Budget cut for NASA?

This would pretty much end Constellation and even kill off Ares and
Orion in LEO:
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2009/1...re-a-10-b.html

Pat

Constellation is likely DOA. (Dead under Obama Admininstration)

NASA will be lucky to get Ares-I and Orion.

Maybe NASA will be re-directed to the COTS approach and contract
launch services with a man-rated the Dragon capsule?

Would Obama consider spining off ISS services to a quasi-public
corporation ala Amtrak and move NASA over to being more like
its NACA predecessor?

Dave

On Nov 17, 3:50*pm, David Spain wrote:
Constellation is likely DOA. (Dead under Obama Admininstration)

NASA will be lucky to get Ares-I and Orion.

Maybe NASA will be re-directed to the COTS approach and contract
launch services with a man-rated the Dragon capsule?

Would Obama consider spining off ISS services to a quasi-public
corporation ala Amtrak and move NASA over to being more like
its NACA predecessor?

Dave

whatever form it might take, the ISS still needs a boat load of money
to operate, money that neither the administration nor the congress is
willing to provide. I simply don't see anybody other than the
government to pick up such a large, from a business point of view,
unprofitable tab.

eatfastnoodle wrote:
On Nov 17, 3:50 pm,

whatever form it might take, the ISS still needs a boat load of money
to operate, money that neither the administration nor the congress is
willing to provide. I simply don't see anybody other than the
government to pick up such a large, from a business point of view,
unprofitable tab.

Its funding is probably secure till 2015, but I doubt there is much
chance it will go beyond that, although Russia wants to keep it up till
2020, and ESA and JAXA don't seem adverse to that idea either...if it
can be done at a fairly low cost.
A possible wild card was added today with Obama saying there is going to
be US/Chinese cooperation in space:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10399964-76.html
Shenzhou should be able to be modified to dock with the ISS without much
trouble, but the very low Chinese launch rate up to the moment makes one
wonder if they would consider that worth the effort and money to do even
if the ISS were to be kept up till 2020.

Pat

On Nov 17, 6:43*pm, Pat Flannery wrote:
eatfastnoodle wrote:
On Nov 17, 3:50 pm,

whatever form it might take, the ISS still needs a boat load of money
to operate, money that neither the administration nor the congress is
willing to provide. I simply don't see anybody other than the
government to pick up such a large, from a business point of view,
unprofitable tab.

Its funding is probably secure till 2015, but I doubt there is much
chance it will go beyond that, although Russia wants to keep it up till
2020, and ESA and JAXA don't seem adverse to that idea either...if it
can be done at a fairly low cost.
A possible wild card was added today with Obama saying there is going to
be US/Chinese cooperation in space:http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10399964-76.html
Shenzhou should be able to be modified to dock with the ISS without much
trouble, but the very low Chinese launch rate up to the moment makes one
wonder if they would consider that worth the effort and money to do even
if the ISS were to be kept up till 2020.

Pat

It doesn't matter. Chinese made it loud and clear, if you carefully
review Chinese literature/newspaper, that they wanted to build their
own, might be much smaller initially, but nonetheless their own, space
station. I seriously don't think the whole "let's Chinese pick up the
tab" has any kind of realistic chance of happening, do you think
they're stupid? Paying money out of their pocket for NASA while the US
could still treat it as if it's American property?

eatfastnoodle wrote:

It doesn't matter. Chinese made it loud and clear, if you carefully
review Chinese literature/newspaper, that they wanted to build their
own, might be much smaller initially, but nonetheless their own, space
station.

You aren't kidding about it being "much smaller"; I had assumed that
they were going to launch something around the size of the Russian
Salyut stations, but the artwork of their first station design shows
that it will only be around the size of a Shenzhou spacecraft:
http://www.thespacereview.com/archive/1231b.jpg
http://www.onepennysheet.com/wp-cont...09/09/473a.jpg
....and they are effectivly going to build something the Soviets planned
and rejected in favor of the Almaz/Salyut stations, that being the Soyuz
OIS:
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/soyuz7ks.htm
They are awfully limited at the moment in what they can do because of
the payload capabilities of their CZ-2F booster.

Pat

On Nov 17, 1:58*pm, eatfastnoodle wrote:
On Nov 17, 3:50*pm, David Spain wrote:

Constellation is likely DOA. (Dead under Obama Admininstration)

NASA will be lucky to get Ares-I and Orion.

Maybe NASA will be re-directed to the COTS approach and contract
launch services with a man-rated the Dragon capsule?

Would Obama consider spining off ISS services to a quasi-public
corporation ala Amtrak and move NASA over to being more like
its NACA predecessor?

Dave

whatever form it might take, the ISS still needs a boat load of money
to operate, money that neither the administration nor the congress is
willing to provide. I simply don't see anybody other than the
government to pick up such a large, from a business point of view,
unprofitable tab.

Make it 50/50 USAF/private.

~ BG

BradGuth writes:

Make it 50/50 USAF/private.


For the ISS that doesn't sound like a good idea and sets
a bad precedent. Esp. if one of the international partners
decides to do the same...

Like WWI aerial observers, how long before someone starts toting
a side arm and then here we go again!

Dave

David Spain wrote:

Like WWI aerial observers, how long before someone starts toting
a side arm and then here we go again!

That already happened back during the Soviet Almaz program, when the
Salyut 3 space station was equipped with a cannon.

Pat

On Nov 18, 5:22*am, David Spain wrote:
BradGuth writes:

Make it 50/50 USAF/private.

For the ISS that doesn't sound like a good idea and sets
a bad precedent. Esp. if one of the international partners
decides to do the same...

Like WWI aerial observers, how long before someone starts toting
a side arm and then here we go again!

Dave

50/50 is what makes that notion impossible. Half public owned means
that policy and rules apply, unlike our kosher approved SEC whereas
anything goes as long as you're Jewish and support Republicans.

What is it about 9/11 that you think wasn't caused and/or allowed by
our government that never polices its own kind unless PR gets past the
point of no return?

At least at 50/50, one or the other might put a stop to whatever bad
ideas before it was too late. As it is, we're only allowed to know a
fraction of the whole truth, if that much.

~ BG