FL House Candidates & Commercial Space

[sftommy]

With the apparent loss of commercial seed dollars to the Florida space industry and the jobs that would have gone with it this would seem a valid campaign issue for public discussion during this congressional recess when every member is out on the campaign trail.

A SpaceX response to Nelson & Hutchison's editorial in the Orlando Sentinel might be a good start. Especially reminding the experienced space workers of Commercial's reliance upon them as this industry evolves. Hopefully the voters recognition will help inspire FL's house delegation to support CA and OH in demanding these commercial seed $$$s now and in the next congress.

and of course getting each candidate to take a public stance empowers the Florida voters to help decide how, where, and how fast commercial is going to develop in the US

 

[rcsplinters]

Or conduct a similar campaign to encourage them to save NASA and the US from the path of sloth proposed by the administration, plus helping the American taxpayer avoid billions in acceptance of risk on behalf of a private corporation. Encourage them to utilize these assets for investment in needed technology like VaSMR to take us beyond low earth orbit.

Is this just a tad on the overtly political side?

 

[sftommy]

Maybe since original editorial in Orlando Sentinel was two, Nelson & Hutchison

Maybe commercial reply could be Musk & Bigelow

(which part of the NASA funding process is not overly political?)

 

[vulture4]

Why is it sloth to contract with SpaceX or Orbital (or even Boeing via COTS) and not sloth to spend ten times as much to contract with Lockheed, Boeing and ATK to do the same thing with Ares/Orion? I have no desire to see political argument fragment the space community. But the supporters of Constellation appear to be more interested in attacking Obama (who is increasing the NASA budget) than in promoting space exploration.

 

[neutrino78x]

Why is it sloth to contract with SpaceX or Orbital (or even Boeing via COTS) and not sloth to spend ten times as much to contract with Lockheed, Boeing and ATK to do the same thing with Ares/Orion?

Totally agree, plus SpaceX et al have a better history of being on time and on budget. Lockheed always gets their Cost Plus contract.

But the supporters of Constellation appear to be more interested in attacking Obama (who is increasing the NASA budget) than in promoting space exploration.

Completely agree. Ironically, Obama's commercial space plan is actually very capitalist and conservative. It is the same as the Air Mail program or the railroad program.

--Brian

 

[rcsplinters]

I agree that it is truly difficult to make an apple taste like an orange.

Comparing Space X's program to Constellation, SD HLV or Direct is like comparing a hand shovel to a backhoe. One's for digging a little hole, the other digs about any sort of hole you want. Nobody will argue with you that the shovel is cheaper and will work perfectly so long as you just need a little hole. However, Space X has no plan to lift 100 - 150 tons, no plan for a craft to withstand the radiation beyond LEO or any of the other things called for on the "flexible path". Jeez, they can't even get their first crew into orbit without begging for money. Bottom line is that you are comparing apples to oranges and coming to the conclusion that an orange tastes more like an orange. Well, doh. Flexible path needs apples and both sides of the aisle, the administration and a good chunk of NASA seemed determined that we'll have heavy lift, errr, apples.

Secondly, this issue seems as though its nearing political resolution. The administration's commercial joy ride at tax payer expense is going to get reduced. The US is going to start designing and building something more than a bottle rocket in 2011. Its going to be shuttle based and could be anything from ARES to Direct (some strong rumors about this) or any of the 1000 match book drawings where an engineer was sure he has the best and only true solution to the mission. Frankly, I'd love to be able to the "slide decks at 20 paces" which is soon to commence. Further, the administration will AGREE with this plan and claim great victory and wisdom because they are not stupid enough (I don't think) to get burned twice over a petty 19 - 20 billion dollars per year. The people in Florida are going to be happy as heck and both parties are going to claim they fixed the administration's debacle.

That white stuff on the floor is spilled milk. At this point, you can whine and let it sour or call the cat.