Happy Moon Day!

[asterroc]

40 years ago today the first man walked on the Moon.

Tomorrow I'm meeting the astronauts who serviced the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time on the STS-125 mission. jmgold42 suggested as a question for them "Do you think we should go back to the Moon?" and I just may ask it (though I expect someone else will ask it). blue102 suggested a question about how their perspective of Earth has changed, and how the Earth-bound of us can achieve that. I'm also considering "Do you think NASA should focus its energy and funding on manned or unmanned missions?" You can follow along with the NASA Tweetup event at the Twitter hashtag #NASATweetup.

If you could ask the STS-125 astronauts any question, what would it be?

Comments

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

I think the line of questioning I'd be interested in following with an STS-125 astronaut would have to do with the burgeoning banality of space flight. With the shuttle program entering its final years, we've reached the point where shuttle flights get noted in the news, but barely, unless there is some sort of malfunction. With the space station nearly finished, we have people living in space for a year or more at a time. We're working on building a moon base! And we're seeing increasing commercial space flight efforts, to the point where I can envision a near future where ordinary middle class people can vacation in space.

Questions along this line that I'd be interested to hear thoughts on:

Did the trip feel like something momentous and historical, or was it just another important work project? Did going to space change the way you think about space? Does the fact that it's the 125th mission diminish the significance of the trip?

Do you think we lose something as a nation when space shifts from being a frontier to an accessible destination?

How do you think the evolving nature of our perception of space travel will affect our opinions of adequate safety level? Will the safety record of the STS program- two destroyed shuttles in over 125 missions- be considered adequate for civilian spaceflight, or is that a problem that will need addressing as we make that transition?