Under which policy — Constellation or variants, or the new policy with tech development, would Glenn Research Center better fare? It seems to me there would be more interesting work for Plum Brook with the latter.
2 thoughts on “An Ohio Space Bleg”
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My opinion; most definitely the new policy. There were several electric propulsion RFIs last June. Along with demonstrations of high power propulsion modules, there was also a full up 30kW EP spacecraft that would probably be managed by Glenn. This would be a very big contract and a high profile mission. Perhaps a Mars moons, Mars sample return or maybe a big outer planet mission. The later might also include a Sterling RTG also managed out of Glenn.
Kind of a moot question at this point, but GRC had a decent chunk of Constellation, so if you define “better” as “a bigger slice of the pie” then under Constellation they did all right. But that begs the question of whether CxP was a nutritious pie to be eating. It’s not a good idea to focus your entire diet on a pie that’s full of sugar and worse yet can be taken away every time a new baker rolls into town.
The new policy, or pie, may well prove better for GRC. But, continuing the pie analogy, you have to consider that GRC is only going to be eating pies served up by the government, and realistically the government makes some pretty disgusting pies. Unless you are on good terms with a visionary gazillionaire, you have to be willing to eat a certain number of dead bugs and cigarette butts in your slice of government pie along with the good stuff.