Also, an excellent piece by @brianweeden on dealing with Space Traffic Management. Primary quibble: Should be "re-elevating AST out of FAA." For its first few years, it reported directly to the SecDOT.https://t.co/d46wOC1ikG https://t.co/6I6JKIMcAX
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) March 12, 2019
Category Archives: Space
China’s Space Program
Dwayne Day dumps cold water on all the hysteria about it. I agree.
The 2020 Trump Budget Request
NASA starts at page 97.
It’s the beginning of the end for SLS. NASA wants to do Europa on a “commercial vehicle,” plans for Block 1B are “deferred,” and they propose commercial providers for getting to and from the moon itself, which means that SLS has nothing to do except the Gateway, and it can’t do the Gateway without the new upper stage planned for Block 1B.
It will be interesting to see the Congressional response. One thing it does do is continue to flow the wasteful funding for Block 1 to the right zip codes, so Congress may not care. Culberson is gone now, and if this budget passes with that wording, it would end the legislative requirement to use SLS for Europa.
[Update a few minutes later]
This budget is basically an implicit admission that SLS serves no purpose other than to ship taxpayer funds to the right zip codes. Even Gateway doesn't need it. Which means that the need for the Gateway itself goes away, since its primary mission was to give SLS something to do. https://t.co/oohwiukMwS
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) March 11, 2019
This is an OMB proposal. Bridenstine had to provide lip service to SLS to get confirmed. I wonder what he’ll say when he gets called on the carpet by Congress?
[Tuesday noon update]
Yes, Dr. Stofan, NASA could get to Mars sooner, but it doesn’t need more money, it just needs to spend the money it gets more sensibly. They could get to Mars in five years if they could use the SLS/Orion budget for something useful.
[Bumped]
[Update a while later]
Space Launch System recap over the last two years:
* Delayed from 2018 to 2021
* A single flight in Block 1 configuration to indefinite amount
* All upgrades deferred
* Europa mission moved because of delays
* Gateway moved to private rockets— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) March 11, 2019
But other than that, it’s had a great two years.
Space Force HQ
Greg Abbott wants it in Houston.
Of course he does. Let’s put the HQ of one of the services in a place that gets slammed by hurricanes and floods on a semi-regular basis.
Vandenberg would be a good location, other than earthquakes, but Colorado Springs, the current home of Space Command, is probably best, both in terms of centrality and low risk of natural disasters (other than fire). It could even share the service academy with the Air Force.
The 737 Max 8 Crashes
They may have been caused by “safety” “features.”
Gee, someone should write a book about that sort of thing.
Oh, wait
[Update a while later]
That is to say, the learning period currently set to expire in 2023 (I think) for the FAA (or whoever) to not regulate mission assurance should be extended indefinitely. Guess I should op-ed that.
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) March 12, 2019
[Mid-morning update]
And it's equally unclear at this point (at least to me) whether it's a bad design or a crew-training issue (did they RTFM?), though the fact that there have been no such incidents in the US suggests the latter.
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) March 12, 2019
[Afternoon update]
An interesting perspective.
[Update a while later]
State owned @FijiAirways cannot afford to ground their #737MAX – they taken a billion dollars out of compulsory superannuation fund for their wish list. Grounding would bankrupt airline … even the state itself…. pic.twitter.com/SumhqSDRuM
— Michael Field (@MichaelFieldNZ) March 12, 2019
A New Space Project To Mars
In New Zealand. Entirely by women. Hey, more power to them.
SERV
It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the last time Chrysler proposed a spaceship to NASA. I’d forgotten about that.
The Real Pucker Factor
For Dragon, it will be early tomorrow morning, when it enters and is recovered.
If Crew Dragon lands (waters?) successfully tomorrow, the U.S. will clearly have human spaceflight capability again. If NASA chooses not to use it immediately, that's a choice, but the notion that we can't get Americans into space from American soil will no longer be true.
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) March 7, 2019
[Friday-morning update]
Congratulations, @SpaceX, for what appears to be a flawless test flight. Time to fly now, and flip Putin (and Rogozin) the bird.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) March 8, 2019
[Noon update]
What SpaceX’s success means for America.
Roscosmos
It’s not really acting. They have been left behind.
But, while I like Sandy, this kind of thing continues to drive me crazy.
Oh, Sandy. Is there anyone out there who thinks it's at all important to end our dependence on Putin to get our astronauts into space? https://t.co/dv1IhziJQc
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) March 7, 2019
Two NASA Directorates
Compare and contrast. This is why NASA human spaceflight is a mess.