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[TheBiggerFish]

For some reason, this suddenly came to mind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCalLq9iDiw

Wait... Her ship IMPLODED from the vacuum of space??? Can you even physics??

?!

[Bumber]

Are you saying that you'd rather be doing what you're doing now than floating around, performing repairs, science, and using complicated toilets?

The food's probably not that great.

Not to mention the radiation, muscle atrophy, etc.

[Bumber]

Radiation's not that bad due to protection since you're in the magnetosphere, food's not terrible IIRC and muscle atrophy? You exercise in space for a reason.

You're still at a greater risk for cancer. Well, you can't have a decent pizza or anything. Yes, lots more exercising.

There's probably limits on free time and internet, too.

[Starver]

There's probably limits on free time and internet, too.

<INSERT WILHELM SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!>

[Arx]

Radiation's not that bad due to protection since you're in the magnetosphere, food's not terrible IIRC and muscle atrophy? You exercise in space for a reason.

You're still at a greater risk for cancer. Well, you can't have a decent pizza or anything. Yes, lots more exercising.

There's probably limits on free time and internet, too.

There's significant muscle and bone atrophy (more bone), it would be hell on your claustrophobia if you have it, and astronauts appear to age faster.

The ISS could also get clipped by a micrometeor big enough to cause serious damage.

[i2amroy]

There's significant muscle and bone atrophy (more bone)

Yeah, exercise can only do so much, and some of the more long-term effects of life in space on your body are currently fairly hotbed areas of research. Our first 1 year stay in space experiment won't end for another 3 months, at which point the scientists will finally have the data they need to start drawing some real conclusions about longer-term effects.

[RedKing]

With the new Congressional budget for FY 2016 out, NASA's getting MORE than they requested. And nearly $1.3 billion more than last year. 

Who are these people, and what did they do with Congress? You know what? I don't even care.

Major funding boosts to the SLS, the Orion, and the Commercial Crew program. Appears that manned spaceflight is back in vogue.

Also, Congress mandated a probe to land on Europa in the next decade. I....really can't explain that one, unless somebody read Clarke's 2010, saw the bit about "All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there." and said "Oh yeah? Hey NASA, go land there. 'MURRICA FUCK YEAH!"

[LordBaal]

Maybe they realized there's more "oil" in space than on earth, and there's no pesky brown people living there? Hahahaha...

Seriously, those are exciting news. I love the Earth and all that crap, but I think mankind should be expending at least 30% to 40% of all it's available resources into becoming capable of getting the hell outta here. Pronto.

Not that we are going anywhere or leaving the Earth, but that we need the option to do so and start expanding our species everywhere we can, it's the only way to be sure of our really long term survival.

[10ebbor10]

Yeah, unfortunately there are a few problems with the budget omnibus. Most importantly, the next mass surveillance, anti privacy bill has been put into it. Basically, they're trying, and probably going to succeed in passing this controversial bill without debate because the president and such won't risk the entire budget.

That's why it's so high.

http://www.wired.com/2015/12/congress-slips-cisa-into-omnibus-bill-thats-sure-to-pass/

[Starver]

My suspicions are that at least part of the reason is recent tensions (or on-again-off-again 'frenemies' situation) has highlighted that currently the only bus to the ISS is Soyuz (with the next option being Shenzou, being my first thought, which almost certainly has its own political issues - especially if we get to the point that Soyuz is irrevocably out of reach).

I also think that some people thought that the promotion of the X-Prize was supposed to create a viable vendor/carrier (or a competitive range of them) that could eventually be outsourced-to without it being an explicit government programme.  It seems to have encouraged the creation of Dragon/Falcon, and others on the way, but man-rating to-orbit is taking some time (for those vehicles that were both intended to be man-rated and orbital).

But, no. The US really needs their new Apollo-reboot/retool, to avoid being held for ransom.  Effectively.

[10ebbor10]

The budget bill also removes the restrictions that forced ULA to stop using Russian rocket engines, so I don't think it's an independence from the russians thing.

[Wolfhunter107]

The first stage of ORBCOMM 2's Falcon 9 launcher has just landed. Oh yeah.

[Starver]

Ah, got there before me.  I was going to post that, too.

An interesting milestone, I'd say.  (Although who knows how naive this view might become in the light of future developments.)

[andrea]

the interesting thing will be how much it costs t oprepare it for launch again. I wonder when they will launch an used booster for the first time ( this one I think they will most likely take apart to study)

[wierd]

From what I was seeing, the landing failures had more to do with having a very tiny recovery platform, that was moving/unstable. (barge, on water.)

The strut related launch failure was a bonafide engineering problem, but they have fixed it.

SpaceX's rocketry looks very good on the whole.  I can see them disassembling this lower stage to check for any unexpected stresses or findings, but I dont anticipate that there will be much of consequence found.