Category Archives: Space

Space

The Missing Piece

13 Comments

John Strickland has some suggestions for in-LEO transportation:

One of the features of the original space station and shuttle concept was a space tug. The concept was called the S.T.S: (Space Transportation System), which would have allowed access to other locations in LEO (in the same or similar orbital plane) from the station. Such a tug would be able to capture large payloads, either modules or large cargo containers, and deliver them safely back to the station. The tug was originally in the post-Apollo plans, but by the mid-1970’s, like many critical components of the current Station, such as the Large Centrifuge Facility, it got chopped by budget cuts and budget overruns of other parts of the shuttle program, leaving just the Shuttle. Thus this component was lost long before the 1984 Reagan Space Station proposal. We still only have two components of what was intended to be a three-component system.

There were a few half-hearted attempts over the years to restore it (e.g., the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle, which Marshall screwed the pooch on with, among other things, stupid requirements), but this hasn’t really been a serious discussion at NASA in decades. Yet it’s a key piece of the architecture for both LEO and BEO ops (a BEO version could be similar to the LEO one, except with larger tank or propulsion kits). And it’s all enabled by gas stations, of course. And these are all issues that Constellation, with its “let’s do Apollo again” mindset, completely ignored.

Media Criticism, Social Commentary, Space

Negligent Parents?

52 Comments

I don’t have a problem with the sailing attempt — I think that today’s children are far too coddled and infantilized (all the way to age 26, thanks to ObamaCare). I don’t see anything particularly magic about eighteen, either. Different people mature at different rates. There are many people who would never be able to do this at any age (most people, I’d say). What I’m looking forward to is the youngest (or even first) person to sail around the moon.

Economics, Political Commentary, Space

What Is Old

41 Comments

…is new again. In doing some research, I was reading the old Agnew Space Task Group report, and I came across this paragraph:

The Space Task Group is convinced that a decision to phase out manned space flight operations, although painful, is the only way to achieve significant reductions in NASA budgets over the long term. At any level of mission activity, a continuing program of manned space flight, following use of launch vehicles and spacecraft purchased as part of Apollo, would require continued production of hardware, continued operation of extensive test, launch support and mission control facilities, and the maintenance of highly skilled teams of engineers, technicians, managers, and support personnel. Stretch-out of mission or production schedules, which can initially reduce total annual costs, would result in higher unit costs. More importantly, very low-level operations are highly wasteful of the skilled manpower required to carry out these operations and would risk deterioration of safety and reliability throughout the manned program. At some low level of activity, the viability at [sic] the program is in question. It is our belief that the interests of this Nation would not be served by a manned space flight program conducted at such levels.

Hello? Shuttle extenders?

They’re talking to you.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Space

My Sidebar For Popular Mechanics

19 Comments

…didn’t run, so I’ll run it here.

In Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Andy Pasztor reported that SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, has claimed that it will cost a billion dollars to develop the launch escape system for the Dragon capsule needed to allow it to carry crew. This would be twice the amount that it has cost to develop both the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, and the Dragon itself, from scratch, and seemed quite improbable to many who have read it.

Mr. Musk notes in an email:

“I definitely didn’t tell Pasztor that our LES would cost $1B. He is off by a factor of ten! All I told him is that there is no way it would cost us more than $1B to demonstrate crew transport. That includes development, testing and certification to the most stringent NASA standards of everything needed for a seven-crew vehicle. I’ve also said that our price per person would be $20M, assuming the seven-person configuration and minimum of four flights per year. This compares to $30B for Ares I/Orion and a per person cost of ~$250M.”

In a follow up, he noted that the billion (if it goes that high) will include two abort flight tests (one on the pad, one high altitude) and a demonstration flight to and from ISS. Sounds like a bargain to me.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary, Space

Commercial, One For One

17 Comments

Government, Oh For Two:

A half-Russian, half-Korean rocket likely exploded a few minutes after liftoff Thursday, dealing a second blow the South Korea’s $400 million program to develop its own satellite launcher.

They spent almost as much on this as SpaceX has in their entire company history, to develop two rockets and a capsule, not to mention manufacturing and test facilities, and launch infrastructure.

There’s an idiot commenter (well, there are a lot, actually) over at Space Politics who keeps repeating the mantra, “There is no cheap.” Well, maybe not, but there does seem to be inexpensive and affordable, as long as a government isn’t intimately involved.

Political Commentary, Space

Legal Games

5 Comments

There’s been a lot of whining from the Ares huggers about how NASA is “violating the law,” by shutting down Constellation in the face of the appropriations language. Now, I think that continuing Constellation is horrible policy, both from the standpoint of taxpayers and space enthusiasts, but I haven’t had any strong sense of or opinions on the legality of continuing it or not, and was sort of resigned to it continuing to zombie into next year until we finally get some sort of actual appropriations bill (as opposed to a continuing resolution. But now, it turns out that actually, Mike Griffin was violating the Anti-Deficiency Act, a much older (over a century, I think) law that requires that funds be available for contract termination. Jim Muncy explains in comments over at NASA Watch. I’m pulling it up to the front page here.

[Update a few minutes later[

Jeff Foust has more at Space Politics (including another Muncy comment). But follow over the fold for Jim’s thoughts:

Continue reading Legal Games →