Well that's a generous interpretation because based on this presidential meeting schedule provided by US newspaper Florida Today that 3.05pm to 5.15pm slot is probably more like 90min - that consumer safety commission meeting is bound to overrun
But it does prove that when NASA administrator Charles Bolden told this journalist back in October that it would be months before he met president Barack Obama he was right. Bolden also told Hyperbola at the 60th International Astronautical Congress in Korea that he expected no decisions from the first meeting. Rather Bolden will present his ideas and Obama will ask questions and expect further meetings where the NASA chief can provide further answers
It became clear during this journalist's IAC interview with Bolden that the timetable for the realisation of the Obama spaceflight vision could extend into fiscal year 2011, which begins October 2010
But it does prove that when NASA administrator Charles Bolden told this journalist back in October that it would be months before he met president Barack Obama he was right. Bolden also told Hyperbola at the 60th International Astronautical Congress in Korea that he expected no decisions from the first meeting. Rather Bolden will present his ideas and Obama will ask questions and expect further meetings where the NASA chief can provide further answers
It became clear during this journalist's IAC interview with Bolden that the timetable for the realisation of the Obama spaceflight vision could extend into fiscal year 2011, which begins October 2010
Now Florida Today is weighing in with its own predictions of a long drawn out US human spaceflight decision process next year. Complicated further by the fact that the appropriations bill giving NASA $18.7 billion for FY2010 (almost three months late) has a clause requiring a Congressional vote to terminate the Constellation programme
When I asked Bolden about the timetable for the FY2011 presidential budget request and the ne spaceflight vision decision he said, "that's the problem," and then stopped himself and said, "that is the challenge" and he talked about getting "the vision right"
There is a very good chance that the new US human spaceflight vision will be decided long after the FY2011 budget request is published. The FY2011 request may have a FY2010-like clause where Congress would revisit the NASA budget once the review's outcome is known - oh well that's one deadline that whooshed past!
That would also tally with the FY2010 appropriations bill Constellation termination clause. A decision by Obama to opt for EELV or commercial or even Ares V Lite related flexible path roadmaps would trigger that Congressional involvement and perhaps even give Jon Stewart's Daily Show some amusing debates
Then again maybe Obama will choose to use his 2010 state of the union address to announce the new vision but this blog thinks it unlikely
Florida Today is probably right, 2010 is going to see a long tortuous and potentially nasty process that will play out as the final five Shuttle missions take place. Uncertainty will reign as the curtains come down on the world's only reusable spaceplane
When I asked Bolden about the timetable for the FY2011 presidential budget request and the ne spaceflight vision decision he said, "that's the problem," and then stopped himself and said, "that is the challenge" and he talked about getting "the vision right"
There is a very good chance that the new US human spaceflight vision will be decided long after the FY2011 budget request is published. The FY2011 request may have a FY2010-like clause where Congress would revisit the NASA budget once the review's outcome is known - oh well that's one deadline that whooshed past!
That would also tally with the FY2010 appropriations bill Constellation termination clause. A decision by Obama to opt for EELV or commercial or even Ares V Lite related flexible path roadmaps would trigger that Congressional involvement and perhaps even give Jon Stewart's Daily Show some amusing debates
Then again maybe Obama will choose to use his 2010 state of the union address to announce the new vision but this blog thinks it unlikely
Florida Today is probably right, 2010 is going to see a long tortuous and potentially nasty process that will play out as the final five Shuttle missions take place. Uncertainty will reign as the curtains come down on the world's only reusable spaceplane
on December 16, 2009 6:33 PM | Reply
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the Augustine Commission's Report should be entirely thrown in the trash can and the same should be done with the ESAS plan that has generated monsters like the Ares-1 that is already DEAD before it's really born
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however, Obama could say something like "Yes, We Can... go to Mars" in the press conference after meeting the NASA administrator?:
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http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts/047gotomars.html
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on December 17, 2009 3:30 AM | Reply
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After the Ares 1-X debacle and the expected stellar R&D costs and very long development time of the Ares-1, there are some rumors that talk about a possible return to the original Ares-1 design (published in the ESAS plan in 2005) with a standard SRB as 1st stage and a 2nd stage based on a (now unexisting) "air started SSME".
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But, as explained in the latest update of my "Why the Ares-1 is already DEAD" article, also the old designed (SRB4 + SSME based) Ares-1 CAN'T FLY with a so HEAVY Orion.
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http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/058ares1dead.html
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on December 17, 2009 11:31 AM | Reply
Obama's prime directive: get those bloody space freaks on hold. We want another future, stupid! NASA is battling a lost cause. That golden age in space has already been. It's rather sad that other nations can't pick up where the US stranded. Obama's only concern now is how to overcome the loss in jobs that undoubtedly will be the outcome of his 'back to earth' strategy. Maybe by giving those poor engineers some projects that will never see the light of day but somehow will keep them occupied for the foreseeable future. Obamanomics.
on December 25, 2009 9:43 PM | Reply
As much as I hate Ares I there is an impossible variant I could propose:
To correct a glaring design weakness, the upper stage needs to be made identical with that of the Ares V.
Just like the S-IVB stage which was used for both Saturn IB and Saturn V.
It makes sense.
Of course it would be too top=heavy (at least aerodynamically) to sit on top of a single SRB (five segs), but what if the diameter were changed from the current 10M on Ares V and 5,5M on Ares I to 8,3m for both?
This is the same diameter as the shuttle ET and could use the same tooling and facilities.
This new EDS stage could use 2 J-2X engines. With extensible skirts and a mixture ration of 4.5:1 at 81% thrust this stage is a real enabler for both vehicles.
Someone at NASA should run this through the aerodynamic simulator to see if it could work.