Jon Goff says that first impressions matter. A lot.

This is exactly the kind of mindset that we have to break out of. Unfortunately, in its choice of vehicle designs, NASA remains part of the problem, instead of part of the solution.

Carolyn Porco, unlike many of her colleagues in the planetary science community, seems to like Ares V (or at least, she’s attempting to make lemonade out of it). Like Jeff Foust, I think that she’s being unrealistic (read the comments as well).

While an increase in flight rate for additional missions will bring down per-flight costs somewhat, it will still be a very expensive vehicle to operate, and will cost several hundred million per flight. Where will the planetary science community come up with that kind of money, let alone the money that will be required to develop and build the kinds of megaprobes she has in mind?

No, we won’t be able to carry out such grand ambitions until we get the launch costs down. Ares is not on the path to that goal.

I get a daily email from space.com telling me what’s the latest on the site. The emails consist of summaries at the beginning, then a more detailed description of the stories with links. Here’s today’s:

In today’s issue:

Science/Astronomy:
* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
* Scientists to NASA: Study Earth
* Star Shatters Spinning Speed Record
* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRB

Spaceflight:
* NASA Successfully Launches Science Satellite Quintet
* NASA Replaces Charged Astronaut for Next Shuttle Mission
* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
* Shuttle Atlantis Reaches Launch Pad for March Space Shot
* NEW! Daily Space Trivia

NEW! LiveScience.com
* New Gallery: Small Sea Monsters
* NEW: Life’s Little Mysteries
* Flu Myths and Truths
* The Secrets (and Perils) of Sword Swallowing Revealed
* Human Compassion Surprisingly Limited, Study Finds
* Antarctica Hides Surprising Subsurface Plumbing System
* Top 10 Aphrodisiacs

NEW! Cool Stuff:
* VIDEO: THEMIS Away
* VIDEO: THEMIS Revealed
* VOTE! Most Amazing Galactic Images Ever!
* Top 10 Star Mysteries
* UFO Wallpaper
* Gallery: Astronauts’ Views from Space
* Gallery: Visualizations of Mars
* Vote: The Best Space Movies
* Amazing Images: Upload Yours Now and Even Buy a Poster!

Plus…

* Uplink, SPACE.com TV and NightSky
* Starry Night, TeamSETI

———————————–

Science/Astronomy:

* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BC:57135

Black holes are dark secrets, shrouded in churning spacetime and scrunched into points smaller than an atom.

* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BB:57135

There’s something about black holes that draws in scientists and the rest of us terrestrial dwellers, besides of course their tremendous gravity.

* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97C1:57135

This is the time of the year when I get lots of inquires concerning a certain very bright starlike object shining over toward the southern part of the sky. It?s Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.

* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BD:57135

Two stellar titans are waging wars of wind in the first such scene spotted outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRB
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BE:57135

An X-ray look at the famous Pillars of Creation reveals a region peppered by bright young stars.

———————————–
Spaceflight:

* Satellite to Study Auroras Ready for Launch
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B7:57135

Five NASA probes aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding Earth?s colorful auroras are set to launch Friday evening after a 24-hour weather delay.

* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B3:57135

NASA’s next shuttle astronauts to fly, a blend of veteran spaceflyers and rookies, are in the final month of training for a March construction flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Emphasis mine. Note that the first summary description of the story was that the “charged astronaut” had been replaced. But in the more detailed version, there is no mention of her. Nor is there any in the linked story itself.

So what happened? Was Nowak assigned to the next flight, and then removed because of her…incident? That seems unlikely to me. She just flew in August–it seems hard to believe that she’d have gotten another flight assignment in less than a year, given the demand for slots (though I suppose it’s possible, given that she was at least momentarily treated like a rock star during and right after the flight). If so, and NASA changed its mind, why does Space.com have two different versions of the story in its email notification?

Or was it that they got a bogus story that she was originally scheduled on the flight, and then replaced, but it wasn’t true, and when they found out, they changed the summary and link, but forgot to fix the supersummary?

Inquiring minds want to know. I’ve categorized this as “Space,” but it could just as well have been “Media Criticism.”

Forty-five years ago today, I was sitting home on the floor in my pajamas, watching the television, as the first American astronaut went into earth orbit. I don’t recall the suspense about the heat shield, but it may be that it wasn’t broadcast live, occurring behind the scenes. Or it may be that I was just too young to make sense of what was going on.

It’s my earliest recollection of the human space program, a subject that became one of lifelong fascination to me, and a career.

It’s not really news, but the latest Orion manifest update shows how pitifully little we’re getting for the many billions of taxpayer dollars that this program will cost. Two flights per year at four astronauts per flight. The Shuttle can carry seven. so it can carry almost as many in a single flight as the Orion will carry in a year.

I’d be willing to be that the program cost in that time period will be (at a minimum) on the order of a couple billion per annum. So that means that each ride will be costing us a quarter of a billion dollars. That’s each ticket, not each flight. And that doesn’t include any amortization of the development costs of either the vehicle itself, or the new launcher. And they told us that Shuttle cost too much.

It also highlights my point about too many astronauts and too few flight slots. If this is the best we can do, then we really should give up on a federal manned space program.

[Monday morning update]

Some thoughts from Louise Riofrio on the oversized astronaut “corps.”

Sorry for the lack of warning, but I’m about to go on the air with David Livingston at The Space Show (12:30 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time).

Homer Hickam has similar thoughts to mine on why Nowak cracked, with some recommendations, which are opposite to mine. His are to reduce the astronaut office, while mine are to open up flight opportunities. Either way, the situation has to be brought into balance.

Just checking in from London Towne (literally–I just checked in to my hotel). It’s noon here, early in the US, but not so early that my TCSDaily piece isn’t up. I have some thoughts on Lisa Nowak, and NASA.

I’m having dinner with Perry De Havilland tonight, and then off on the train to Brussels on the morrow.

Of an old story: waste, fraud and abuse at the National Reconnaissance Office.

Unfortunately, as the article points out, it’s very hard to oversee a program as secret as this one. I think that we actually need to scrap the agency and start over from scratch with some fresh thinking, which would include responsive space, rather than the fragile and vulnerable battlestar galacticas, such as the Keyhole series.

Dan Schmelzer has a breakdown. As I suspected, financing rounds are early progress milestones. For RpK, its second one is coming up this month. I assume that they have until the end of the month to meet it.

[Late morning update]

I just realized that my first sentence could be misinterpreted. I mean he has a breakdown of the COTS documents. I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on his mental health, which (unlike, apparently, Lisa Nowak) I trust is fine.