NASA administrator Charles Bolden had an op-ed in today's {well the website says 27 April) yesterday's Houston Chronicle that is notably short and strangely refers to a 2015 International Space Station retirement date in the present tense
While I can understand why he was making the point of the Constellation programme's Ares I crew launch vehicle and its Orion crew exploration vehicle only starting to operate after ISS was to be retired in 2015 surely president Barack Obama has now OK'd station use to 2020? Bolden doesn't mention that his plan's commercial crew programme is not expected to deliver an operational crew transport system until 2016 at the earliest
But Bolden has greater problems than the use of tense in an op-ed, as the Congressional investigation into actions by NASA on Constellation contracts steps up a gear; has the agency broken the law?
I wonder how Congress will also feel about co-operation with the Chinese? According to the Agence France Presse, via the Times Colonist (?) website, Bolden said Tuesday that he would be happy to co-operate with China - the rumours are a US astronaut would fly on a Shenzhou mission
And just to add to Bolden's Congressional woes, on the same day as his Houston Chornicle op-ed, 27 April, another Congressman gave their penny's worth on the Obama plan
While I can understand why he was making the point of the Constellation programme's Ares I crew launch vehicle and its Orion crew exploration vehicle only starting to operate after ISS was to be retired in 2015 surely president Barack Obama has now OK'd station use to 2020? Bolden doesn't mention that his plan's commercial crew programme is not expected to deliver an operational crew transport system until 2016 at the earliest
But Bolden has greater problems than the use of tense in an op-ed, as the Congressional investigation into actions by NASA on Constellation contracts steps up a gear; has the agency broken the law?
I wonder how Congress will also feel about co-operation with the Chinese? According to the Agence France Presse, via the Times Colonist (?) website, Bolden said Tuesday that he would be happy to co-operate with China - the rumours are a US astronaut would fly on a Shenzhou mission
And just to add to Bolden's Congressional woes, on the same day as his Houston Chornicle op-ed, 27 April, another Congressman gave their penny's worth on the Obama plan
on April 28, 2010 2:27 PM | Reply
Rob, I'm not sure why you're puzzled about the 2015 date for splashing ISS. It was an integral part of plan for Constellation from the very beginning (the "sand chart") because ISS had to be ditched to free up money for Constellation. That was already the plan before the hoped-for budget increases failed to materialize. It is the very act of cancelling Constellation that frees up the money to allow ISS to continue beyond 2015.
I think Bolden used the present tense because ditching ISS in 2015 is still the current plan of NASA until Congress passes the president's new plan into law.
on April 28, 2010 2:33 PM | Reply
Did you mean "present tense"? "Tenths" is a fractional number.
on April 28, 2010 2:45 PM | Reply
I'm glad I'm keeping my readership on its toes ;-)
on April 29, 2010 2:39 PM | Reply
Just because the President says that he wants the ISS used until 2020 doesn't mean that it will be done. Congress still has to appropriate money for it. That will probably not be too hard to arrange, but it would be tough (maybe impossible) to pay for continuing use of ISS *and* Orion CRV *and* shuttle-derived HLV *and* anything else.