Posted on 12/01/2008 2:22:01 PM PST by Joiseydude
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's NASA transition team is asking U.S. space agency officials to quantify how much money could be saved by canceling the Ares 1 rocket and scaling back the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle next year.
Obama pledged during his campaign to inject an additional $2 billion into NASA aimed in part at narrowing the gap between the space shuttle's retirement and the introduction of a successor system.
While NASA Administrator Mike Griffin and his senior managers are adamant that Ares and Orion are the right vehicles to fill that role, Obama did not endorse either system by name during his campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Ug. Good point.
Well, all the gazillions on the space program and it’s a giveaway to Russia and China. Doesn’t he know how many things were invented in space? Anyway, he’s an appeaser and this is our first indicator. What about all those JOBS in Cali, Fl and Texas?
The frontier was always the place where people would go who wanted to escape the reach of the State, and see what their own abilities could do far away from any regulator's influence.
This is why conservatives love the idea of the Frontier, and Socialists hate it.
Apparently the transition team sent a questionnaire with some scenarios, including dumping Ares I, continuing Ares V or not, and wondering about other possible options for man-rating existing Delta or Atlas boosters. Bottom line, he’s pulling the plug. The head of NASA sent an email calling Congress’ recent hostility a “jihad” against the Constellation / Orion launch system, and it got leaked. Before that, I think he had a chance to continue as director, now, nada.
Yeah. don’t worry. The Chinese are going to pick up the slack for us. Space is the “high ground” of this era, and someone will occupy it.....
bttt
It was a classic moment in liberal-conservative "debate". There was utter silence for about four or five seconds, accompanied by complete deer-in-the-headlights looks. Then they erupted in protests, saying things like "Don't say that!", and "You can't compare the two!" So I asked, why not? I mean, on the one hand, we're spending taxpayer money on something that actually produces something, paying people who at least show up for work every day. On the other hand, we're paying over ten times as much to people who sit on their butts all day, maybe the most work they do is popping out another kid every year. The response? Crickets.
bttt
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.