His link to the Kickstarter today (plus his generous contribution) put me almost a third of the way to the goal.
OK, well, not sure that Jeff Garzik’s $1000 contribution was a result of that link, but thanks! I’ll try to give money’s worth.
[Friday-morning update]
Got my first $500 contributors overnight, and almost halfway to the goal.
[Afternoon update]
Past the halfway mark, with eleven days to go.
This effort would require four launches of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which is currently in development and is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2018.
The purpose of my Kickstarter is to show how it could be done, faster, cheaper, with more people.
In Japan? The Diet is going to take up a Japanese version of the Commercial Space Launch Act.
…passes the House.
Unsurprisingly, Marcia Smith has the story. Probably more thoughts after I read it myself. But this concluding statement is evergreen: “A long and difficult appropriations seasons seems inevitable.”
Contact your representative tonight or early tomorrow and tell them to support full funding for Commercial Crew. The House is going to be voting on the appropriations budget.
Well, that was a nice bump. John Walker just kicked in a grand. That puts me over 10% of the goal on the first full day. Not sure how many more of those I’ll get, though.
[Update a while later]
I’ve gotten a couple emails wondering if there’s some way to contribute anonymously. Unfortunately, I don’t think Kickstarter allows that. I can understand how there would be a lot of people who’d like to support it, but would suffer repercussions if they did so publicly. However, if I get funded, I’d be happy to take more money under the table for equivalent rewards, and just keep track of it myself, instead of Kickstarter. That would have the additional advantage of eliminating the take from the middle man (7-8%).
That’s an…interesting phrase for the cause of the Progress mission failure last month. Doesn’t that sort of imply a need for a redesign?
OK, here we go. I’ve launched my new Kickstarter. Spread the word.
My deepest condolences on the recent loss of his father. Among other things, he certainly raised a son who’s been a stalwart in trying to get us off the planet.
The latest version is out, describing the current hijinks in Congress:
Full-throttle political support for full-funding Commercial Crew at the requested $1.24 billion is a top (if not the top) political priority for this year. Down-selecting to one vendor to save money over the next two years would add multiple unacceptable program risks and lead to long-term monopoly pricing. Successful flight before the end of 2017 already apparently involves optimistic assumptions about not needing the full $300 million in NASA-required-extras contingency funding. NASA says that any shortfall from the $1.24 billion level this year risks further program delays, and our look at the numbers seems to bear that out.
Yes, as Bolden said a few weeks ago, they can’t accelerate it with more money, but they can delay with less, and they seem determined to do so.
[Early evening update]
OK, here‘s an even more recent update.