Obama to outline NASA/Mars plans in April....

[pathfinder_01]

Musk puts a perspective on the numbers.

http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100415
... thankfully we have a president with the political courage to do the right thing sooner rather than later. We can ill afford the expense of an “Apollo on steroids”, as a former NASA Administrator referred to the Ares/Orion program. A lesser President might have waited until after the upcoming election cycle, not caring that billions more dollars would be wasted. It was disappointing to see how many in Congress did not possess this courage. One senator in particular was determined to achieve a new altitude record in hypocrisy, claiming that the public option was bad in healthcare, but good in space!
"

In my opinion, it is very bad form for a government contractor to speak ill of any politician. It makes enemies among those who control budgets. Musk has, unfortunately, chosen political sides with this statement. The senator he mentioned may not be in the majority now, but he (or she) could be one day in the not-too-distant future. When that day comes, Musk, if he is still in business, will be on his or her "list" - just as ATK appears to have been on Obama's "list".

- Ed Kyle

ATK isn't on Obama's list. ARES 1 and the constellation program is. NASA failed to deliver a shuttle replacement in a timely manner. The two year gap became a five year gap and mostly because of the problems of trying to use a solid fueled rocket as a first stage(few rockets do this esp. ones that need to lift a lot of load). The moon landings moved from in the future to so far in the future as to be untenable. By 2030 the chinese may be doing warp drive tests....

 

[BrianBoru]

Musk puts a perspective on the numbers.

http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100415
... thankfully we have a president with the political courage to do the right thing sooner rather than later. We can ill afford the expense of an “Apollo on steroids”, as a former NASA Administrator referred to the Ares/Orion program. A lesser President might have waited until after the upcoming election cycle, not caring that billions more dollars would be wasted. It was disappointing to see how many in Congress did not possess this courage. One senator in particular was determined to achieve a new altitude record in hypocrisy, claiming that the public option was bad in healthcare, but good in space!
"

In my opinion, it is very bad form for a government contractor to speak ill of any politician. It makes enemies among those who control budgets. Musk has, unfortunately, chosen political sides with this statement. The senator he mentioned may not be in the majority now, but he (or she) could be one day in the not-too-distant future. When that day comes, Musk, if he is still in business, will be on his or her "list" - just as ATK appears to have been on Obama's "list".

- Ed Kyle

ATK isn't on Obama's list. ARES 1 and the constellation program is. NASA failed to deliver a shuttle replacement in a timely manner. The two year gap became a five year gap and mostly because of the problems of trying to use a solid fueled rocket as a first stage(few rockets do this esp. ones that need to lift a lot of load). The moon landings moved from in the future to so far in the future as to be untenable. By 2030 the chinese may be doing warp drive tests....

:lol: Excellent line.

 

[edkyle99]

ATK isn't on Obama's list. ARES 1 and the constellation program is. NASA failed to deliver a shuttle replacement in a timely manner. The two year gap became a five year gap and mostly because of the problems of trying to use a solid fueled rocket as a first stage(few rockets do this esp. ones that need to lift a lot of load). The moon landings moved from in the future to so far in the future as to be untenable. By 2030 the chinese may be doing warp drive tests....

I remain convinced that Ares I, etc., would have gotten the job done. The problem with Constellation wasn't technical, it was money.

Here is the dirty secret. The problem still is money.

ISS commercial crew launch will cost less, or had better cost less, than Ares/Orion because the spacecraft will weigh only one-third as much (or should). Except it won't cost less because Obama has decided to "save" Orion by replacing it with *two* costly spacecraft development efforts (commercial crew and Orion "Lite"). Where is the money (money clearly assigned to save jobs in Colorado while others lose jobs in Utah and Louisiana, etc.) for all of this going to come from?

Meanwhile NASA, if it wants to go beyond LEO, will still need a super heavy lifter that it will not be able to afford as long as this White House and this Congress control the purse strings.

As for when the U.S. will land on the Moon? Obama's plan is to *not* land on the Moon. Ever.

- Ed Kyle

 

[EarthlingX]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQ6o_iWlyM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRgzdOjBoAU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOIKfHWAUmw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is_6crooDG0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VAPO276VEE[/youtube]