Daily Press reporter Cory Nealon and retired NASA Langley researcher George Ware held a discussion at 10 a.m. July 8 on the space shuttle program, which has been criticized and celebrated during the last 30 years.

A Hampton resident, Ware worked on the shuttle program at Langley from 1970 until 1989. He helped ensure the space plane was flight ready doing myriad tests in Langley's wind tunnels.

 Space Shuttle Launch(07/08/2011) 
9:59
Cory Nealon: 
Hello everyone. Welcome to Daily Press web chat on NASA's space shuttle program and the final launch.

Joining us will be George Ware, a retired NASA Langley researcher. We'll get started in a few minutes. Please stay tuned.
Friday July 8, 2011 9:59 Cory Nealon
10:01
[Be Right Back Countdown]5 minutes 
Friday July 8, 2011 10:01 
10:04
[Standby]  We will return shortly.
10:12
Cory Nealon: 
Hello everyone. We're back.

As you know the 135th and final shuttle launch is about an hour away. We're here to talk about anything and everything related to the shuttle and human spaceflight.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:12 Cory Nealon
10:13
Cory Nealon: 
Joining us is George Ware, who spent years at NASA Langley. George are you there?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:13 Cory Nealon
10:13
Gware: 
Yes, I'm here!
Friday July 8, 2011 10:13 Gware
10:14
Cory Nealon: 
Great. George, why don't you tell us when you worked on shuttle? And the basics of what you did.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:14 Cory Nealon
10:16
[Comment From DonnieDonnie: ] 
George, what do you think is the future of NASA? Will we have our own space vessel program again anytime soon?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:16 Donnie
10:16
Gware: 
I came on board with the establishment of the Langley Space Directorate. We were the support team for the Shuttle aerodynamics. We worked closely with the Johnson Space Center in developing the aero and external line of the vehicle.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:16 Gware
10:19
Gware: 
Initially there were two orbiter configurations from two different companies and two carrier (booster) configurations. It turned out after much research that none of these concepts were used. Another system, the current shuttle, was selected.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:19 Gware
10:21
Cory Nealon: 
George, you started with shuttle in 1970 in Langley's wind tunnels?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:21 Cory Nealon
10:21
Gware: 
Our job was then to define the aerodynamics of the shuttle over the complete speed range.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:21 Gware
10:22
Gware: 
Yes, 1970. the first flight was in the early 80"s.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:22 Gware
10:23
Cory Nealon: 
We'll skip around a but here. George, what do you think of Donnie's question? Will NASA have spaceship ready to fly anytime soon?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:23 Cory Nealon
10:23
Gware: 
Over 10 years of wind tunnel testing!
Friday July 8, 2011 10:23 Gware
10:24
Gware: 
The next "shuttle" is still years away. Private companies have been given seed money to design vehicles.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:24 Gware
10:26
Cory Nealon: 
One of those private companies is Sierra Nevada Corp., which has based its spacecraft on a Langley design, correct?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:26 Cory Nealon
10:27
Gware: 
HL-20 is a Langley design that has over 5 years of preliminary development at LaRC.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:27 Gware
10:29
Cory Nealon: 
The HL-20 is basically a smaller version of the shuttle. It is designed to be a taxi for astronauts into low Earth orbit
Friday July 8, 2011 10:29 Cory Nealon
10:29
[Comment From PedroPedro: ] 
What's the mood over there? Are people nervous, excited, sad, proud?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:29 Pedro
10:30
Gware: 
I can't tell you for sure but those of us who worked on the shuttle are very proud of "our" vehicle.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:30 Gware
10:30
Cory Nealon: 
Pedro, I'm at NASA Langley. Retirees are trickling in. People are excited. But they're also concerned about poor weather in Florida that might scrub the launch.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:30 Cory Nealon
10:31
[Comment From victoriavictoria: ] 
what kind of conditions are necessary for launch?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:31 victoria
10:32
Cory Nealon: 
George, I know you worked in the wind tunnels, but maybe you can handle this one. Nased on years of watching shuttle flights..
Friday July 8, 2011 10:32 Cory Nealon
10:32
Gware: 
Thee are many requirements. Are you talking about weather?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:32 Gware
10:32
Cory Nealon: 
i think so
Friday July 8, 2011 10:32 Cory Nealon
10:33
[Comment From victoriavictoria: ] 
yes, weatherwise
Friday July 8, 2011 10:33 victoria
10:34
Gware: 
Visibility to a certain altitude-lightning-temp.-
Friday July 8, 2011 10:34 Gware
10:34
[Comment From victoriavictoria: ] 
Do you think there is still a need for manned space missions?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:34 victoria
10:35
Gware: 
I do.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:35 Gware
10:36
Cory Nealon: 
Victoria, I think space enthusiasts will say yes. The astronauts I've talked with say there is no replacement for human observation.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:36 Cory Nealon
10:38
Cory Nealon: 
But to argue against that. There are machines, such as the Mars rovers, that have provided great science. And, according to NASA leaders, it'll likely be 20 years or so before we send astronauts to Mars
Friday July 8, 2011 10:38 Cory Nealon
10:38
[Comment From PedroPedro: ] 
Isn't there an element of anxiety, seeing as 2 of the shuttles have failed over the last 30 years?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:38 Pedro
10:38
Cory Nealon: 
George, with you're experience working on the shuttles, do you think there's worries or concerns with the last launch?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:38 Cory Nealon
10:39
Gware: 
Oh yes, there is concern about every launch. We try to cover every possibility of failure but we know that is impossible.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:39 Gware
10:42
Cory Nealon: 
I think the failures of Challenger and Columbia are something that most people, especially NASA employees, won't forget
Friday July 8, 2011 10:42 Cory Nealon
10:42
Cory Nealon: 
But from what I've been told, the astronauts, people in the control room, etc. are so busy there isn't much time to think of the past
Friday July 8, 2011 10:42 Cory Nealon
10:43
[Comment From victoriavictoria: ] 
What will the shuttle be doing during its mission?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:43 victoria
10:43
Cory Nealon: 
Lots of food, fuel, spare parts for the International Space Station
Friday July 8, 2011 10:43 Cory Nealon
10:44
Gware: 
I was actually testing a shuttle launch configuration in the wind tunnel when the first accident happened! I dashed out of the wind tunnel control room and found a tv to see what happened.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:44 Gware
10:45
Cory Nealon: 
Donner Grigsby, a NASA Langley engineer who has joined me, said should something bad happen while in space the astronauts will camp at the space station
Friday July 8, 2011 10:45 Cory Nealon
10:45
Gware: 
This flight is a resupply flight with lots of transfer of goods from the shuttle to the station.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:45 Gware
10:46
Cory Nealon: 
From the space station, the astronauts would be taken back to Earth over the course of a year aboard Russian spacecraft, Donner said,
Friday July 8, 2011 10:46 Cory Nealon
10:47
Cory Nealon: 
George, why don't you tell us what you are shuttle's greatest achievements? The space station? Hubble? The engineering aspect of the spacecraft?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:47 Cory Nealon
10:48
Gware: 
Cory and all. I'm signing off to get to Langley to see the launch. Thanks
Friday July 8, 2011 10:48 Gware
10:49
Cory Nealon: 
OK George. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy the launch!
Friday July 8, 2011 10:49 Cory Nealon
10:50
Cory Nealon: 
Well, it appears the shuttle launch is still on...for now
Friday July 8, 2011 10:50 Cory Nealon
10:51
Cory Nealon: 
Thanks everyone for joining us. Please check back with dailypress.com for the latest updates on the flight.
Friday July 8, 2011 10:51 Cory Nealon
10:52
[Comment From victoriavictoria: ] 
why do we need the international space station?
Friday July 8, 2011 10:52 victoria
10:53