End of America's Human Space Program

[Chris OConnor]

This thread is way off topic now. Please create new threads if you want to change the subject.

[Chris OConnor]

I am thoroughly disgusted in Obama's dismantling of the US space program. And any of you that give a damn about science should extremely upset about it too. Set your politics aside and think about what's happening before your eyes.

[oblivion]

It has certainly affected the USA's image abroad, especially in the State of the Arts sector. A real pity.

[stahrwe]

Below is the current planned launch schedule for the remaining 3 STS launches.
I caution that launches are always subject to delay due to a variety of factors from technical problems to weather constraints. If you would like to view one of the remaining launches check for updates on NASA.gov or google shuttle launches. My advice is to be as flexible as possible.

If you are going to try to see a launch let me know as far ahead of time as possible and I will try to get a car pass to view the launch. The advantage of these launches is that the Space Station missions are all short duration windows, 10 minutes so you won't be stuck for hours only to have a scrub.

Date: May 14 +
Mission: STS-132
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 2:19 p.m. EDT
Description: Space shuttle Atlantis mission will carry an integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module.

Date: July 29 +
Mission: STS-134
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 7:51 a.m. EDT
STS-134 Description: Space shuttle Endeavour will deliver an EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) and an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station.

Date: Sept. 16 +
Mission: STS-133
Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center - Launch Pad 39A
Launch Time: 11:57 a.m. EDT
STS-133 Description: Space shuttle Discovery will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 4 (ELC4), a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MLPM) and critical spare components to the International Space Station.

[DWill]

Could some people be overreacting to the news of cuts? According to the excerpt below from the Washington Post, the NASA budget will still increase slightly. The decision to cancel Bush's plans to establish a base on the moon might be rational, especially if it frees up other money for robotic exploration that has paid such dividends. I'm sure that systems for space exploration can become like some weapons systems--no longer really functional but with a momentum of their own in terms of providing jobs and being good for congressmen's districts.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01058.html.



The budget numbers will show that the administration effectively plans to kill the Constellation program that called for a return to the moon by 2020. The budget, expected to increase slightly over the current $18.7 billion, is also a death knell for the Ares 1 rocket, NASA's planned successor to the space shuttle. The agency has spent billions developing the rocket, which is still years from its first scheduled crew flight.

It remains to be seen whether Congress will accede to Obama's change in direction. Industry insiders expect a brutal fight in Congress. The early reaction to media reports about the budget request has been filled with howls of protest from lawmakers in districts that would be most affected by a sharp change in strategy.

Obama's budget, according to a background briefing by an administration official on Sunday, will call for spending $6 billion over five years to develop a commercial spacecraft that could taxi astronauts into low Earth orbit. Going commercial with a human crew would represent a dramatic change in the way NASA does business. Instead of NASA owning the spacecraft and overseeing every nut and bolt of its design and construction, a private company would design and build the spacecraft with NASA looking over its shoulder.

Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin, who championed the Constellation program, views the Obama budget as disastrous for human space flight.

"It means that essentially the U.S. has decided that they're not going to be a significant player in human space flight for the foreseeable future. The path that they're on with this budget is a path that can't work," Griffin said, anticipating the Monday announcement.

He said that, although he pushed for seed money for commercial cargo flights to space, he doesn't believe that the commercial firms, such as SpaceX and Dulles-based Orbital Sciences, are ready to take over the risky and difficult job of ferrying human beings to orbit.

"One day it will be like commercial airline travel, just not yet," Griffin said. "It's like 1920. Lindbergh hasn't flown the Atlantic, and they're trying to sell 747s to Pan Am."

John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said the critics underestimate the maturity of the commercial sector.

[stahrwe]

Could some people be overreacting to the news of cuts? According to the excerpt below from the Washington Post, the NASA budget will still increase slightly. The decision to cancel Bush's plans to establish a base on the moon might be rational, especially if it frees up other money for robotic exploration that has paid such dividends. I'm sure that systems for space exploration can become like some weapons systems--no longer really functional but with a momentum of their own in terms of providing jobs and being good for congressmen's districts.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01058.html.



The budget numbers will show that the administration effectively plans to kill the Constellation program that called for a return to the moon by 2020. The budget, expected to increase slightly over the current $18.7 billion, is also a death knell for the Ares 1 rocket, NASA's planned successor to the space shuttle. The agency has spent billions developing the rocket, which is still years from its first scheduled crew flight.

It remains to be seen whether Congress will accede to Obama's change in direction. Industry insiders expect a brutal fight in Congress. The early reaction to media reports about the budget request has been filled with howls of protest from lawmakers in districts that would be most affected by a sharp change in strategy.

Obama's budget, according to a background briefing by an administration official on Sunday, will call for spending $6 billion over five years to develop a commercial spacecraft that could taxi astronauts into low Earth orbit. Going commercial with a human crew would represent a dramatic change in the way NASA does business. Instead of NASA owning the spacecraft and overseeing every nut and bolt of its design and construction, a private company would design and build the spacecraft with NASA looking over its shoulder.

Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin, who championed the Constellation program, views the Obama budget as disastrous for human space flight.

"It means that essentially the U.S. has decided that they're not going to be a significant player in human space flight for the foreseeable future. The path that they're on with this budget is a path that can't work," Griffin said, anticipating the Monday announcement.

He said that, although he pushed for seed money for commercial cargo flights to space, he doesn't believe that the commercial firms, such as SpaceX and Dulles-based Orbital Sciences, are ready to take over the risky and difficult job of ferrying human beings to orbit.

"One day it will be like commercial airline travel, just not yet," Griffin said. "It's like 1920. Lindbergh hasn't flown the Atlantic, and they're trying to sell 747s to Pan Am."

John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said the critics underestimate the maturity of the commercial sector.

The increase in budget reflects a new focus on using exising resources to prove global climate change.

SpaceX is in the process of getting ready for a test lauch this month a short distance from here. This is the Boys of October or was it November, people trying to develop a space going vehicle. So far no one has orbited such a vehicle and even if they do there is a big difference between getting a few people into space and having a heavy lift vehicle. Last I heard, the Russians were going to try to reactivate their Boron vehicle (Russian version of the shuttle) because when the STS retires there won't be a replacement system capable of the lifting capacity the Shuttles has. I seriously doubt that any private venture will ever produce such a vehicle until and unless we discover warp drive and an inertia dampening system. In the meantime, we are ceding our access to space and the spinoffs the research will provide.

[oblivion]

If you are going to try to see a launch let me know as far ahead of time as possible and I will try to get a car pass to view the launch. The advantage of these launches is that the Space Station missions are all short duration windows, 10 minutes so you won't be stuck for hours only to have a scrub.

.

Very nice offer. Really. As a child, I was able to see the Apollo launches from stands set up as near as was safe as my uncle worked there (my aunt still lives on Merritt Island). An experience I will never forget.

[stahrwe]

If you are going to try to see a launch let me know as far ahead of time as possible and I will try to get a car pass to view the launch. The advantage of these launches is that the Space Station missions are all short duration windows, 10 minutes so you won't be stuck for hours only to have a scrub.

.

Very nice offer. Really. As a child, I was able to see the Apollo launches from stands set up as near as was safe as my uncle worked there (my aunt still lives on Merritt Island). An experience I will never forget.

My family moved to Brevard County Florida in 1959 and I have seen almost evey launch since then.

[Chris OConnor]

I think I should make a trip to one of the next launches.

[stahrwe]

I think I should make a trip to one of the next launches.

Let me know. I am pretty sure I can get you a car pass. That will allow you to bring a vehicle on center with as many people as will fit. If I can I will try to get you a bus pass to a VIP viewing site. Those are harder to get and the quantity is limited to one or two per event. Let me know.