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Mike Pence Tells NASA To Accelerate Human Missions To the Moon 'By Any Means Necessary' (theverge.com)
Today at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council, Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration is committed to sending humans back to the Moon by 2024, four years earlier than NASA's previous target of 2028. The Verge reports: Pence, speaking at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, noted that the administration will meet this goal "by any means necessary." He called on NASA to adopt new policies and argued that the space agency would need to embrace "a new mindset that begins with setting bold goals and staying on schedule." To do that, he said the administration may consider ditching some of NASA's current contractors -- which are currently developing new vehicles to take humans into deep space -- and using commercially developed rockets instead. "If commercial rockets are the only way to get American astronauts to the Moon in the next five years, then commercial rockets it will be," said Pence. "Urgency must be our watch word."
However, Pence offered few clear recommendations and changes that would help to accelerate NASA's return, apart from potentially switching rockets and contractors. "It was rhetoric about 'by all means possible' and 'we'll provide the resources necessary' and 'leadership is essential,'" John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University, tells The Verge. "I mean, they're all good words. But the devil's in the details."
However, Pence offered few clear recommendations and changes that would help to accelerate NASA's return, apart from potentially switching rockets and contractors. "It was rhetoric about 'by all means possible' and 'we'll provide the resources necessary' and 'leadership is essential,'" John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University, tells The Verge. "I mean, they're all good words. But the devil's in the details."
Setting bold goals and staying on schedule.
So I guess, they sacrifice safety.
Ah, very good then
And the dish ran away with the spoon...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
NASA director reads the memo again:
by any means necessary
Hrmmm, clickety clickety clickety...Wall funds diverted to NASA!
Yes, show me how its all going to be paid for, and most of it will be contracted out.
I'm all for going to Mars and sending someone there.
Pushing people to develop new technologies or think differently will help drive innovation.
But don't cut current programs and funding just because someone wants to get to Mars in their term.
Mars^H^H^HMoon^H^H^H^HMars^H^H^HMoon
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Not because it is hard, but because we think it sounds easy. And will look good.
Because the real service we offer, is to allow the crueler half of a large generation empty remembrances of what they used to like the idea of, as we strip of it of meaning.
I've been to science/media conventions where folks in upper-level NASA positions (often conservatives) speak frankly on these subjects, along with a lot of engineer coworkers that spent time on the - none of this lines up at all with anything they'd want.
Ryan Fenton
By any chance, is there a "christian" prophecy which includes human presence on the moon?
Yes, it says that a group of space cadets will go there in the reign of god-emperor Trump to build a wall.
That means two things, neither of which is going to happen:
- Increased risk, including a likelihood of deaths.
- Reducing Congressional oversight, so they can't micromanage NASA's budget and force NASA to hand out pork to the "right" Congressional districts.
Realistically, it would probably also require a third thing: firing the NASA bureaucracy that has grown up in service of Pournelle's Iron Law.
So, no. Not going to happen. NASA as it exists today is not capable of doing this job.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
"Urgency must be our watch word."
Why? Is it going somewhere?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I'm not sure what "any means necessary means". Does NASA get a blank check from the government? If Elon says for 10 trillion he can get us to the moon earlier, they'll fund it? If it involves paying large sums to Russia of China, that's ok too? How about safety? Send 10 rockets, as long as one makes it there that's fine, even if 9 crash and burn? Who exactly decides what means are necessary?
With half the military budget they could probably put a starbucks on mars.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
We have millions of Americans who still cannot afford to go to the doctor, who cannot afford education, who cannot afford housing, and this asshat thinks we need to send people to the moon to do what, exactly?
I don't respond to AC's.
Why is Pence so hot to get to the moon asap? What could possibly be scheduled for 2024 that the vice president would want some great publicity for?
He did say by any means possible!
That's right, Mike Pence, the young Earth creationist, wants us to go to the Moon by 2024. This is a man who doesn't understand science or history of us getting to the Moon. He doesn't understand money either because NASA had 5% of the budget at that time. Currently NASA has what, half a percent of the budget?
Place something witty here
Even in constant 2014 dollars, the current NASA budget is barely a third of what it was at its height — and since Space Has Really Become A Thing since then, what with the space stations and satellites and such, NASA tasked with doing a lot more missions than in the heady days of '66.
We want to get back to the moon in 5 years when we don't have human rated launch capability? And we want to do it on a giant rocket that hasn't launched once yet? Fine, but they're gonna need to open the pocketbooks a hell of a lot more than they are now.
Does this mean there will be adequate funding and an absence of political meddling?
~Any apparent grammatical or typographic errors are caused by defects in your display device.
Where's the line in the Malignanat Carcinoma's federal budget for next year where NASA gets a 100% increase, from $20B to $40B?
Oh, I see, like any sleazy CEO, do more with less!!!
Datum: At the height of the Moon Race, in the sixties, NASA's budget was also $20B... in 1965 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that would be about $180B or $200B now.
Anyone who wants more in space... without increasing the budget is a liar.
Trump's proposed budget contains CUTS to NASA funding! I've never seen an administration that contradicted themselves so much!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.