Wanted! Your Views On America's Space Program Goals

Space.com ^ | Jan 12, 2009 | Leonard David

[presidio9]

It's time to put your 21st century thinking cap because you've been invited to take part in a new study into why the U.S. has a space program.

The new study "Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program" is looking for the public's view on the following questions:

What's the future of human, robotic, commercial, and personal spaceflight? Is your life impacted in a meaningful way by the space program? What kind of emphasis should the space program represent in going forward? How can the country's civil, or non-military, space program address key national issues?

Views - positive or negative - of the general public are welcomed.

This study is sponsored exclusively by The National Academies, and it is not receiving any funds from government agencies or any other external sources. The assessment is a joint effort of the Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.

"Specifically, we are anxious to hear a broad range of views from the public, including people from outside and inside traditional space interest sectors," said Joe Alexander, study director for the appraisal. The effort is geared to explore the long-range rationale and goals of the civil space program, he told SPACE.com.

Best objective judgment

The ad hoc committee will prepare a report to advise the nation on key goals and critical issues in 21st century U.S. space policy. Furthermore, the committee's to-do list includes:

Identifying overarching goals that are important for our national interest. Identifying issues that are critically important to achieving these goals and ensuring the future progress of the U.S. space activities. Discussing options to address unresolved issues. Using its best objective judgment and recognizing other national priorities, the committee will explore

[RobinOfKingston]

I think its enough of a goal to maintain NASA so that Mr Hanson will have a suitable podium from which to spew his “global warming - climate change” ... barn trough effluent.

[spikeytx86]

Can we finally get the manned mars mission they have been promising us since my Parents were children?

[The Sons of Liberty]

Can we build a spacecraft big enough to put Pelosi, Reid, Biden, Hildbeast and 0bama on board and launch them to the moon (one way)?

[Paladin2]

I think we need to pack more Space in a given volume, sort of like Snoopy’s dog-house. Any chance NASA is working on that?

[Red Badger]

Goals for 2009:

1. Launch space shuttle with Hansen on board.
2. Shut down all communications with Space shuttle.
3. Go to lunch..................

[Red Badger]

Not until the Moon Base is built first!...............

[ETL]

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs

February 29, 2008 :: News
MissileThreat.com

A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.

The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:

Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.

First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.

You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.

Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

"MissileThreat.com is a project of The Claremont Institute devoted to understanding and promoting the requirements for the strategic defense of the United States."

________________________________________________________

New Pentagon Report: China's Growing Military Space Power
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
March 6, 2008

GOLDEN, Colorado — A just-released Pentagon report spotlights a growing U.S. military concern that China is developing a multi- dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.

Furthermore, last year's successful test by China of a direct-ascent, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon to destroy its own defunct weather satellite, the report adds, underscores that country's expansion from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.

Although China's commercial space program has utility for non- military research, that capability demonstrates space launch and control know-how that have direct military application. Even the Chang'e 1 — the Chinese lunar probe now circling the Moon — is flagged in the report as showcasing China's ability "to conduct complicated space maneuvers — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."

To read the entire publication [29.67MB/pdf], go to (U.S. Dept of Defense) :
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf

[henkster]

The best policy for the space program is competition. When we had it from the Soviets, we put a man on the moon. Since we started cooperating with them, the space program became just another bureaucracy that guzzles tax dollars with results that aren’t justified by the expenditure.

And of course, you get hacks like Hansen, who instead of trying to get something worthwhile out of space exploration, is dead-set on embracing the global warming hoax that will destroy the economic foundation that makes his program possible.

[WayneS]

I want to be an astronaut when I grow up!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

In the short term we need to be prepared to meet military challenges posed by the Chinese and others.

In the longer term we need to get enough people off this planet so we can survive the next large asteroid collision.

[Finny]

IMO, there can be only one goal: military superiority in space.

Tiny Britain had mastery of the seas and built an empire on which the sun never set; the world reaps the benefits still today. The nation that has mastery in space, will have mastery over the world's nations.

I repeat: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE GOAL: military superiority in space.

[GonzoGOP]

"The best policy for the space program is competition."

Internal works too. The policy should be multiple paths to a common goal so that if one path fails, not unlikely in a bleeding edge field like space exploration, you can quickly shift directions.

Most people don't know that there was a Gemini to the Moon program that was being developed at the same time as the Apollo project. If the Saturn V hadn't worked as well as it did, or if they hadn't been able to recover from the Apollo I fire they could still have gotten to the moon by the end of the decade.

Now we have Space-X with the Falcon-9/Dragon and the NASA developed Aries I/Orion. Either can do the immediate job of running cargo to the ISS. While NASA favors the Aries I/Aries V for Moon/Mars work, the Falcon-9 and EELV could also be used if they can't work out the problems they are having with the stick. And then their is Direct 2.0. Sure it is just a paper project, but so was Gemini to the Moon. Once you have the engineering done turning a paper project into a real ship is sometimes easier than fixing an unexpected problem.

[Freeport]

Scrap Ares I and man-rate the EELV's from Lockheed and Boeing.

- Both are known system.
- Both can meet the missions for lifting cargo now.
- Both were developed to meet DoD AND NASA's needs for cargo.
- New development would be limited to safety margin and abort warning systems. A trivial amount to the Ares I.

Also, the only thing Ares one has in common from Shuttle is the casings from the SRB's, the nozzle actuators, and the actuator power train. The hydraulic actuators are scheduled for replacement with eclectic actuators anyway.

The rest is new... So much for reuse; which Congress mandated by the way.

There is a good argument for Ares V, but I'd look at Direct 2(Jupiter-232) as an alternative since it makes use of at least 50% current shuttle components.

[Freeport]

And an update:

Popular Mechanics

[AFreeBird]

Can we build a spacecraft big enough to put Pelosi, Reid, Biden, Hildbeast and 0bama on board and launch them to the moon (one way)?

What did the moon ever do to you?

[Carl LaFong]

Our goal should be to keep Dr. Smith from calling the robot a “Nervous Ninny”.

[11th Commandment]

I think its great for NASA that after 50 plus years in existence, 40 years since going to the moon and 25 years of the shuttle program, that the biggest annual achievements it can boast is that it sends astronauts into orbit without killing them...

[BuffaloJack]

The surface goal of the space program is to put someone in space, the moon, Mars, etc.
The real goal has nothing to do with this.
Private industry does not have the resources to create new science and inventions.
Without a space program we would not have computers, the internet, velcro, high efficiency thermal insulating fabrics, silicone caulk, microwave safe ceramics, nylon electrical ties, and hundreds if noth thousands of other articles used in our daily life.
It was even the Army who invented antibiotics.

[Drumbo]

*Ping*