NASA pulls funding from private asteroid hunter
Because of a failure to meet its developmental deadlines, NASA has cut its ties with the privately funded Sentinel satellite, designed to spot 90% of all near Earth asteroids that might pose a threat to the Earth.
The problem for the B612 Foundation, the private company committed to building Sentinel, is that they haven’t clearly laid out a way any investors could make money from the satellite. Thus, they have so far raised only $1.6 million from private sources. They need almost half a billion to build it, according to their own budget numbers.
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Because of a failure to meet its developmental deadlines, NASA has cut its ties with the privately funded Sentinel satellite, designed to spot 90% of all near Earth asteroids that might pose a threat to the Earth.
The problem for the B612 Foundation, the private company committed to building Sentinel, is that they haven’t clearly laid out a way any investors could make money from the satellite. Thus, they have so far raised only $1.6 million from private sources. They need almost half a billion to build it, according to their own budget numbers.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
This is sad news for the B612 foundation but not necessarily that bad to people who think that Near Earth Objects are the second biggest threat to all life on earth. (The first being our local star experiencing an “end of life” event.)
NASA had only agreed to provide analysis and data downlink for this project.
Perhaps now that they won’t be chasing tax dollars they will find a new efficiency. With the advent of competitive commercial launch services slashing the on-orbit cost, I predict the era of satellites costing hundreds of millions of dollars will be coming to an end. (unless of course they are taxpayer funded)
The current cost is driven mainly by the desire to trim all extraneous mass so that every gram of material performs at least one critical function. The George Washington bridge would have been a different sort of incredible engineering feat had it been designed using the same paradigm. But then they would not have been able to add a second roadbed.
My point being, If B612 is not constrained by the cost of lifting excess mass they could probably have any university engineering department build the thing for the 1.6 million they have already raised as a senior class project. I know guys that could probably build an operational mock-up in their basement. (then they would probably then discover that it wouldn’t fit out the door)
Frankly, I’m surprised that NASA had not implemented a similar satellite program themselves considering congress passed legislation requiring them to locate 90% of all NEOs 140 meters or larger. I suspect the decision to comply with the law using mainly ground based assets was driven by a combination of bureaucratic territorialism and current program budget constraints. A pity because public awareness of the danger posed by NEOs seems to be renewed every few years and that interest drives approval for budget increases.
Please, Please, PLEASE don’t let this posting devolve into a NASA bash like the Dark Streaks posting did.