The Hunstville Times isn't giving president Barack Obama's NASA plan a good write up with its latest article about the political reaction to the flexible path to asteroids and Mars from 2025
With the headline, NASA plan: 'Cosmic bridge to nowhere', the article has a particularly strong qoute from a Senate staffer that says, "I don't know how many more blunt objects we have to hit NASA over the head with"
Despite this aggressive talk what the article communicates is a view that the Moon return programme Constellation's proponents know they are unlikely to win and save it. But its not stopping them from trying, see this spacepolitics.com post here and this one here by NASAWatch
The Huntsville article also refers to a Congressional hearinjg in mid-May. This could be the hearing that was mentoned during the last Senate hearing with NASA administrator Charles Bolden
With the headline, NASA plan: 'Cosmic bridge to nowhere', the article has a particularly strong qoute from a Senate staffer that says, "I don't know how many more blunt objects we have to hit NASA over the head with"
Despite this aggressive talk what the article communicates is a view that the Moon return programme Constellation's proponents know they are unlikely to win and save it. But its not stopping them from trying, see this spacepolitics.com post here and this one here by NASAWatch
The Huntsville article also refers to a Congressional hearinjg in mid-May. This could be the hearing that was mentoned during the last Senate hearing with NASA administrator Charles Bolden
Whether Constellation is canned or not while it is currently hiding under the bed covers NASAWatch has come up with a leaked document about Bolden's tiger or study teams for the flexible path
I can't see much that is new in this information but this blogger has not seen any reference to nuclear propulsion before, even with Constellation documents so that is an interesting change
And finally... New York's political leaders continue with what must be an utterly futile attempt to get an orbiter for their state. If memory serves Discovery is already going to the Smithsonian in Washington DC, leaving Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise to be given away. Florida has to get one, you would think, and it would seem right that California gets Enterprise as that is where the test flights took place. So who gets Atlantis and Endeavour? Houston will probably get one and maybe, Atlantis for Las Vegas?
I can't see much that is new in this information but this blogger has not seen any reference to nuclear propulsion before, even with Constellation documents so that is an interesting change
And finally... New York's political leaders continue with what must be an utterly futile attempt to get an orbiter for their state. If memory serves Discovery is already going to the Smithsonian in Washington DC, leaving Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise to be given away. Florida has to get one, you would think, and it would seem right that California gets Enterprise as that is where the test flights took place. So who gets Atlantis and Endeavour? Houston will probably get one and maybe, Atlantis for Las Vegas?
on April 27, 2010 4:20 PM | Reply
History lesson in 2110. 2010: The big sell out! How NASA turned away from being a top science institution and became a lumbering facility for worn out idealists who were left alone by a president who didn't give a damn.
on April 27, 2010 6:53 PM | Reply
Las Vegahans wouldn't know a space shuttle if it crashed into their poker tables. It's probably going to some bank executive's private government funded museum.
on April 28, 2010 7:32 AM | Reply
Thank you, Robbie. Useful update.
Concerned people must keep on trying so as to nudge events more or less in the right direction. Hopefully since Obama cares so little about NASA he won't notice when work continues on Orion and other needed elements to maintain a base for a future WE desire.
The leaked document does mention Nuclear propulsion but in the same sentence as Bolden's wildly destructive blah about getting to Mars in weeks. Yes Charlie .. we will - in the 22nd Century!
In the 21st Century there will ALWAYS be a trade-off between flight duration and payload and payload will ALWAYS win.
The Nuclear reference I suspect is a space nuclear power reactor to drive VasimR. If it works, else some ionic propulsion.
In my opinion Nuclear Thermal Rocket alternatives should be there as well.
Finally I would remind y'all that Heavy Lift has ZERO new technology to it. That was the X-33 era. The Constellation plan was to use late 20th Century tech ... the venerable Shuttle-derived options.
That is where we are today.
on April 29, 2010 7:59 AM | Reply
In a sense, the plan leaves the impression of going backward to go forward! VSE,ESAS,ARES/Constellation was to avoid the R&D required for advanced technology and accomplish the manned BEO missions with modified existing hardware in the vain hope of saving money. Quite.
After the NASA interpretation of the VSE vision, I feel the odds are not good that a repeat of the X-33/Venture Star debacle is not on the cards.
Because of that, without a real change in both management structure and style away from bureaucratic heavy-handedness, we may well see the next President canceling a "Flexible Path" of little or no progress but a lot of hype to disguise that...
We're going to be sorry though if we dump the current HLV assets as a foundation for progress.