We're now hearing the nth iteration of the whole "let the private sector do XYZ in space and not the government" Yet all of the space companies still want the government to continue accepting the risk and paying the bills. #NSPC
The #NSPC meeting started late so it is ending 20 minutes early. All this hoopla, receptions, stop work in multiple buildings at KSC for photo ops and talking points. Now they are playing a Souza march as @VP runs to his plane. And #NASA TV just shut off. Wow, what a day.
Between yesterday's Bigelow announcement and today's #NSPC presentations China is simultaneously the greatest threat/competitor/potential partner for the U.S. in space.
Now @VP Pence is ticking of a very long list of space places that he has visited – an impressive list it is when compared to previous administrations – especially in only one year. #nspc
Yet another speaker talks about "winning the frontier of space" but @VP Pence says that America is leading in space again – so haven't we already won? Or do we need to keep winning? #nspc
Now @VP Pence is reminding everyone how, under President Trump "America is leading in space once again". But wait – what has @NASA done in the past year? Answer: what it was going to do anyway.
Frankly, I seem to recall evidence showing the current administration has had some problems running even simple bridge calls; Somehow, I have my doubts NASA has, after some of the erosion at (or even near) the top, retained any of the necessary skills.
So basic telecommunications satellites ISS cargo missions and the occasional Tesla Roadster with a mannequin aside (important as they may be), what is it that SpaceX launches that is more exciting than NASA’s probe that flew past Pluto, revealing its mysteries for the first time, or the Juno Mission exploring Jupiter, or multiple Mars missions helping us understand the planet in our solar system that’s most like our own? And how about the International Space Station which for two decades has been helping understand how humans respond to the space environment? Smoke and fire is fun to watch but denigrating NASA as nothing but grand proclamations is absurd.
The telecommunication satellites you are laughing at have created a $300 billion industry and added trillions in economic productivity to the world’s economy. Folks have become so used to instant news from around the world and being able to communicate instantly around the globe at almost no cost no one thinks about it. The telecommunication satellites have done far more to benefit humanity, and generate massive economic wealth, then all of NASA’s robotic missions together.
Sure they create some great eye candy of exotic landscapes, and have rewritten astronomy books maybe one person in a thousand will read even in the developed nations. But they simply haven’t impacted the daily lives of folks the way telecommunication satellites have. NASA and it’s robotic mission could disappear tomorrow with almost no impact. But take comsats away and the global economy will collapse from their absence.
The cameras used on most phones today are based on a technology developed for planetary science missions (low power and mass imaging.) It turns out the technology (CMOS rather than CCD detectors) isn’t high enough precision for scientific uses, but it found a very profitable commercial application. Remember, when it was being developed in the 1990s, there was no obvious demand for a cell phone with a camera on it, so no commercial funding was going into developing the technology.
You just hit a certain nail on the head though. NASA PAO has constantly dropped the ball, hence a car masquerading as a mass simulator gets more twitter hits than an unbelievable picture from Pluto or Jupiter, nor does the public know anything about the good work done on Station. Astronauts being interviewed by kids at schools only does so much…
I got your context just fine but your comment referred to all of NASA and you seem to make the same simplistic assumption that many in the new space cheering squad make – assuming that because SpaceX can do reusable boosters and heavy lift using well established rocket technology they can therefore do everything NASA and the “old space” contractors can do at one tenth the cost; it’s simply nonsense. My examples were meant to show the breadth of what NASA and its contractors have done – SpaceX has done impressive things and launchers are impressive to watch but they are far from able to do it all.
As a New Space cheerleader I find myself agreeing with you regarding the generalization of SX etc. success; the breadth of NASA efforts being understated.
Still: New Space, as it has come to be called, brings something far more important: a new way of thinking.
Yawn, seems like we are stuck in some time of re-run of early polices. Alot of smoke no fire
We are indeed getting back on track after the detour of the Obama Administration down a dead end street.
The detour started long before the Black guy was in office…
Frankly, I seem to recall evidence showing the current administration has had some problems running even simple bridge calls; Somehow, I have my doubts NASA has, after some of the erosion at (or even near) the top, retained any of the necessary skills.
So basic telecommunications satellites ISS cargo missions and the occasional Tesla Roadster with a mannequin aside (important as they may be), what is it that SpaceX launches that is more exciting than NASA’s probe that flew past Pluto, revealing its mysteries for the first time, or the Juno Mission exploring Jupiter, or multiple Mars missions helping us understand the planet in our solar system that’s most like our own? And how about the International Space Station which for two decades has been helping understand how humans respond to the space environment?
Smoke and fire is fun to watch but denigrating NASA as nothing but grand proclamations is absurd.
The telecommunication satellites you are laughing at have created a $300 billion industry and added trillions in economic productivity to the world’s economy. Folks have become so used to instant news from around the world and being able to communicate instantly around the globe at almost no cost no one thinks about it. The telecommunication satellites have done far more to benefit humanity, and generate massive economic wealth, then all of NASA’s robotic missions together.
Sure they create some great eye candy of exotic landscapes, and have rewritten astronomy books maybe one person in a thousand will read even in the developed nations. But they simply haven’t impacted the daily lives of folks the way telecommunication satellites have. NASA and it’s robotic mission could disappear tomorrow with almost no impact. But take comsats away and the global economy will collapse from their absence.
True, as far as it goes. But so what?
The cameras used on most phones today are based on a technology developed for planetary science missions (low power and mass imaging.) It turns out the technology (CMOS rather than CCD detectors) isn’t high enough precision for scientific uses, but it found a very profitable commercial application. Remember, when it was being developed in the 1990s, there was no obvious demand for a cell phone with a camera on it, so no commercial funding was going into developing the technology.
You just hit a certain nail on the head though. NASA PAO has constantly dropped the ball, hence a car masquerading as a mass simulator gets more twitter hits than an unbelievable picture from Pluto or Jupiter, nor does the public know anything about the good work done on Station. Astronauts being interviewed by kids at schools only does so much…
I got your context just fine but your comment referred to all of NASA and you seem to make the same simplistic assumption that many in the new space cheering squad make – assuming that because SpaceX can do reusable boosters and heavy lift using well established rocket technology they can therefore do everything NASA and the “old space” contractors can do at one tenth the cost; it’s simply nonsense. My examples were meant to show the breadth of what NASA and its contractors have done – SpaceX has done impressive things and launchers are impressive to watch but they are far from able to do it all.
As a New Space cheerleader I find myself agreeing with you regarding the generalization of SX etc. success; the breadth of NASA efforts being understated.
Still: New Space, as it has come to be called, brings something far more important: a new way of thinking.
The new rockets are only the first product.