Carolyn Porco, unlike many of her colleagues in the planetary science community, seems to like Ares V (or at least, she’s attempting to make lemonade out of it). Like Jeff Foust, I think that she’s being unrealistic (read the comments as well).

While an increase in flight rate for additional missions will bring down per-flight costs somewhat, it will still be a very expensive vehicle to operate, and will cost several hundred million per flight. Where will the planetary science community come up with that kind of money, let alone the money that will be required to develop and build the kinds of megaprobes she has in mind?

No, we won’t be able to carry out such grand ambitions until we get the launch costs down. Ares is not on the path to that goal.

I get a daily email from space.com telling me what’s the latest on the site. The emails consist of summaries at the beginning, then a more detailed description of the stories with links. Here’s today’s:

In today’s issue:

Science/Astronomy:
* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
* Scientists to NASA: Study Earth
* Star Shatters Spinning Speed Record
* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRB

Spaceflight:
* NASA Successfully Launches Science Satellite Quintet
* NASA Replaces Charged Astronaut for Next Shuttle Mission
* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
* Shuttle Atlantis Reaches Launch Pad for March Space Shot
* NEW! Daily Space Trivia

NEW! LiveScience.com
* New Gallery: Small Sea Monsters
* NEW: Life’s Little Mysteries
* Flu Myths and Truths
* The Secrets (and Perils) of Sword Swallowing Revealed
* Human Compassion Surprisingly Limited, Study Finds
* Antarctica Hides Surprising Subsurface Plumbing System
* Top 10 Aphrodisiacs

NEW! Cool Stuff:
* VIDEO: THEMIS Away
* VIDEO: THEMIS Revealed
* VOTE! Most Amazing Galactic Images Ever!
* Top 10 Star Mysteries
* UFO Wallpaper
* Gallery: Astronauts’ Views from Space
* Gallery: Visualizations of Mars
* Vote: The Best Space Movies
* Amazing Images: Upload Yours Now and Even Buy a Poster!

Plus…

* Uplink, SPACE.com TV and NightSky
* Starry Night, TeamSETI

———————————–

Science/Astronomy:

* Getting a Grip on Black Holes
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BC:57135

Black holes are dark secrets, shrouded in churning spacetime and scrunched into points smaller than an atom.

* Black Holes: Dark and Deadly
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BB:57135

There’s something about black holes that draws in scientists and the rest of us terrestrial dwellers, besides of course their tremendous gravity.

* Doorstep Astronomy: Sirius Gets Serious
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97C1:57135

This is the time of the year when I get lots of inquires concerning a certain very bright starlike object shining over toward the southern part of the sky. It?s Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.

* Supersonic Cosmic Winds Collide in Rare Scene
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BD:57135

Two stellar titans are waging wars of wind in the first such scene spotted outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

* Image of the Day: If I Were an SRB
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97BE:57135

An X-ray look at the famous Pillars of Creation reveals a region peppered by bright young stars.

———————————–
Spaceflight:

* Satellite to Study Auroras Ready for Launch
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B7:57135

Five NASA probes aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding Earth?s colorful auroras are set to launch Friday evening after a 24-hour weather delay.

* Next Shuttle Astronauts to Fly Take Aim at ISS
http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=97B3:57135

NASA’s next shuttle astronauts to fly, a blend of veteran spaceflyers and rookies, are in the final month of training for a March construction flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Emphasis mine. Note that the first summary description of the story was that the “charged astronaut” had been replaced. But in the more detailed version, there is no mention of her. Nor is there any in the linked story itself.

So what happened? Was Nowak assigned to the next flight, and then removed because of her…incident? That seems unlikely to me. She just flew in August–it seems hard to believe that she’d have gotten another flight assignment in less than a year, given the demand for slots (though I suppose it’s possible, given that she was at least momentarily treated like a rock star during and right after the flight). If so, and NASA changed its mind, why does Space.com have two different versions of the story in its email notification?

Or was it that they got a bogus story that she was originally scheduled on the flight, and then replaced, but it wasn’t true, and when they found out, they changed the summary and link, but forgot to fix the supersummary?

Inquiring minds want to know. I’ve categorized this as “Space,” but it could just as well have been “Media Criticism.”

Forty-five years ago today, I was sitting home on the floor in my pajamas, watching the television, as the first American astronaut went into earth orbit. I don’t recall the suspense about the heat shield, but it may be that it wasn’t broadcast live, occurring behind the scenes. Or it may be that I was just too young to make sense of what was going on.

It’s my earliest recollection of the human space program, a subject that became one of lifelong fascination to me, and a career.