News & Analysis
Opinion: One big problem, eight vague options, no solutions for NASA
Gaetano Marano
9/10/2009 9:04 AM EDT
The panel's basic conclusions released this week after three months of study consisted of a list of eight "options" that were already widely known. What was missing, and what is needed, is a clear strategy for the future U.S. manned spaceflight.
Why didn't the presidential commission made up of ten space experts provide any solutions, providing instead only eight options for policy makers? After all, previous presidential commissions such as the Warren Commission investigation of the Kennedy assassination purported to be authoratative.
The reason is that, so far, no one has the courage to admit that "the solution" to the problem simply doesn't exist.
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| An upgraded Hubble Space Telescope works great, as this image released by NASA shows, but the agency's future direction remains in doubt |
The fundamental problem is that NASA will soon lack the means to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, relying instead on what amounts to a Russian taxi service. It also has no current way to return to the moon. As things stand now, it will be at least six years after the U.S. space shuttle is retired next year before the U.S. can resume human missions in Earth orbit. A return trip to the moon won't happen before 2020.
Here are the obstacles faced by NASA:
1. The aging Space Shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired in 2010. Even if the program were extended, the shuttle can't fly beyond Earth orbit. 2. The heavy-lift Ares I rocket, according to NASA estimates, still needs up to eight years of development and $35 billion of R&D funds before it can fly. That's clearly too long and too much money. A newer version, the Ares V, probably won't be ready before 2020.
Comments
Michael of SI
9/10/2009 3:17 PM EDT
Why start with answers before defining the real question: is there any justification to having taxpayer-funded non-military space flight at all?
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Kos
9/10/2009 3:45 PM EDT
Time to accept partnerships with other space players (Russia, China, Japan, Inida, Europe) which will allow continued man flight; or go fully unmanned and eliminate much of the safety reliability costs.
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ADSguy
9/10/2009 4:14 PM EDT
Why is there enough money to bailout Banks without questions? Even General Motors had to beg for their bailout money.
Yet no money can be found to invest in ourselves and our future. The lack of money is just an excuse.
When will our leaders inspire us all to succeed?
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Nirav Desai
9/11/2009 2:40 AM EDT
Considering the fact that the Apollo Series of Manned Moon Missions were all about proving to the world US was not far behind Russia in the Cold War Period ..No doubt it lead to g...reat innovation and inspiring stories .. But with todays technology where unmanned space flights can achieve what only manned missions could do earlier ..Where the next big challenge is the Google Lunar X Prize .. is there a need to worry about Govt funding for manned space flight ?
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stixoffire
9/11/2009 4:04 AM EDT
Amazing we want to have more math, science and engineering students .. Obama says.. but what will they do ? NASA has provided some very real innovations to everyday life - we get a lot out if it for the money. Some think giving makes people productive - need is the mentor of ingenuity! People don't need handouts they need real jobs , with real benefits not just for them but for society! There is your solution!
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RFPowerMaster
9/16/2009 2:04 PM EDT
And please tell us what the NASA "officials ... really need to hear", that was NOT in the Augustine Commission's report?
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neilrieck
9/21/2009 4:25 AM EDT
Null, you are correct. Washington came up with a $700 billion bailout for the wall street (flushed), and the currently estimated price tag for the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict is $1 Trillion (flushed) so a $20 billion investment in American technology would be peanuts by comparison. But consider the following facts: the US government will be paying $55 million to the Russians for every seat occupied by an American astronaut (I'm not sure who pays the for Russian cargo flights) -AND- the most recent cargo flight to the ISS was built and launched from Japan -AND- that nobody over here seems to care, then you begin to realize that North America has morphed into something else since Sputnik in 1957.
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Dr D
10/28/2009 10:06 AM EDT
Good, give the enviroment and the tax payer a break. How much of our atmospher has already been exported off the planet?
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