Drinking: Nature's version of bottled water

deviantID

*Arcass

Artist | Professional | Varied
United States
I am a child of the Space Age and a largely self-taught artist.... but the best way to learn is by doing, and I've been at it since I could lift a pencil. Throw in a lifelong passion for astronomy, sci-fi, and scale modeling, and there you have it - the ingredients for Arcas Stew. Though my educational background is in hard science, my professional career has been a meandering path through many graphics/creative roles. For the time being I've settled on "digital print maker".

I live in a beautiful corner of the US Northeast with my wife, two hamsters, and a constantly changing cast of wildlife in the yard. My favorite color is 045FB4.
Interests

Webcam

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:iconvmulligan:
~vmulligan 4 days ago  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Thanks for the favourite on "The Deeps 2".
Reply
:iconivorywalker:
=IvoryWalker May 17, 2012  Student General Artist
Thank you for the :+fav:

--
Remember where you came from
The Crow Steampunk Contest
Reply
:iconbeltminer:
~beltminer May 9, 2012  New member
ahhhh we meet again my old friend! thanks for the fave man. the faves are sweet when they come from a treasure house like this.
all the best. george
Reply
:iconarcass:
*Arcass May 11, 2012  Professional General Artist
My pleasure - thanks for sharing the work, here! :D

--
-- "The sleep of reason breeds monsters"
Reply
:iconmarkkarvon:
*markkarvon May 8, 2012  Professional Digital Artist
Thank you for the favorite on "Charlie Brown Comes Home".

--
First there was nothing; then there was everything.

Fine Art by Mark Karvon: [link]
Karvon Graphics: [link]
Reply
:icondacantero:
Did you and Drell-7 ever have plans to do the novel version of Discovery One?

--
----------------------------------------------
This is the internet. Where the men are men, the women also men, and children are the FBI.
Reply
:iconarcass:
*Arcass May 9, 2012  Professional General Artist
We talked about adding some radiators to the movie version (as was originally intended), but not about building it up from ground zero.

--
-- "The sleep of reason breeds monsters"
Reply
:iconyankee30:
Cassie Blaine

My operatives have capture her for return to
you for neural reprogramming

[link]

Request update on C Blaine return to Field Service

--
No matter where you go, There you are
Reply
:iconarcass:
*Arcass May 9, 2012  Professional General Artist
:) I've been toying with some Cassie ideas lately, so we'll see if it bears any fruit. Thanks! ;)

--
-- "The sleep of reason breeds monsters"
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