How Long Will it Take NASA To Recover From The Oboma

[JohninTennessee]

administration? I'm not exactly sure what he cut.

 

[Zi]

Actually... what he did helped NASA and the country to proceed in the direction it should be going with space. He probably did it due to political expediency and ideology rather than the right reasons but at least he helped some. The hope is that the pork barrel crowd and others won't be able to turn it back even though conservative bias against doing it right seems common. I myself am conservative in most ways but believe strongly in advancing commercial space flight in any way possible as fast as possible. Our country desperately needs the economic boost and mankind needs to get off this rock in a much bigger way.

To be more pointed regarding your question, I think that it is not a matter of recovery but instead a matter of maintaining and increasing momentum. I realize I have given no specifics here but I'm tired and I'm sure many others can do so if inclined. Hope that helps you a bit.

 

[MeteorWayne]

The bigger question is how long it will take to recover from Bush's goals without funding...and this thread is destined for the Politics forum.

 

[Gravity_Ray]

administration? I'm not exactly sure what he cut.

NASA has already recovered.

It was going down the wrong path with Constellation's Ares I. Its actually going the right way now if the pork barrel senators will leave things be. Some how I doubt it because most of these guys just want the money and could care less about HSF.

 

[docm]

IMO the wheels came off when we started down the IRLV -> Space Shuttle path instead of pursuing NTR and spacecraft that did more than fly in circles. Not that a space taxi wouldn't have been useful, but the STS costs precluded anything else for decades.

 

[Gravity_Ray]

IMO the wheels came off when we started down the IRLV -> Space Shuttle path instead of pursuing NTR and spacecraft that did more than fly in circles. Not that a space taxi wouldn't have been useful, but the STS costs precluded anything else for decades.

I agree, but we are both speaking with hindsight. I remember at the time the idea was to build a Space Station to move us BLEO, and to build that station, the rational was that we would need a "work horse" that could go up and down the gravity well and move large chucks of a space station with it without throwing away big parts of a rocket.

Its sad really when I look back at things. Everybody in NASA was well intentioned, but unfortunately politics as they always do, got in the way. The shuttle kept getting changed and a final "made by committee" Frankenstein was built. The shuttle now, is not much like what was envisioned back in the late 50s. A sleek and much smaller re-usable space ship.