NASA Employs Faith-Based Funding Approach For SLS
NASA Counting on Budget Increase for SLS and Orion, Space News
“NASA is currently spending money on its key exploration programs at a rate that assumes Congress will approve a budget increase in the next month, a move that could delay some efforts should the additional funds not materialize. Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, told a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s human exploration and operations committee here Nov. 4 that NASA was funding programs like the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at a higher rate than specified in the continuing resolution (CR) currently funding the agency. “Today we’re running hot. We’re running based on what we saw in the draft House and Senate levels,” Hill said. “But if we don’t ultimately achieve those levels in an appropriations bill, then we’ll have to power back and replan.”
Keith’s note: Of course the flip side of this is the equal expectation within NASA that its commercial crew and/or cargo efforts will be shortchanged in the budget thus delaying progress, reducing capability, and driving up eventual long-term costs. Punting on the CRS-2 decision gives NASA time to do a lot of things – including waiting until they see how much money they have. If the commercial crew budget gets cut too far there will be renewed pressure to downselect to one provider.
– GAO Finds NASA SLS Costs Not Credible, earlier post
– NASA Delays First Crewed Orion Flight By Two Years, earlier post
– SLS/Orion Gets a Lobbying Organization in Washington (Update), earlier post
– NASA Can’t Decide What SLS Engines It Does/Does Not Need, earlier post
– SLS CDR: Not As Smooth As Advertised, earlier post
Seems nasa, Boeing and L&M are in the Cathedral Business.
http://news.nationalgeograp…
The cathedral should be done by 2026. Will SLS fly crew before 2026? The race is on!!
GOOOO NASA!!!!!!!!
Funny…Good analogy.
Well you know I have always thought of the SLS faithful as being similar the defenders of the big Catholic church,
Looking at the painted version of SLS, just looked like the Photoshop artist was trying to make it as majestic as possible.
The sad part is that there really seem to be a lot of similarities between big religious institutions and big Space institutions.
KC…ask if there is a delay in the EUS starting if the evolvable Mars plans in all those papers out there will reflect not having that extra tonnage by that year 20-whatever.
Then get ready to laugh, cause the answer will be uhh…”no”. Then get ready to laugh more -and get a drink too. Ask why. “Ummm…because we’ll be holding to that challenge” or “insert meaningless program management phrase here”.
A whale VS a Killer Whale
https://youtu.be/mWxFbOrGEPE
I’m certainly not putting any money on SLS launching first.
No chance.
First– Every test of SLS/Orion equipment goes right into the database that SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital, Sierra Nevada, and all the rest can see and extrapolate to their own vehicles.
Second– As long as SpaceX has money coming from somewhere, they’ll use it to press forward in their progress to Mars. The “Crew to the ISS” effort is just a milestone in that project. Funding shortfalls only slow down the providers who lack any larger objectives.
Third– SLS might only fly once anyway. Falcon Heavy will scramble all the baseline expectations for heavy launch need, frequency, and especially cost.
“A Strategy Based Upon Long Term Affordability” http://history.nasa.gov/sep… End ISS, station research, and LEO transport before anything begins.
What is Faith Based? Operate decades old hardware totally devoid of innovation in the hope of a breakthrough in costs? Let States deny Medicaid expansion and health care to millions while directing federal aid to build LV/capsules the nation does not require? Providing corn subsidies (which increases health care costs) and oil subsidies, both hurt the environment for the future generations, to show the faithful for decades that trickle down has major limitations? With ‘faith’ someday the have-nots will get theirs..get your own? Perhaps faith means one will not answer the questions, and state opinion on facts when they do not support their cause?
“SLS Won” by one flawed assumption. The 2005 ESAS assumed loss of crew during a rendezvous event was 1000 times riskier than experience to eliminate all “3 launch solutions” . If you divide a 120mT lunar sortie by 1/2 launches ==> 70 + 130 mT– faithfully provided?
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I’m getting sick of hearing about the down-select BS. NASA needs to announce that any down-select will be to the lowest bidder (due to unreliable funding from Congress), that that would likely leave Congress’ pet providers out in the cold (with layoffs), and that the backups for station access would then have to be our upcoming rivals, Russia, and China.
The lowest bidder is SpaceX, by a comfortable margin.
I so look forward to the day, soon, when Congressional funding becomes irrelevent to all LEO access.