Quote from: woods170 on 12/11/2017 12:06 pmThe guy you have to blame is named Nixon, not Obama. Nixon is the one that steered the USA away from the Moon, all the way back to LEO. And once the USA was stuck there, courtesy of the space shuttle and the space station sucking the NASA budget dry, there was no real chance of going back into deep space.LBJ, not Nixon, was President when Apollo/Saturn V and Apollo Applications were cut back. Future Saturn V production was cut in the months before Nixon was elected, leading to cancellation of Apollos 18-20, etc.. But honestly, it wouldn't have mattered who was elected in 1968. The American people didn't want to spend any more money on lunar landings. Today's generation will apparently have to rediscover the reason why ... - Ed Kyle
The guy you have to blame is named Nixon, not Obama. Nixon is the one that steered the USA away from the Moon, all the way back to LEO. And once the USA was stuck there, courtesy of the space shuttle and the space station sucking the NASA budget dry, there was no real chance of going back into deep space.
Absolutely - I still have some Powerpoints and pdfs. It probably was the far better way to go, rather than 'Apollo On Steroids'. Oh, how I cringed when Mike Griffin said that...https://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/vse.htmhttps://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/documents/o56554650.pdfhttps://www.space.com/778-spiral-stairway-moon.html
This 1/3 number is reasonable - OMB calculated that the Falcon 9 LV was about 1/3 the cost of a Federal funded LV of the same capability.
His paper is:The Opportunity in Commercial Approaches forFuture NASA Deep Space Exploration Elements, Edgar Zapata, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Kennedy Space Center, FL, 32899.https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170008893 2017-12-12T21:53:05+00:00Z
If Jim Bridenstine is even half the man James Webb was - then NASA and the U.S. space program should prosper.
It's almost like - if I have to explain it; you wont likely get it anyway. But I know you're far more intelligent than that. So: 'Prospering' is relative. As much as I'm a big follower of ISS and was of the Shuttle - I crossed the world to see the final launch - being stuck in low Earth orbit for decades is not fully progressive, nor is it frontiering. I want to live long enough to see humans on Mars but I'm starting to think that wont be possible. And I want it far more for the children of Earth to see humans living and working on another world, than I want it for myself. Repetitive science in low Earth orbit is useful, but it should not be an end unto itself. And concern about a national debt is important for it's own reasons. But the U.S. space program didn't make the country debt-ridden. Make yourself a list of all the things that may have caused that and you'll see that space was not and likely never will be the problem. Though, a comment I made earlier in this thread about how the Trump administration may or may not be willing to expend political capital dealing with new space policy comes to mind: will they or wont they? We'll find out soon.
I live in Alabama. I did not vote for the dem. Roy Moore's character was in question, not politics at all. Jones will only be there two years. Now, this did not affect Trump's political capital at all. If Jones is smart he will cross over and vote for things like space with Shelby. Too much polarization in Washington. Very little working together. I don't like SLS, but Shelby does. The new administrator needs to have more projects to allow for the lowest bidders designs, not NASA's designs. It would cut costs. Hopefully this would get more involvement around the country for more support.
Quote from: Chris Bergin on 12/11/2017 09:59 pm... “After 45 years, it is time to return humans to the region of the Moon even as we look toward Mars,” Dr. Dittmar said. “The Coalition is proud to support NASA and to help bring about this exciting future. We congratulate the Trump Administration on its bold vision and commitment to American leadership in space.” ...robotic landers, ...Mary Lynn apparently doesn't think much of landing people on the Moon. Pretty striking departure from today's message. Wonder why?
... “After 45 years, it is time to return humans to the region of the Moon even as we look toward Mars,” Dr. Dittmar said. “The Coalition is proud to support NASA and to help bring about this exciting future. We congratulate the Trump Administration on its bold vision and commitment to American leadership in space.” ...robotic landers, ...
Quote from: AncientU on 12/12/2017 04:25 amQuote from: Chris Bergin on 12/11/2017 09:59 pm... “After 45 years, it is time to return humans to the region of the Moon even as we look toward Mars,” Dr. Dittmar said. “The Coalition is proud to support NASA and to help bring about this exciting future. We congratulate the Trump Administration on its bold vision and commitment to American leadership in space.” ...robotic landers, ...Mary Lynn apparently doesn't think much of landing people on the Moon. Pretty striking departure from today's message. Wonder why?She knows that we can't afford that with most of the funding going to SLS and Orion.
Pence seems pretty into it.
If America isn't leading the world in space right now, who is?
Ya didn't think any of this was about actual measurable achievements, did ya?