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Posted on 04/06/2010 5:47:06 PM PDT by NonZeroSum
That remains to be seen.
Well, we know that Constellation was a disaster. The new direction appears to be much more promising. Did you even read the article?
‘The new direction appears to be much more promising. “
Which one is that, the one of surrender?
That is the essence: let's get going. In our somewhat restricted opinion we (and in this case "we" is the US) should have been on the Moon permanently years ago. It is NOT that difficult, nor, in the face of giving AIG/Goldman Sachs and George Soros a few hundred billion dollars, is it that expensive!
If Heinlein says Earth Orbit is halfway there, the Moon is further. Water apparently, gravity (of great use), soil basics, energy sources, and it is just NOT that far. Agreed that the single point heavy lift one-shot unit is not necessarily the way to do it, but more often then not the way to break out of the Dark Ages (that of the George Soros,' Nancy Pelosi's, and Barbara Boxer's female introverted socialistic view of the world) is to go do it.
A leader does NOT stand around and wait for fawning ego gratification and approval like Soros, Obama, and Janet Naplitano. These are truly sick human beings. A leader, which was once the United States, gets going.
(Incidentally that is exactly what GWB was saying, regardless of technical unfamiliarity, and of course his awful inability to communicate any deeper understanding of any issue).
Johnny Suntrade
How was it a disaster??
Nancy Pelosi’s husband is on the board of directors for Astrobotics.
Is NASA even constitutional? Living in Huntsville, AL this is probably heresy...but really should the federal government be funding NASA?
“The New NASA: A Path To Anywhere And Everywhere” But Going Nowhere.
Someone tell me when we conquer Ceres!
Ahem, L&C weren't the first there. Not even the first non-natives. The Russian, French and American private fur trappers were all over the NW long before L&C. They were able to talk to the natives in Spanish for a reason too. Spanish colonialists brought clergy and laypersons to teach the natives.
Throughout history, the government's role in exploration has been limited and often augmented by the private sector doing what the government can't or won't.
Why people think that space is the exception where socialism/statism is best is beyond me.
Of course I doubt Zero's intentions to actually empower the commercial space sector. I suspect it will just be typical Democrat crony capitalism, completely dependent on the government but with less oversight. Think ACORN in space.
What an ignorant question. To whom are we "surrendering" by choosing a more cost-effective means of opening up space?
Because it had no hope of achieving the stated goals at an affordable cost. Did you read the linked article?
Uh, I’m living it every day in Huntsville. I work at NASA.
A organization without a goal is just a bunch of people consuming money and time.
Obama has given us no goal.
Constellation/Ares had it’s shortcomings, but it was also generating some neat technoligies that could be used latter down the line. Right now, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers sitting here and saying, “What do you want us to start working on now?”
There is no answer.
Rand Simberg’s blog is http://www.transterrestrial.com/
Personally, I like him or Bob Zubrin for head of NASA. Privatize, baby!
“What do you want us to start working on now?”
Ouch. As one who knows that self-employed is very close to unemployed, I can only offer you the encouragement that if you strike out on your own now, you will only see improvement from here (you’ll be retired before we elect another Carter).
No, Constellation/Ares was generating no technologies at all. The whole point was to avoid the generation of technologies. Mike Griffin just wanted to do Apollo over again, with no technical risk.
I'm sorry that the people in Huntsville don't know what to do now, but the taxpayers, and those who are interested in actual space progress should have a say, too.
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