Obama Backs New Launcher and Bigger NASA Budget

[vonneuman]

:woohoo: More money for NASA. We can finally get to Mars. Did you know that If you take the amount of money the US has spent in Iraq you could make 11 separate Mars programs. Not missions, 11 individual from the ground up programs. To think that NASA is only getting an extra billion.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Great, this is exactly the outcome I was hoping for! :thumbup:

 

[mjessick]

" it wasted a lot of money on something a lot of people did not believe would be the answer" and a lot more people that were head down working and having to drag your lot.

 

[agentgonzo]

And I agree with you. Pointless to get that far and not go all the way down to the surface of Mars. Although I'm wondering if that's how the Apollo astronauts might have felt (just a little) in the missions leading up to #11.

8 was a last-minute change to go to the moon at all due to the increased fear of the commies beating them to the moon. It was originally supposed be only LEO and they didn't have a LM to land so couldn't have landed. They were extremely lucky to make the moon at all. I'm not sure why 10 didn't land. They did everything else, but I still don't understand why there wasn't the mission option of 'if they manage to get this far without any major mishaps then they are the first to land'

 

[francisdrake]

Everyone has an oppinion on this, here is mine

- First I have to thank every single American taxpayer! While we in Europe have a much higher tax rate, there would be no space program if the Americans had not went up front.

- This directly leads to: NASA should continue to walk up front.
We have already manned launchers available (the Soyuz), we could adapt an Atlas V to carry a LEO-only CEV into orbit. To move on, we need a heavy-lift launcher. We need to be able putting 70 - 100 ton in LEO in one piece.

This is a capability we currently do not have, but which is required to construct any larger interplanetary craft from a limited number of launches. As Robert Heinlein said: Being in orbit is being halfway to anywhere.

I fully agree that one billion per year is not overwhelming, but it is a step in the right direction. Overcoming the economic crisis and the ongoing wars will drain enormous amounts of energy and money, so even a small commitment to support spaceflight is a good signal.

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm not sure why 10 didn't land. They did everything else, but I still don't understand why there wasn't the mission option of 'if they manage to get this far without any major mishaps then they are the first to land'

The reason was simply, that the lowest orbit of the Apollo 10 LM was still in the range that the CSM was able to rendezvous and rescue them, in case of a failure.

And the LM also had less fuel as needed for a landing, for various reasons. One was to prevent the crew to attempt a landing anyway, even if things are tough. The other was the uncertainty in the Saturn V performance at that time.

 

[Sky Captain]

The reason was simply, that the lowest orbit of the Apollo 10 LM was still in the range that the CSM was able to rendezvous and rescue them, in case of a failure.

And the LM also had less fuel as needed for a landing, for various reasons. One was to prevent the crew to attempt a landing anyway, even if things are tough. The other was the uncertainty in the Saturn V performance at that time.

So the NASA thought the Apollo 10 crew might decide to show the middle finger to mission control and attempt an unauthorized landing if LM had full tanks?

 

[Urwumpe]

So the NASA thought the Apollo 10 crew might decide to show the middle finger to mission control and attempt an unauthorized landing if LM had full tanks?

yes, some managers thought so, mission control and astronaut corps had been sure they didn't.

 

[mjessick]

But, making the moon a joint project with Canada, Japan, etc. is an excellent idea. It's a human endeavor, and will be more efficient/cheaper. But, they better do a good job.

Is "more efficient/cheaper" really the experience for the benefits of international cooperation as shown by the ISS program?

 

[Istochnikov]

If politicians don't attemp to sink the project... yes.

An example: If the international cooperation wasn't more efficient/cheaper... does ESA exist yet?

 

[Urwumpe]

Or most European aerospace projects...since the Tornado plane and the Europe launcher.

 

[n72.75]

*sigh* . . .what's another billion at this point?

 

[Andy44]

Exactly. A billion here, a billion there, higher national debt, borrow more billions from China, promise a few trillion over the next 5 decades for this or that domestic program, give a few billion to petty dictatorships, and print more paper money to cover it all.

Flying to the moon is really quite theoretical at this point.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Spaceflight Now: White House says no decision yet on NASA's future.

www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/18whitehouse

 

[Ark]

Dunno if I like the idea of turning over LEO operations to private entities, doesn't that just open the door to massive contractor gouging? Realistically there's only going to be one or two options, and with that kind of control they can demand whatever price they want. We already see outrageous no-bid contract waste in the military, and NASA has a big enough waste problem already.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Exactly. A billion here, a billion there, higher national debt, borrow more billions from China, promise a few trillion over the next 5 decades for this or that domestic program, give a few billion to petty dictatorships, and print more paper money to cover it all.

Flying to the moon is really quite theoretical at this point.

This attitude, together with the plan to build a bigger rocket later rather than a smaller now, reminds me of one Nasrudin Hodja legend the Uzbeks like to tell:

Tamerlane was looking for someone to teach his donkey to talk. Nobody wanted the job. Finally the wise men of the dunes - Hodja Nasreddin took the position and promised to teach the donkey to talk in 10 years time.
- Are you crazy? his friends asked him.
- Not really, Hodja answered, the money is good the job is not hard and in 10 years a lot might happen: I might die, or Tamerlane might die or surely enough this old donkey might die.

 

[Andy44]

This attitude,

It's not an attitude so much as an observation. The space program in the US is centrally planned, my attitude has little to do with what happens.

 

[Eagle]

All I want for Christmas is a SSTO.:hide:

 

[n72.75]

This attitude, together with the plan to build a bigger rocket later rather than a smaller now, reminds me of one Nasrudin Hodja legend the Uzbeks like to tell:

Tamerlane was looking for someone to teach his donkey to talk. Nobody wanted the job. Finally the wise men of the dunes - Hodja Nasreddin took the position and promised to teach the donkey to talk in 10 years time.
- Are you crazy? his friends asked him.
- Not really, Hodja answered, the money is good the job is not hard and in 10 years a lot might happen: I might die, or Tamerlane might die or surely enough this old donkey might die.

Which is why I'm going to school for aerospace engendering.
If you want something done right do it your self.

 

[Ark]

Which is why I'm going to school for aerospace engendering.
If you want something done right do it your self.

There are a lot of really, really good ideas in the patent archives that never see the light of day due to politics and cost.