President Obama's 2012 budget, out today, freezes NASA's budget at 2010 levels. That would be a cut of $300 million. The freeze is part of an overall freeze in discretionary federal spending. Though this budget proposal deals only with 2012, the President has made it clear he plans to maintain the freeze for five years.
Mr. Obama argues that the freeze is necessary to begin to address the yawning federal deficit and crushing federal debt. He also acknowledges that won't be enough. The President and every member of Congress understands that actually controlling deficits and working down the debt means restructuring entitlements in some way, and reforming tax policy-- perhaps raising taxes. Those efforts are still struggling to get off the ground.
NASA is in an odd position. It is between manned spaceflight programs. The Obama administration canceled Constellation, but continued to develop the Orion spacecraft. Congress has also mandated NASA build a heavy-lift launcher, so the heart of Constellation still beats, and many people in NASA and in Congress would like to go back to it. With tight budgets for years to come, clarity of purpose is essential, and it seems to be lacking.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Selling Mars
A group of NASA engineers have worked out a plan to fly a manned mission to Mars, and establish a colony there, using private funding. The total cost of the project would be $150 billion.
The plan would be to make a profit, not simply fund the project. The authors of the plan say they would fund the project by selling various rights, for example-- advertising on the sides of launchers, naming rights to the ships, television and film rights, book and other publishing rights. etc. The project would also own patents and rights to technology developed through the effort.
It's not clear all of that would work out. News organizations, for example, would no doubt claim the right to cover such an historic program without having to pay for it, which would presumably diminish the value of any television rights. Still, it's an interesting approach to opening the Solar System.
The plan would be to make a profit, not simply fund the project. The authors of the plan say they would fund the project by selling various rights, for example-- advertising on the sides of launchers, naming rights to the ships, television and film rights, book and other publishing rights. etc. The project would also own patents and rights to technology developed through the effort.
It's not clear all of that would work out. News organizations, for example, would no doubt claim the right to cover such an historic program without having to pay for it, which would presumably diminish the value of any television rights. Still, it's an interesting approach to opening the Solar System.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Orion To Denver
NASA's first Orion space capsule is being shipped from New Orleans to Denver, where Lockheed Martin engineers will put it through an extensive testing program to establish whether or not it is up to the challenges of spaceflight. The first unmanned test flight could come as early as 2013, with the first manned flight possibly in 2016.
Orion was originally intended to carry astronauts back to the Moon under the Constellation program, but President Obama canceled Constellation. Orion was saved to be used as a lifeboat in case of emergency aboard ISS. It still may get into deep space, however. President Obama has proposed a goal of sending a manned missiion to an asteroid by 2025. To that end, Lockheed Martin planners have developed the "Plymouth Rock" concept, in which several Orions would be linked together to form the ship that would fly the asteroid mission.
Orion was originally intended to carry astronauts back to the Moon under the Constellation program, but President Obama canceled Constellation. Orion was saved to be used as a lifeboat in case of emergency aboard ISS. It still may get into deep space, however. President Obama has proposed a goal of sending a manned missiion to an asteroid by 2025. To that end, Lockheed Martin planners have developed the "Plymouth Rock" concept, in which several Orions would be linked together to form the ship that would fly the asteroid mission.
Switching Funding
Some Republicans in the new GOP-controlled U. S. House want to take NASA funding out of climate change research and put it into manned spaceflight. They argue that, especially in a time of tight and possibly shrinking budgets, federal agencies should focus on their core missions, and for NASA that is exploring space.
They have a point. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would seem to be the obvious home for all federal climate change research, but the representatives involved did not call for shifting the money and researchers from NASA to NOAA. All of them represent districts in states that benefit from NASA spending, which critics no doubt will say makes these people more interested in saving jobs at home than in exploring space. Politicians looking out for their constituents, of course, is hardly new-- some would even say that's how the system works-- but the fact that this bunch might want to save jobs does not automatically mean these members are not also interested in space exploration. Having two, or more, motivations for an act is quite human.
The situation illustrates a basic problem, however. Too often since Apollo, space policy has been cobbled together to serve local, political ends. U. S. space policy needs to be developed to serve national interests.
They have a point. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would seem to be the obvious home for all federal climate change research, but the representatives involved did not call for shifting the money and researchers from NASA to NOAA. All of them represent districts in states that benefit from NASA spending, which critics no doubt will say makes these people more interested in saving jobs at home than in exploring space. Politicians looking out for their constituents, of course, is hardly new-- some would even say that's how the system works-- but the fact that this bunch might want to save jobs does not automatically mean these members are not also interested in space exploration. Having two, or more, motivations for an act is quite human.
The situation illustrates a basic problem, however. Too often since Apollo, space policy has been cobbled together to serve local, political ends. U. S. space policy needs to be developed to serve national interests.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Commercial Shuttles?
United Space Alliance is floating a proposal to continue flying space shuttles after NASA retires the three shuttle fleet. USA says it would fly two shuttle missions a year for $1.5 billion-- far less than such flights would cost NASA-- until other commercial options are available. Currently, the only access NASA astronauts will have to ISS between the shuttle's retirement and the debut of commercial ships will involve hitching rides on Russian Soyuz capsules.
USA acknowledges the plan is a long shot, but it says it is ready to pursue the project if NASA and other potential customers for the unique service show sufficient interest.
USA acknowledges the plan is a long shot, but it says it is ready to pursue the project if NASA and other potential customers for the unique service show sufficient interest.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Spaceship Prometheus
Orbital Sciences Corporation is working with NASA to develop a spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from ISS, among other things. OSC has named the craft Prometheus.
Prometheus would be a blended lifting body that would initially carry four astronauts, but could eventually carry six. It would launch atop a rocket, but land on a runway. Prometheus would be designed to compete with Russia's Soyuz, SpaceX's Dragon, and perhaps others, to service ISS. That should lower the cost to orbit, perhaps opening new possibilities for commerce and research.
Prometheus would be a blended lifting body that would initially carry four astronauts, but could eventually carry six. It would launch atop a rocket, but land on a runway. Prometheus would be designed to compete with Russia's Soyuz, SpaceX's Dragon, and perhaps others, to service ISS. That should lower the cost to orbit, perhaps opening new possibilities for commerce and research.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Shostak's Picnic
SETI's Seth Shostak, talking to SPACE.com, says results from NASA's Kepler spacecraft might suggest Earth-like worlds are as "common as ants at a picnic," but that still doesn't mean life is necessarily abundant.
First, some Earth-sized worlds Kepler finds might turn out to be "false positives." Beyond that, an Earth-like world doesn't guarantee life exists there. Far less guarenteed is the existence of intelligence. Of course, SETI works on the assumption that technological intelligence with the ability to beam radio signals might exist among the stars.
Some SETI researchers also work with Kepler, so they had advance knowledge of the Kepler data announced by NASA last week. The SETI Institute's Allen Array is already being aimed at some of Kepler's candidates.
First, some Earth-sized worlds Kepler finds might turn out to be "false positives." Beyond that, an Earth-like world doesn't guarantee life exists there. Far less guarenteed is the existence of intelligence. Of course, SETI works on the assumption that technological intelligence with the ability to beam radio signals might exist among the stars.
Some SETI researchers also work with Kepler, so they had advance knowledge of the Kepler data announced by NASA last week. The SETI Institute's Allen Array is already being aimed at some of Kepler's candidates.
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