The New NASA: A Path To Anywhere, And Everywhere

Popular Mechanics ^ | February 8th, 2010 | Rand Simberg

[NonZeroSum]

During World War II in the Pacific, many native tribes were astounded by their first contact with an advanced technological civilization, when the Americans would come in, clear a strip in the jungle, set up a control tower and loud giant silver birds would appear from the sky bearing canned food, trinkets, fuel and other supplies. After the war, the Americans went away for the most part, but the memories remained. Many of the natives, changed forever by the experience, decided to replicate it. They cleared their own strips, built control towers of thatch and palm, and waited for the silver birds to come back, providing again the manna from the heavens. Unfortunately, many in the space community engage in similar thinking, with a nostalgia for Apollo, when we had a "real space program."

[cripplecreek]

For us to ever even consider a better way, the outer space treaty will have to go. With its existence, the best a private company can ever hope to be is a space taxi or freight carrier under government contract.

As things stand now, its illegal for the Richard Bransons of the world to build a hotel on the moon. Instead he dreams of low earth orbit thrill rides because that’s all he can dream of.

[raptor22]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2439720/posts NASA is dead. Barry killed it. Or rather sold it to the Chinese who will be there in 2030 or so. One giant leap backward for freedom.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

It has become a welfare program for bureaucrats, and not a haven for engineers and risk takers like it used to be.

You've got that right. And they earn more, with better benefits, than the private sector.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Based on the picture I’d say that NASA has already hired them.

[cripplecreek]

It doesn’t surprise me that liberals want to live under Chinese global control. It does surprise me that so many conservatives do.

[messierhunter]

So are the dollars that launch the military rockets right next to the shuttle. Quite frankly, we don't have time to sit around waiting for there to be enough of a profit motive to establish a spaceflight infrastructure that takes us to the moon and back on a regular basis. There is a national security motive for us to maintain a manned spaceflight capability and to establish a lasting presence on the moon as quickly as possible. If we fail to do that then we turn our children's future over to foreign nations. The russians are discussing the possibility of deflecting Apophis themselves. Do we really want to leave our security up to the Russians? What if they botch it and make the threat more likely instead of less likely? And what if an even more likely threat is discovered? Now is not the time to be downsizing our capability to focus on "earth science" (gorebull warming).

The government should fill the role of building the early infrastructure in space that private companies can later utilize to get to the moon and beyond, but we're not there yet. SpaceX is utilizing government-built infrastructure to launch Falcon 9, and that's exactly the kind of thing we need to see happen with space-based infrastructure in the future. The problem is that we still need to build that space-based infrastructure, and we need to do it [i]first[/i], before other nations take control of the resources and strategical positions that make us dependent on them.

[Old Professer]

I think June is gay pride month...

[Red Badger]

It’s a “Cult of Personality”..................

[DesertRhino]

i like the part where he said Apollo,, “was an utter failure, as evidenced by the fact that we stopped doing it”

By this logic our war with Japan was an utter failure too. I mean, we stopped doing it. The mission being achieved, we stopped,,, but it wasnt because it was a failure. who is this guy? NASA is full of Hansen-bots who want it to be a PC global warming agency. Maybe this guy is one of em. My red flags go up when a space guy wants a rocket cancelled.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Anybody know where Palin stands on space exploration? Does she want government employees going to space or private citizens on private spacecraft?

[DesertRhino]

“I think June is gay pride month...”

Welll, kudos to him for getting THAT little factoid wrong!

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

I stand (with back to the wall during the month of June) corrected...

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

NASA is full of Hansen-bots who want it to be a PC global warming agency

Absolutely! I hear, and see, it daily. It's a sad situation.

On the bright side, the military is about 15 years ahead of NASA with space R&D. So, other than the incredible waste of money, we're not falling too far behind in the space race.

[cripplecreek]

Actually the department of defense is concerned about this NASA decision.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2447127/posts

[naturalized]

posted here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2267752/posts

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Good point.

[NonZeroSum]

There is a national security motive for us to maintain a manned spaceflight capability and to establish a lasting presence on the moon as quickly as possible.

If that's true, then a) the Pentagon should pay for it, not NASA and b) Constellation wasn't the way to do it.

[NonZeroSum]

By this logic our war with Japan was an utter failure too. I mean, we stopped doing it.

Didn't you actually read the piece? He said that it was a success at beating the Russians to the moon. What it failed at was building a sustainable and affordable program to open up space to humanity, or even America.

[NonZeroSum]

My red flags go up when a space guy wants a rocket cancelled.

Some rockets should be cancelled, if they aren't going to be cost effective at achieving the goal. There are better ways to get back to the moon than Constellation. In fact, Ares was likely going to die eventually anyway, because it was so ridiculously expensive and unneeded. Better to kill it now, and stop throwing good money after bad.

[TalonDJ]

In black and white terms I don’t think there should be a role for the government in space outside of national security.

I consider NASA national security. Considering the national security implications of an enemy weaponizing space if we lack the capacity to respond. Something does not have to have USAF on the side to be useful for keeping the country secure.