I think that Alex Brown is misunderstanding the politics of this. It’s not really a partisan issue, except to the degree that Republicans don’t like or trust Obama.
Category Archives: Space
Alan Bond
This journalist is far too credulous about Skylon. But this is the funniest line in the piece:
Space travel is currently dominated by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX…
I’ll have to tweet the guy.
Industry At The Edge Of Space
Leonard David reviews Erik Seedhouse’s new book
As an aside, how does Springer sell books at those prices? Almost thirty bucks for a Kindle?
Bill Gaubatz
I’m hearing that he passed away yesterday. If so, it’s a loss to the space community. I don’t think I’d seen him since last August, in Alamogordo. I’m glad I got his signature on my DC-X model.
I’ll update as I get more info.
[Evening update]
OK, I reported it first, but now Jerry Pournelle remembers Bill. and DC-X. His conclusion, with which I agree:
I note that over the years many of the participants in making DC/X possible have died. Those include Robert Heinlein, Harry Stine, Duke Kane, Steve Possony, Dan Graham, and I’m sure many more. I hope they’re all waiting to welcome Bill Gaubatz to the old space warriors club.
I’m not big on the concept of the afterlife, but if it’s true, I hope so, too.
Happy Birthday, USA
For those wondering, that’s Apollo 11, taking off on July 16th, 1969.
Apollo 45th Anniversary
Buzz Aldrin is starting a social media campaign to commemorate it.
I’m working on a piece that I hope gets good placement, on how it’s time to let go of Apollo.
Space Solar Power
John Walker reviews John Mankins’ new book.
Regenerative Life Support
This is the kind of research that NASA should be doing, and would be if we were serious about space settlement. Instead, we waste billions on unneeded giant rockets. At least China is taking it more seriously.
Colonizing Venus
The surprisingly strong case for it.
One of the many disappointments of the NRC report on human spaceflight is the almost total neglect of this topic. That’s at least partially because if was rooted in a neo-Apollo mindset, which must have boots on the ground, though it’s not clear what they’ll be doing.
Shelby’s Antics
The Houston Chronicle weighs in.
I don’t think this is quite correct, though:
Under the current Commercial Crew Development program, SpaceX contracts with NASA for a flat payment. If SpaceX comes in under cost, it gets to keep the profit. If it goes over budget, SpaceX has to make up the difference. This system gives SpaceX more flexibility to operate as it sees fit.
Shelby has inserted language in a Senate appropriations bill that would instead force SpaceX to work on NASA’s old cost-plus model. This would require the private company to track every step of its development, assign a cost to those steps and charge it to NASA, plus an additional fee. This stilted payment model forces engineers to be accountants and removes disincentives for bloated budgets.
Shelby isn’t forcing the company to cost plus. He’s doing something worse (and stupid), forcing them to account for it as though it were cost plus, but on a fixed-price contract.