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Category Archives: Political Commentary
More Bashing Of Private Enterprise
…by a supposed “conservative.” Charles Krauthammer continues his (unusually, for him) ill-informed hysteria over the new space policy:
…the administration presents the abdication as a great leap forward: Launching humans will be turned over to the private sector, while NASA’s efforts will be directed toward landing on Mars.
This is nonsense. It would be swell for private companies to take over launching astronauts. But they cannot do it. It’s too expensive. It’s too experimental. And the safety standards for getting people up and down reliably are just unreachably high.
Sure, decades from now there will be a robust private space-travel industry. But that is a long time. In the interim, space will be owned by Russia and then China. The president waxes seriously nationalist at the thought of China or India surpassing us in speculative “clean energy.” Yet he is quite prepared to gratuitously give up our spectacular lead in human space exploration.
As for Mars, more nonsense. Mars is just too far away. And how do you get there without the stepping stones of Ares and Orion? If we can’t afford an Ares rocket to get us into orbit and to the moon, how long will it take to develop a revolutionary new propulsion system that will take us not a quarter-million miles but 35 million miles?
I just read that second paragraph, and shake my head in sorrow at the ignorance, not to mention the double standard. NASA has killed fourteen astronauts in the past quarter of a century. On what basis can he claim that private industry (which is highly motivated not to kill people, because it might put them out of business, whereas NASA is rewarded when it fails), will do worse?
And even ignoring their horrific cost, in what way are Ares and Orion “stepping stones” to anywhere, let alone Mars? No one has ever put forth a plausible scenario in which Orion is utilized for a Mars mission.
Meanwhile, a much more sensible piece can be found over at the Asia Times, which points out how ridiculous it is to worry about the Chinese (with quotes from Charles Lurio and Jeff Foust).
[Update a few minutes later]
Keith Cowing points out more historical ignorance on the part of the good doctor:
Um, check your facts next time. We had a 6 year gap between Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 and STS-1 in 1981. We had no way to send humans into space during that time. And, FWIW, between the end of Mercury and the beginning of Gemini, we had no access, and between Gemini 12 and Apollo 7 we had no access to space. Between STS-107 and STS-114 … and so on. Gaps are not a new thing.
And a continuation of the Program of Record would have guaranteed that the upcoming one would be the longest yet.
[Morning update]
Krauthammer link is fixed now, sorry.
[Update a few minutes later]
Jeff Foust has a report on Lori Garver’s speech at the FAA meeting yesterday. It won’t satisfy the die-hard Apollo/Ares huggers of course, but it should appeal to more sensible people, including conservatives.
The Road Forward
John Strickland has some extensive thoughts on NASA’s new direction, and where we’ve been.
“An Illusion Wrapped In Denial”
Henry Spencer isn’t mourning the loss of Constellation, because the only loss was the opportunity to waste tens of billions of taxpayer dollars on a program that would likely have never even repeated Apollo.
[Update a few minutes later]
Also, thoughts from Jeff Krukin: Do we need destinations and deadlines? No, but we do need goals and milestones. This will be NASA’s challenge in the next few weeks.
Down To Perry Or Hutchison
Apparently Debra Medina abruptly and inadvertently wiped out her chances to be Texas’ next governor on Glenn Beck’s radio show today.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s the video. She pretty much destroys herself about a minute in. I love the way Beck continues to offer to take away her shovel, but she just keeps on digging.
FAA Conference Notes
Lots of interesting stuff coming across the Twitter feed, from Jeff Foust, Michael Mealling, and others. Wish I was there. Except for the snow, of course. Lori Garver was scheduled to speak at 8 AM, but was moved to the luncheon slot and replace by Ken Bowersox of SpaceX. Alan Lindenmoyer seems to be quite stoked at the new policy, and thinks that we’ll have commercial crew within three years or so. The biggest news that I see in scanning is that Blue Origin is planning a bi-conic capsule to go up on an Atlas V, as part of CCDev.
Continuing to read…
[Mid-morning Pacific update]
Lori is speaking now:
1. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust Garver: extended utilization is made possible by comm’l providers and provides anchor tenant for them #astconf half a minute ago from Twitterrific
2. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx RT @ac_charania: #astconf Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Admin, no single commercial provider in critical path, initiate commercial space race multiple companies 1 minute ago from TweetDeck
3. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx Garver: New plan fully utilizes ISS and engages Nat Lab Office to create nontraditional partnerships. #astconf 2 minutes ago from TweetDeck
4. Save_space_square_09-22-09_normal SaveSpace RT @jeff_foust: Garver: invest in KSC to make it the world’s most advanced commercial spaceport. #astconf 2 minutes ago from TweetDeck
5. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust Garver: invest in KSC to make it the world’s most advanced commercial spaceport. #astconf 3 minutes ago from Twitterrific
6. G_bernard_normal GaryBhotelguy RT @jeff_foust: Garver: will support multiple comm’l systems, not rely on single provider. Real space race will develop. #astconf 3 minutes ago from Twitterrific
7. Hounb_normal HiltonNASA RT @jeff_foust: Garver: will support multiple comm’l systems, not rely on single provider. Real space race will develop. #astconf 3 minutes ago from Twitterrific
8. Main_charania_thmb_2_normal ac_charania #astconf Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Admin, no single commercial provider in critical path, initiate commercial space race multiple companies 3 minutes ago from TweetDeck
9. Save_space_square_09-22-09_normal SaveSpace RT @jeff_foust: NASA deputy admin Lori Garver: move towards private sector has roots in Reagan admin policies in the 1980s. #astconf 4 minutes ago from TweetDeck
10. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx Garver: Fixed price contracts and service purchase agreements will change the game. #astconf 4 minutes ago from TweetDeck
11. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust Garver: will support multiple comm’l systems, not rely on single provider. Real space race will develop. #astconf 5 minutes ago from Twitterrific
12. Hounb_normal HiltonNASA RT @jeff_foust: Garver: for those worried about jobs, remember NASA budget increases, and those increases translate into jobs. #astconf 5 minutes ago from Twitterrific
13. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx RT @jeff_foust: Garver: for those worried about jobs, remember NASA budget increases, and those increases translate into jobs. #astconf 5 minutes ago from Twitterrific
14. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx Garver says new plan needed to keep from falling behind China & India. Real job growth opportunity in comm space over longterm. #astconf 6 minutes ago from TweetDeck
15. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust Garver: real job growth opportunity is in comm’l space, and country that captures that market gets those jobs. #astconf 6 minutes ago from Twitterrific
16. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust Garver: for those worried about jobs, remember NASA budget increases, and those increases translate into jobs. #astconf 8 minutes ago from Twitterrific
17. Justin_at_pass2_normal phalanx Garver citing Aldrich Commission findings. Time is now for President’s decision to build public/private partnership. #astconf 8 minutes ago from TweetDeck
18. Jeff_and_wk2_2_normal jeff_foust NASA deputy admin Lori Garver: move towards private sector has roots in Reagan admin policies in the 1980s. #astconf 8 minutes ago from Twitterrific
Note that they’re in reverse time order. I would repeat from my Corner comment, in a non-bizarro world conservatives would be cheering this, including the fact that, as she says, the philosophy has its roots in the Reagan administration.
[Late morning update]
“Garver: Ultimate goal is to expand human presence in solar system. Don’t believe naysayers.”
A Big Thumbs Down
To Roger Ebert.
This Is How Bad The Economy Has Gotten
Evan Bayh is homeless.
Whining Bobby Wexler had a similar problem, as I recall.
Iron Rush
Did a meteorite find drive the Inuit migration across Canada hundreds of years ago?
Nah, couldn’t be. Nothing that happens in space is relevant to what happens on earth.
For some reason, this reminds me of the global warming debate. Not to mention the difficulty that Alverez had in selling the dinosaur extinction theory.
[Update a few minutes later]
This is also an interesting example of how technology, or the desire for it, can influence human migration patterns. It may have some relevance to space policy…