A Congressman and an Astronaut Propose a New Plan For NASA

MarkWhittington writes "Reflecting a rising discontent with the state of the U.S. space program in the wake of the last space shuttle mission, Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, and Apollo astronaut Walt Cunningham have proposed a new space plan that addresses space exploration, the role of commercial space, and reform of NASA."

Comments

Wait, these are not MY corporations

[FatLittleMonkey]

FTFA: "Instead, NASA was directed to pursue a riskier course, diverting billions of dollars to a group of companies– most devoid of experience in manned space vehicles"

Ah, Republicans, all for market solutions, as long as the money goes to the your preferred part of the market.
(Even better, they're blaming Obama for wasting $9b on the ridiculous Constellation.)

Re:Wait, these are not MY corporations

[Teancum]

The ghost of Constellation keeps on marching on like a zombie that has to be killed multiple times. It has morphed into SLS and will likely morph again into something else, while the Ares I has now morphed into the "Liberty" spacecraft.

Keep in mind that the Ares I was mainly supposed to be a Shuttle SRB that flew on its own, but since it didn't have enough "umph" to make it to orbit, they had to add an extra section.... which added far more complications to the design than anybody who started the idea was willing to admit.

Now if NASA could only design a rocket system that actually flew. NASA has a dismal record of one launcher program after another getting cancelled, of which the Constellation program is merely the last of a long line of bureaucratic failures. Fancy dreams do eventually have to face the ugly truth called physics, and the results often aren't pretty.

When Did Koch Industries Get Into Aerospace?

[cmholm]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the same Olson who never met a program he didn't want to cut, or a tax expenditure (ie. loophole) for the oil industry he didn't want to protect? It's natural for a Congressional Rep to protect local industry, so I'm not surprised he's looking to replace his pork funding stream.

The days when a noticeable fraction of the US GDP goes into NASA are long over. Unless someone discovers an asteroid that shits tax breaks, private industry is going to stick with shooting sats into orbit. It's been a nice ride, but US man-in-space is basically over for the rest of my lifetime. I'll be interested to see how far the Chinese and Indians go before they hit their own limits.

The snarky title refers to Rep. Olson's largest campaign contributor, and I think it safe to say that the Kochs' could give a rat's behind about space flight.

Re:ah, Pete Olson

[s122604]

Identical? Not a chance. Yes, I do understand political disappointment, particularly with the Democratic party. And I understand the simple urge that can lead one to be bitter and cynical, but the two parties are not the same, not even close

Democrats : Largely support a women's right to have an abortion, particularly early in pregnancy
Republicans: Openly support utilizing the policing-power of government (i.e. force, i.e. men with badges and guns, judges, and prisons) to FORCE women to have children they don't want to have, no matter what stage of the pregnancy, and no matter what the circumstances. And no, that's not an exaggeration, that is the avowed policy of most of the Republican field of candidates for President, including Michelle Bachman, and Sarah Palin. Heck, there are even republicans in the deep south who haven't given up on the prevention of interracial marrage.

Democrats: Largely support comprehensive health care reform, many including my former congressman, who got beaten by a tea-party darling, supported a public option. Yes, the bill that passed leaved a LOT to be desired, but that is largely do to the compromises that had to be made.
Republicans: support corporate health care, and continuing the specter of medical bankruptcy for Americans too "rich" for Medicaid, too young for Medicare, and not in possession of a government job...

Democrats: majority voted AGAINST the Iraq war, and the majority including the President support a rational US foreign policy. Now, 1000% yes, Obama has disappointed me here, but the fact remains he absolutely has drawn down our forces in Iraq (though not as fast as I'd like) faster than any Republican ever proposed to. I'm also mad at him for not shutting down Gitmo, although he did rewrite our policy on torture, which is a good thing
Republicans: All except Ron Paul seem to be in support of an eternal/unfunded worldwide police action (except Libya of course since that's "Obama's war")...

Democrats: Have (largely) supported gay rights, including the repeal of the awful defense of marriage act (DOMA) and the repeal of don't-ask-don't-tell
Republicans: Continue to appose gay rights (well, most of them, Dick Cheny, now that he has no election to win, actually supports gay marriage), including banning gay parents from adopting, equating homosexuals with pedophiles, and support debunked "conversion" therapies...

Republicans: Supported the citizens united ruling (look it up), and have blasted Network Neutrality regulations as "government censorship"
Democrats: have been critical of the citizens united ruling, and have largely supported network neutrality regulations...

Re:Constellation was not a Shuttle Replacement.

[scharkalvin]

From scratch means SpaceX had developed their own rocket engines and systems to go along with them. Sure, they are using existing launch systems, why not?
The Falcon 1 rocket will earn them money by launching commercial satellites. The Falcon 9 along with the Dragon capsule will become the system to re-supply the ISS and ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. The upcoming Falcon 9 heavy has about half the weight lifting ability of the Saturn-V rocket. It uses a new concept of staging where the strap on tank-boosters transfer fuel back into the core during initial flight so when the boosters separate the core is still fully fueled. Also since the boosters are separated at a lower altitude and speed they should be re-usable. The Falcon 9 heavy is the result of a lot of new thinking, and will out perform existing Titan and Atlas based heavy lift systems. It will also provide the lowest cost to orbit per lb of ANY rocket system yet.

Re:ah, Pete Olson

[s122604]

.America has...like...way more people than alot of other first world countries. Of course we pay twice as much as everyone else for health care. More people, more money. Duh.

Are you stupid, or just trolling?
When I say we pay more, I mean we pay more, per capita, then any other nation..

Here: unignorantize yourself : http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2010/03/01/healthcare-costs-around-the-world/