Augustine, Ares 1, Bigelow, Orion = Fishy business

[Booban]

Gold would not say whether Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin has or will have any involvement in Orion Lite. Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Joan Underwood did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment by press time. But industry and government sources familiar with the effort, said Lockheed has helped Bigelow with the concept.

But it was not until last month that Bigelow quietly unveiled the "Orion Lite" concept in a private briefing to former Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Norm Augustine and his White House-charted committee tasked in May with developing a range of options for an affordable and sustainable U.S. human spaceflight program.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090814-orion-lite.html

Does nobody see the corruption taking place?

NASA pays Lockheed to design Orion and they give it away to Bigelow and then have an official commission that want's to cancel everything and hand it all over to 'private' enterprise.

 

[radarredux]

Does nobody see the corruption taking place?

Well, there is always frustration from companies that have taken no R&D funding when going up against a company that has taken significant government money. It is not unique to this situation or in aerospace in general. But I don't think there is anything specifically different with this situation. Bigelow and Lockheed mentioned this vision a year or two ago.

NASA pays Lockheed to design Orion and they give it away to Bigelow and then have an official commission that want's to cancel everything and hand it all over to 'private' enterprise.

NASA said "this is what we want built" -- being the Ares I based on the SRB and the Orion crew capsule capable of Beyond LEO re-entry speeds, long on-orbit duration, etc.

The commercial sector (probably prompted by Bigelow) says, "You are making this way too costly if your primary mission is just to LEO for short trips." So being entrepreneurs, they said we can build this a lot cheaper. I say, "Let them do it."

The only ones with a right to complain are other commercial companies competing in the same field that got no or significantly less money than LM did.

NASA's requirements for Ares I + Orion combined with not enough money during the Bush and now Obama years doomed Ares I.

 

[Booban]

You are missing the point. This is unethical. How can the recommendations be trusted when it looks like the chairman is setting himself up for a payoff.

Ok, Bigelow and Lockheed mentioned this vision a year or two ago, so now NASA shall have the same vision? This just means that plot thickens. This is corporate control over NASA is what it is.

Corporate interest is steering public money into programs that it wants, perpetuating research and development that never lead anywhere except increase costs and a space mission that is a risk aversive cash cow and will never get out of LEO. The space-industrial complex is here.

 

[radarredux]

You are missing the point. This is unethical. How can the recommendations be trusted when it looks like the chairman is setting himself up for a payoff.

Well, the number of American organizations that have launched rockets into orbit is really, really tiny. So if you want to tap into expertise of those in the rocket business, you are going to be tapping into people with a vested interest. And no matter which way things turn out, Lockheed (and Boeing) will probably be major players. I just don't think you can get around that.

In many ways, the approach that they will probably recommend is actually riskier to the biggest established players -- Boeing and Lockheed (and ATK). Before they would be guaranteed funding up front for the development. Now they will have to compete for it on the open market, and they are expected to put much more of their own skin in the game earlier.

Also, Norm Augustine is relying heavily on the other members of the committee, including among others Dr. Sally Ride (UCSD and former astronaut), Jeff Greason (CEO of XCOR), Dr. Ed Crawley (MIT). These guys are not passive kittens letting Augustine run over them.

I think this is a pretty honest group.

 

[MeteorWayne]

The fact is, it was never funded at a realistic level to accomplish the stated goals, so it was never gonna happen anytime soon, beginning the year the proposal left GWB's lips....without proper funding.