NASA's way forward for manned space...

Interesting article on SpaceRef about a recent report:

National Disagreement Over NASA's Goals and Objectives
Detrimental to Agency Planning, Budgeting Efforts
Source: National Research Council
Posted Wednesday, December 5, 2012

http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=39418

It seems the long and the short of it is that NASA really doesn't know
what it's going to do with SLS/Orion. Couple that with uncertainty
about its budget and you end up with what amounts to a dysfunctional
mess of a program (my words) that has a mis-match between what it thinks
it might want to do and the funds to do it.

The article mentions four possible ways forward:

* Institute an aggressive restructuring program to
reduce infrastructure and personnel costs and improve
efficiency;

* Engage in and commit for the long term to more
cost-sharing partnerships with other U.S. government
agencies, private sector industries, and international
partners;

* Increase the size of the NASA budget;

* Reduce considerably the size and scope of elements
of NASA's current program portfolio to better fit
the current and anticipated budget profile.

I'm guessing the "way forward" will be a combination of restructuring
coupled with "cost-sharing" with other nations (ala ISS). Why? NASA
has no chance of getting a significantly larger budget (history plus the
current budget situation support this). Plus I doubt that NASA will
have the will to "reduce considerably the size and scope of elements of
NASA's current program...".

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer

On Dec 5, 3:05*pm, Jeff Findley wrote:
Interesting article on SpaceRef about a recent report:

* * National Disagreement Over NASA's Goals and Objectives
* * Detrimental to Agency Planning, Budgeting Efforts
* * Source: National Research Council
* * Posted Wednesday, December 5, 2012

* *http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=39418

It seems the long and the short of it is that NASA really doesn't know
what it's going to do with SLS/Orion. *Couple that with uncertainty
about its budget and you end up with what amounts to a dysfunctional
mess of a program (my words) that has a mis-match between what it thinks
it might want to do and the funds to do it.

The article mentions four possible ways forward:

* ** Institute an aggressive restructuring program to
* * *reduce infrastructure and personnel costs and improve
* * *efficiency;

* ** Engage in and commit for the long term to more
* * *cost-sharing partnerships with other U.S. government
* * *agencies, private sector industries, and international
* * *partners;

* ** Increase the size of the NASA budget;

* ** Reduce considerably the size and scope of elements
* * *of NASA's current program portfolio to better fit
* * *the current and anticipated budget profile.

I'm guessing the "way forward" will be a combination of restructuring
coupled with "cost-sharing" with other nations (ala ISS). *Why? *NASA
has no chance of getting a significantly larger budget (history plus the
current budget situation support this). *Plus I doubt that NASA will
have the will to "reduce considerably the size and scope of elements of
NASA's current program...".

Jeff
--


SLS should die! Its a unnecessary waste of money.

Theres no bucks for human asteroid or mars....

and partnering with other countries can drive up costs, and may see
you partnered with another country that does something you really dont
like.....

better to put the human bucks in private efforts and beef up the
robotic program. many may not like this but its probaby the only
affordable plan........

On Dec 5, 11:56*pm, Fred J. McCall wrote:
bob haller wrote:

SLS should die! Its a unnecessary waste of money.

Bobbert should die! *He's an unnecessary waste of money. *Also of a
lot of perfectly good skin.

--
You are
What you do
When it counts.

mentally fred died years ago, after he gave himself a lobotomy......

On 12/5/2012 3:05 PM, Jeff Findley wrote:
* Engage in and commit for the long term to more
cost-sharing partnerships with other U.S. government
agencies, private sector industries, and international
partners;

Does that mean selling SLS/Orion stacks to the Chinese government as
part of their manned moon program? Hey "Made In America!" at least...

*snicker*

Dave