Some interesting comments about NASA’s future from Clark Lindsey
Clark Lindsey of www.rlvnews.com/ has posted some interesting thoughts in reaction to the successful launch of the Air Force’s second reusable X-37b yesterday and how this relates to NASA’s budget battles in Congress. Key quote for me:
Charles Bolden doesn’t seem prepared to make a forceful case against the clear and obvious dumbness of the HLV/Orion program. Perhaps he in fact wants a make-work project for NASA to sustain the employee base.
As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built. Why waste any money on it now?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Clark Lindsey of www.rlvnews.com/ has posted some interesting thoughts in reaction to the successful launch of the Air Force’s second reusable X-37b yesterday and how this relates to NASA’s budget battles in Congress. Key quote for me:
Charles Bolden doesn’t seem prepared to make a forceful case against the clear and obvious dumbness of the HLV/Orion program. Perhaps he in fact wants a make-work project for NASA to sustain the employee base.
As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built. Why waste any money on it now?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
..As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built.
> Why waste any money on it now?
Robert, Robert, Robert.
Pork was the primary design goal of Constellation. How else could Griffen design a return to the moon configuration rivaling the total cost of the total space race program of the ‘60’s in same year dollars. An Orion Capsule that would cost 20% more to develop then the shuttle orbiters, and yet was fully expendable and much less safe (compromises must be made to keep the costs up) then the orbiters. 2 Ares boosters that each rivaled the total development cost of the total shuttle program.
Pork has been one of the two primary goals of NASA (sp[ace merely a means to those ends) and Griffin could boast of delivering in spades. Congress and the public would get the pork they loved – and they would give NASA the votes it needed.
Seriously bad timing for Griffin with the public – and hence congress.. reluctantly – losing their taste for pork. As of yet no other real mission has been agreed to, so the point is to just keep it running so all US manned space (old space or new space) capabilities in the country does die. There is a real love in the US for the US to have a NASA and a manned space program. But sorting that out isn’t a high priority at the moment – so having NASA treed water on Constellation, and stopping Obama from killing NASA, is the best were going to get.
Welcome to the 21st century..
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In a more philosophical mood. If congress does go with a commercial option, really the only two credible providers would be Boeing and L/M for the same reasons they won Orion/Ares. If you keep the same contract and NASA oversight rules – they’ll cost as much as Orion /AresHLV. If NASA gets to choose the design, it will look like Orion /AresHLV.
Not what I’d choose. If your being reasonable a version of Boeings X-37b with crew carry would maker more sense – but congress doesn’t want to get that hands on enough to choose a design themselves, and NASA convinced them you need a Apollo style capsule and HLV to get beyond LEO. So…..