Obama Campaign Issues Space Accomplishments Report
Obama for America-Florida Announces New Report on President Obama’s Accomplishments with the Space Community (with report)
“President Obama has been a champion, laying the groundwork for an ambitious and sustainable NASA program that is equipped for the exploration and innovation of the future, and today. Obama for America-Florida announces the release of accomplishments President Obama has chartered for the space program through his first term in office. From continued investments in deep space exploration to extending the life of the International Space Station, the President understands this nation must press forward, ensuring a future of investment in a suite of innovative space technology research efforts that will enable bold science and exploration missions in the future.”
With all due respect to Dr. Musgrave, the metric for success in a space program has to be a lot more than what rocks we put our feet on. Fact is, it’s pretty expensive to put our feet on rocks, and Congress won’t put up the cash to do it.
As to what we’re gonna do, and when we’re going to do it, the NASA science directorate is full of what’s and when’s.
Let me continue with Musgrave’s quote, which of course was not aimed at Obama. “Why are we so poor in our vision and so poor in our project management
that we come to a point where it’s reasonable to phase out the current
program and we have no idea what the next one is? Washington has to stop doing that.” “When I say Washington, I mean administration, the legislation, congress and NASA, that’s what I call Washington.”
Dr. Musgrave, let me introduce you to SLS. With that vehicle, the Senate has dictated what to do without knowing what to do next. Yep, Washington has to stop doing that. SLS hasn’t been an administration priority until the Senate foisted it upon them.
I thought it was interesting that the Obama statement claims support of both Orion/MPCV and SLS. I thought he tried to kill Constellation, Orion/MPCV and Ares. Constellation appears to be gone in name primarily, Orion/MPCV continues as if it was never interrupted, and SLS is a down-sized Ares 5. I thought Congress decided they were going to continue the funding for these regardless of Obama’s decisions?
I tend to agree with Story’s assessment.
Obama did not necessarily instigate the situation we are now in, but he sure had an opportunity to make some changes along the way-some of which he did try to do-not necessarily positive changes, depending on your perspective. He tried to stop Constellation but it continues in slightly different form. I don’t think he did enough to keep Shuttle flying longer and he should have. Biggest failing has been the lack of a clear path forward which should have been defined, rationale established, and then vociferously endorsed. We have a vehicle and a booster that will be ready sometime after Obama’s second term. There is no clear plan for future missions and explorations.
I hold Obama responsible for calling for a plan and then deciding on and endorsing it. But I hold NASA and the senior NASA leadership responsible for ensuring a plan is properly developed and coordinated across supporters. So I am fully in agreement with Story’s statement about the Administration, which includes NASA senior leadership, being poor in vision and poor in project management. I would add they are really poor in communicating plans and goals.
Unfortunately I have not seen any better planning, advocacy or content put forward by Romney. His apparent dependence on Griffin particularly worries me, since I think Griffin had a lot to do with getting us into a bad situation prior to Obama.
I have a lot of difficulty with NASA’s Bolden and Gerstemier, since they don’t seem to have any technical thoughts on the matter, or if they do they do not speak up and communicate. Either way, we are depending on them and looking to them for leadership and I have not seen any signs of it. Have they decided they simply do whatever they are told? Have they decided it is too risky to speak out?
” I don’t think he did enough to keep Shuttle flying longer and he should have. “
He got funding for NASA to fly the last available parts. The parts lines had started shutting down in 2005. According to Wayne Hale, it would have taken years and billions to get the lines going again and fly a mission.
It was smarter to just fund commercial crew. He wanted 150 million in the stimulus to kickstart that, it was chopped, by the usual suspects to 50 million.
He proposed 6 billion over 5 years to fully fund it in his 2010 budget. That was chopped in the house to a one year funding of 270 million.
His next proposal, since they would not agree to multiple year funding, was for 850 million, that was chopped to 406 million.
His next proposal was 830 million for one year, that was chopped to 500 million, and congress wanted NASA to immediatly downselect to one company. That was reconciled and they settled on 525 million and they down selected to three companies. Two got fully funding, one with 1/2 funding.
Personally, I am glad the shuttle is being replaced by commercial firms. the more we can go around NASA and the porkonauts in congress the more we can actually get done.
Steve
Last night I didn’t hear Bill talk about space but I did hear him say that government and commercial business need to partner together to be most effective.
Imagine what we could do if we followed his words. Let government do what they are best at, and commercial do what they are best at, and REALLY did it wisely TOGETHER and CHEAPLY like the tea party guys want.
It all seems so simple to me!
We just use our strengths.
MAYBE Obama doesn’t need a mission plan
Elon is busy doing that for us all now.
PS Im not a lefty or a righty lolol I throw left, bat right and kick a ball(ass lol) well with either foot lol
I suggust any of you righty guys and gals listion to old Bills speech carefully and think. Like many of you old NASA guys Bill was a president before. I am listioning to BOTH conventions!
I want you guys to ALL help so I can be flying in these cool little space suit/vehicles in 2032 and be able to say I’m building something and we have set a human on Mars.
It is possible!!!
Parallel lines
lol The Tick Pilot
TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!
lolol
I hope SpaceX can raise a billion on it’s IPO next year, if they go through with it.
That might pay for a very interesting Falcon Heavy test flight.
Mr. Franck
I just copied 8 months of your activity lol
I think it may be fun to read 🙂
I agree with Story Musgrave, there’s nothing here but rhetoric,trying to get credit for programs initiated before his term and offering nothing that inspires ,challenges the spirit of exploration,discovery,still trapped in LEO with “green” projects to satisfy environmentalist,frustrating scientist,engineers who want jobs to use their skills to boost us beyond our earthly bounds.
Sorry this was directed at – 2814graham but did not work out that way:
Constellation was Orion+Ares-I+Ares-V.
The smart thing to do was cancel Ares-I which is what happened.
Notice how NASA rejected ATK’s bid to resurrect ARES-I as Liberty for commercial crew on “technical reasons”? Why didnt ARES-I get rejected under the previous NASA administration??? because Congress thinks they know how to build rockets.
So the smart thing NOW is to continue with Orion (MPCV) and Ares-V ( now SLS).
The mistake they made was not making SLS (ARES-V) a more modular design.
If they had made the main core stage man-rated with the capability to put ORION in LEO as step ONE.
THEN they could have made the 130MT with boosters to orbit NON-man-rated, it would have made much more sense (and might have included ATK)
So I believe the Obama change of direction was correct, you just need to get congress off the tiller and let NASA design to a mission and not a “congressional mandate”
NASA design a mission? I thought that was their job. But hasn’t when ever they have been given that task they have planned billion on top of billions? George Bush senors Mars plan come to mind!I have joked that ISS was phase one of that mission plan. So now that we have ISS lets use it to build a Mars tranfor vehicle! Hummm let see,with Spacex building a bigger falcon 9 next year, couldn’t they have much bigger dragon trunks?? I know let NASA design a dragon trunk program and start building a long module vehicle near ISS each Dragon trunk could be a test for the Mars transfor vehicle. If we like it we add it the transfer ship if not, we send up an improvement version! We at Tick would love the work assembling the test rat wheel for this Ship.
I read in a scfi book that space ships are longggg so your cross section for radition is reduced. so doesn’t using booster trunks or stages just make sense?
Dragon trunk test mission/ maybe spaceship modules ideas
dragon beam docking port
Methane recycler
Agriculture green house
magentic radiation shield test platform.
small rat wheel to be added by the Tick team
Bigelow hab test project
I don’t Know you guys do.
Lets start building it now!
and stop deorbiting junk.
Wouldnl’t it be cool for ISS dragon cargo missions to pay for half of the Mars or moon transfer vehicle??? Maybe all of it with smart planning and design.
I get tired of all the crying about we need tons of money nearly nothing here.
Lets build and test a spaceship with spare ISS lift.
The TICK pilot