[RocketsNW] NASA's plans to return to the Moon are dead

[kmcgoffin at worldaccessnet.com]

Seems Phil Plait and I would see eye to eye pretty well on this!

"Lead, follow, or get run the hell over" as the old saying goes.  Looks
like the space entrepreneurs are getting close to doing some serious
"running the hell over."  :)

About time...
+McG+


> Looks like we may yet find out what SpaceX can do :
> http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/01/president-obamas-nasa-budget-unveiled/
>
> On Jan 28, 2010, at 11:01 PM, kmcgoffin at worldaccessnet.com wrote:
>
>> It's the White House/Congress/NASA triad that is dysfunctional.  The
>> traditional aerospace giants have become addicted to generous quantities
>> of money from the federal teat and thereby force NASA to overspend.
>> It's
>> one big orgy of wasteful spending, flawed plans, and inability to
>> complete
>> a plan once adopted.  The start-up companies, not yet having had enough
>> time to become ossified and largely not directly under the control of
>> Congress or the White House can do things much more efficiently.  Just
>> compare the development of Ares 1 and Falcon 5.  No contest.
>>
>> If I had the White House setting the goals for a 1/2A model rocket
>> project, NASA overseeing it and the big aerospace companies doing the
>> work
>> it would cost $10 million, be ten years late, fly once and be proclaimed
>> a
>> huge success.
>>
>> NASA can still do unmanned probes pretty well but the White House
>> /Congress /NASA triad just can't develop a space transportation system
>> within a reasonable budget.  The startups keep politics out of it and do
>> more than an order of magnitude better.  May be sad, but true.
>> +McG+
>>
>>
>>> That question is simply, could one nasa contractor do better than
>>> another
>>> ?  Blame lockheed-martin and cost+profit contracts rather than Nasa.
>>>
>>> On Jan 27, 2010, at 8:58 PM, kmcgoffin at worldaccessnet.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> "NASA has already spent more than $3 billion on Ares I and more than
>>>> $5
>>>> billion on the rest of Constellation."
>>>>
>>>> $8 billion and so far one measly one-stage test bed launch.  That's
>>>> EXACTLY why Ares needs to be euthanized.
>>>>
>>>> Now, what kind of results do you suppose SpaceX could get for that
>>>> kind
>>>> of
>>>> money?  Bigelow?  The two together?
>>>>
>>>> I'm sorry, NASA has become a Brontosaurus in an age of fast, furry
>>>> mammals.
>>>> +McG+
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-no-moon-for-nasa-20100126,0,2770904.story
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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