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Senate Bill Adds Shuttle Flight, New Shuttle-Derived Vehicle
simonbp writes "The Senate Commerce Committee this morning marked up a compromise NASA Authorization Act that rolls back some of Obama's plans for NASA, while keeping others. The bill adds at least one more shuttle flight, keeps Obama's technology demonstrators and commercial access to ISS (albeit at reduced funding), restores the Orion crew capsule, and replaces the Ares rockets with a Shuttle-Derived 'Space Launch System' for going to the ISS and Beyond, which could be ready as soon as 2015."
A bill that kills NASA entirely would be a better direction for space research and the United States. Unfortunately the department is too big a political pork football between various state representatives for it to ever be effective. Until we can structure a space organization that won't be a political football - and that's going to take a really radical change - we're only shooting ourselves in the foot.
Bruce Perens.
I agree completely, it's a bad mistake. But you have to learn to think like a Congress-person. The money isn't being wasted. It's buying jobs in your constituency just before an election. The good of the organization or the country be damned. It's all about self preservation-- and by self preservation I mean re-election.
The phrase "baby with the bathwater" comes to mind here. NASA does some things that no other US entity currently does.
We're about to rely on a foreign country as our sole source supplier for manned access to the ISS for at least several years. We don't have a backup. Just as you say NASA is a political football, international relations can be just as unpredictable. Right now we have a shortage of Pu-238 for RTGs in part because we felt we could buy what we needed from the Russians. That's fine. It's a good source for it. But, we didn't move ahead with funding for getting DOE ready to produce more. There's a contract dispute with the Russians that no one anticipated, and that's left us looking for other alternatives.
I prefer to keep a couple of shuttles around and launching at a low rate rather than just relying on Soyuz. Expensive, and hopefully unneeded, but most insurance is like that.
It gives us a backup that won't take years to be ready. Ultimately, a man rated Falcon 9 or some other private launcher would be a good solution. But, we don't have it yet.
Not to mention the ONLY reason the congress keeps kicking that dead horse is a little word called PORK. That is why on every single suggestion NASA has come up with for a new vehicle they have been hamstringed by the demand that X% of the craft be made of "Shuttle Derived parts" even though the shuttle was an absolute failure (look up the original statement: It was to be a "space truck" with about 1/3rd more carrying capacity and MUCH quicker turnaround for a lower cost per pound. It failed every goal it was designed for) so that they can keep parceling out cash to their districts.
Hell congress has turned NASA into such a fucked over pork generating clusterfuck we need to set up a WPA style "please fuck off" fund so when some congressman demands a stupid waste of cash like "shuttle derived parts" we can say "Here is a work project for your district. Please fuck off now" and get NASA back on track. Although personally I think NASA will be deader than Dixie in 5 years and it'll be other nations and commerical ventures that will take over. With two Viet Nam style clusterfucks on our hands and an economy that is starting to develop reigor mortis we just ain't got the funds for much of anything anymore. Doubt that will stop congress from writing checks as long as they can though.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.