Space Ping.
Manned space flight from NASA? It’s a no go because Obama knows it evokes too much patriotic nationalism. He’s busy stomping that out!
“As an example, fast forward to this past fall, when two successive failures of the Russian launch system on which NASA is now dependent to get the astronauts to the International Space Station since last summer’s retirement of the Space Shuttle had the agency contemplating abandoning the ISS, in which the nation has invested almost three decades and around a hundred billion dollars.”
Obama killed the Space Shuttle Program and not only put the USA behind in the Space Race, but made us dependent on the Russians to travel to out Space Station.
Well, if we were to try again it would have to be a Private firm to do it, because gov’t hasn’t the will, or the money to do it. We have a myopic turd in the Oval Office who thinks the only good gov’t accomplishment is making more people dependent upon the government teat. He is as deep as a puppy pee on a sidewalk on a summer’s afternoon. And lastly, after Apollo program finished, all the data and mission tapes were erased and re-used for other gov’t work.
Even if Romney tried it, Congress would not let it thru.
But we are going to build trains!
We could’ve gotten a candidate who is interested in space: Newt Gingrich. But everybody laughed at him - and now it seems that the entire world is talking about going back to space and has discovered this wonderful idea.
So instead we got Romney, who doesn’t have an original bone in his body and is just a non-Democrat, non-Muslim version of Obama. Bye-bye, space program.
[ We are utterly irrational when it comes to safety in space. ]
All the ninnies want to make flying in space safer than crossing the street before we do ANY space exploration.....
Even the astronauts themselves admit that even if space travel was 1000X riskier they would do it on a drop of a dime.
Nanny state safety mentality has ruined the government space program, wonder how bad it will hurt the private space program.
Response: The author is wrong NASA' has only two functions to provide jobs and to make sure those jobs are filled in a "Diverse" fashion. This means that the ability of NASA to successfully enter space is deteriorating and will continue to deteriorate. The process of deterioration is slow and can only be measured over years-(5 to 10 years).
To put it another way NASA no longer has the ability, the quality management and personnel that it did in the early space programs. We "ain't got no Von Braun no mo!"
As of today NASA can only show off its "Diverse" staff on TV for the emotional satisfaction of the egalitarian minded public.
NASA was born from an entirely different generation. Today in this generation of Power-Point engineers & scientists coming out of degree-mill universities with low academic standards, you need ask the question: “Can we do it again?”.
With most of the Apollo blue-prints in need of reverse engineering, budget cuts, it is remarkable anything substantial can be accomplished. But it does. There are many competent engineers & scientists up for the opportunities that lay ahead.
Three NASA pillars remain: Up-lookers (extrasolar), Down-lookers (terrestrial) & Education. But NASA is still in a search of a mission statement that will re-vitalize it from it’s previous vision.
Those that think commercialization is the way to go, are guessing that this will be an enabling method. They are partially if not completely incorrect. Corporations can take short term risks, sometimes with billions involved. But unless they can sustain these levels of expenditure, they are doomed to failure.
Commercialization of space can only be accomplished if we can develop a means of going beyond Earth orbit that is significantly cheaper than $20K per pound of payload.
Therefor, if NASA is to progress under a currently dwindling budget, resources & manpower, it is necessary to focus it’s attention more towards “non chemical” propulsion system solutions.
It will be a hard pill to swallow, because of all of the infrastructure already in place. It was proven to Dr. Vonn Braun many years ago that NASA cannot sustain it’s budget indefinitely. Making NASA “Pay for itself” cannot get there if getting beyond Earth’s orbit costs 20K, 10K, or even 1K per pound.
Warp drive is a fantasy. But we need to invest in a practical means of inexpensive propulsion, making space flight cost effective. When an inexpensive means of propulsion is attainable, the private sector will be less at risk and therefor more of an attainable concept.
One of Dr. Von Braun’s memorial quote’s, encapsulates marching orders needed to succeed: “Research is something I do, when I do not know what I’m doing”. Thus we need to invest in research that will enable more of a solution set towards inexpensive space travel, rather than sending balloons to Mars! Easier said than done. NASA’s earlier mantra is in need of further exploration back to it’s Apollo roots: “We do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...”.
This is my opinion, and not of NASA’s.
Space is a luxury. We have no money.
btt
I love this......Crank it up......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnoNITE-CLc&list=PL580518584C03377D&index=30&feature=plpp_video
The ISS was always a waste. We had Skylab 40 years ago. We never needed another low earth orbit space station.
President Obama killed all Manned Space Exploration by the USA. this will be the status-quo for decades to come. Even if the USA makes a complete policy shift back into space exploration, it will take decades to recover from his actions. This is a deplorable situation, and it is one that cannot stand if the USA has any hope to maintain global significance.
I have posted on Freerepublic for years, and have watched a steady decline in liberties and freedoms. There was a time when, I too, believed that we could recover from the downward trends that I saw appearing time and time again. But, time has proven me wrong.
As our industry fell, so did the number of jobs in my specialties... Advanced research in Space technology, electronics and fabrication. It became harder and harder to obtain work in the USA, and yet increasingly easier to find work overseas. I now work in Communist China. Who would of ever thought? Me! Me, of all people!
So, I have seen both sides of the coin, and so listen to me now. For I have some uncomfortable things to say.
The Communist Chinese are thriving. They have learned from the mistakes made by the United States, and the work ethic as well as their drive and long term vision is propelling the nation so far higher that the USA that they are now heading towards the stratosphere. And we have no one else to blame but ourselves.
In 5 years their space station will be mature enough to maintain consistent resupply missions to the moon, and to repair their space satellites.
In 10 years, their moon base will be fully operational. They will be maintaining a small but busy group of 4 men who will build and tunnel beneath the lunar surface to expand their colony there.
In 15 years, their moon base will have expanded to include incremental moon manufacturing, fabrication and will open up to allow private ventures to operate out of the Chinese complexes.
The USA has not been outside of LOW-EARTH orbits for over 40 years! It may look like we have been in space, with the Space Shuttle and ISS. But that is an illusion. Under president Obama, the USA will never leave earths orbit.
The chinese will be able to provide space launch services to the USA. But we will be at their mercy. They will be able to let us conduct experiments on their space stations, but only under their rules. And, I strongly suspect that they will severely limit the space activities of the USA on the moon. Effectively closing the moon to Americans.
In 5 years all astronauts will have to be able to speak, read and write mandarin. That is the Obama legacy.
It makes me sad, but I am now too old to continue the good fight. I hand the torch over to someone at FR. Please, I implore you, to work to regain the USA supremacy in Space. Do not settle for anything less. I have lost. Good luck.