John Glenn is arguing for an extension of the Shuttle program. I don’t really give a rip what he thinks, but a lot of people on the Hill (particularly on the Democrat side) will take him seriously. The problem is that it’s not just a matter of coming up with more money. NASA has to do pad modifications at 39 A and B to accommodate the new vehicles, and they can’t do that if they continue to fly Shuttle. I suspect that it will also start to get pretty crowded in the VAB if they’re doing Ares and Shuttle simultaneously.

Sometimes, I think that the best thing that could happen to American space policy would be a Cat 5 hurricane hitting the Cape, and scraping it clean.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s more from Robert Block at the Orlando Sentinel. Note the comment about there being no appetite on the Hill for a Shuttle extension.

[Update a few more minutes later]

Mark Whittington once again demonstrates his legendary prowess at reading miscomprehension. I agree with Jon (though I’m not going to vote for Bob Barr). As I said, probably the most effective (and perhaps necessary) step toward a revitalization of NASA would be a Cat 5 at the Cape. I don’t think that anything less can shake the space industrial complex up sufficiently to get any kind of new thinking or direction.

Alan Boyle has another report from Oshkosh (some people get the best gigs).

Griffin downplayed media reports about vibration problems with the Ares 1 rocket, saying that there were “half a dozen means to mitigate that” and that two top strategies would be selected for further study next month. “Let me put it this way: I hope this is the worst problem we have in developing a new system,” he said.

Of course he did. That doesn’t mean they aren’t true. I haven’t seen any ways to mitigate it that don’t involve a lot more weight and performance penalty on a vehicle that’s already out of margins. I too hope that it’s the worst problem they have, because if they have any that are worse, the program is in deep, deep kimchi.

More on the “flight test” of Ares 1-X, which seems to be mostly for show. Though if it’s as risky as indicated here, it may be a more spectacular performance than they count on.

Unfortunately, the same folks who think a flight dynamics test of a four segment SRB with a different propellant, old-style grain design, and inert (that is to say, non-sloshing and stiff) upper pieces is a good idea also thought they could grab a bunch of used equipment (Atlas avionics software, Peacekeeper hardware, etc.), chewing gum, and duct tape (perhaps FEMA is helping the minions) and use it to demonstrate how something “like” ARES-1X might get off the ground after “the gap” has widened to its furthest extent.

And, like all of the shortcuts the Emperor’s minions have taken to date, this approach, too, is soon to come back and bite them. The list of critical components going into ARES-1X that are either beyond shelf life or being put to work in an environment for which they were not intended is astounding. And the risks that are being accepted, because of schedule and budget pressures, are equally marvelous.

Hey, it’s OK. That’s what waivers are for.