credit SpaceX / caption: bad Elon Musk, you are too successfull
NASA is to run a new crew launch demonstration competition that NASA acting adminisrator Christoper Scolese admitted in today's US House of Representatives' committee on appropriations' subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing sounded like the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) option D, which is the commercial procurement of crew transport, but actually isn't
The reason Scolese gave for why the agency would not run COTS-D is because "only one organisation", meaning Elon Musks' Space Exploration Technologies, could go for it. A conclusion Hyperbola came too yesterday
Hyperbola has approached NASA for further details about this COTS-D lookalikee that isn't COTS-D and hopes to bring you all the details soon
on May 5, 2009 10:52 PM | Reply
I'm glad to see somebody else is looking askance at SPACE X and it's seeming ability to cull huge commitments from government and Commerce whilst demonstrating minimal capability vs its publicity hyperbole.
Has anyone else heard the latest? The scheduled launch of the first paying payload has been indefinitely postponed - AT THE 11th HOUR - because of "Payload Incompatibility".
This beggers belief to me: that IS AN ONGOING ASPECT OF ALL Spacecraft and Launcher design & integration from day one: and this happens NOW?! No, there's something else going on here: I wonder what it is? For example How does a private start-up tyro company get the USAF no less to provide it with launch facilities despite no track record to draw upon? I could go on and on picking out other anomalies but I'll spare everyone for the nonce!
But I'm glad that someone is at last waking up here.