Private enterprise and space

This is an excellent idea that could free up NASA to invest more in non-man programs and simply act as a custodian of private enterprise activities.

"Let private firms run space taxis, panel told"

by

Irene Klotz

July 30th, 2009

Reuters

The U.S. government should leave the business of launching cargo and people into Earth orbit to private commercial space transporters, members of a presidential panel said on Wednesday.

A subcommittee of the Human Space Flight Review panel said turning over transport services to the International Space Station to private firms would allow the U.S. space agency NASA to focus on new challenges, such as extending human presence beyond low-Earth orbit.

The International Space Station, a $100 billion project involving 16 nations, orbits about 225 miles above the planet.

"My God, great NASA has been to the moon and we are sort of thinking that it is a big challenge for us to continue going to (low-Earth orbit)? Let's turn it over to newcomers," Bohdan "Bo" Bejmuk, a former Boeing Co executive, told panel members.

"I think you will find out there are a lot of people who will rise and compete," Bejmuk told the meeting broadcast by NASA. "Some of them will fail, some of them will succeed, but you will have essentially created a new industry."

I just received my daily newsletter from SEA [Scientists and Engineers for America] where a trivia question was posed...

Constellation, currently under development, is NASA’s replacement for the aging space shuttle program. What is the estimated cost, per American, of seeing Constellation through to its first manned flight in 2015?

The cost of…

A. …a muffin (~$2)

B. …an amusement park ticket (~$50)

C. …a LCD computer monitor (~$115)

D. …a round-trip ticket from New York to Paris (~$700)

E. …an all-terrain vehicle (~$6000)

Answer: C. The cost of an LCD computer monitor (~$115)

NASA estimates that by the time the first crewed Ares I rocket is launched in 2015, the Constellation program will have cost $35 billion. Dividing by the US population of about 304 million people yields $115 per person.

Eventually, in addition to the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, Constellation will produce the Orion Crew Vehicle, the Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, and the Altair Lunar Lander. The program is intended to replace the space shuttle in taking astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station and to return man to the moon by 2020. Estimates vary on the total cost of the program, but the price tag could come to $150 billion. President Obama has ordered a review of the program, to be completed by the end of August. The fate of the program and the direction of human spaceflight in the United States may hinge on the findings of the panel appointed to the task.

Apollo astronauts complain

I expected nothing less from "space cowboys".

"Apollo astronauts bemoan state of U.S. space program"

by

Irene Klotz

July 21st, 2009

Reuters

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida--The U.S. investment in the Apollo space program, which landed men on the moon, paid off handsomely, unlike the $100 billion plowed into the International Space Station, Apollo's pioneering astronauts said on Monday.

"We opened the door to future of exploration by touching down on another body," Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon, said at a press conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.

The United States staged six successful missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972, then developed the space shuttles and later, the space station.

NASA is finishing construction of the station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, and plans to retire the shuttle fleet next year. After that, the United States plans to pay Russia to ferry crews to the outpost, which orbits 225 miles above Earth.

"We've spent a lot of money up there for almost nothing. It's almost a white elephant," Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell said. "Until we can really get a return on our investment on that particular project, then it was money wasted."

The United States spent about $25 billion, in 1969 dollars, on the Apollo project. The investment, which consumed about 4 percent of the federal budget, was returned many times over, the astronauts said.

"We now seem to think it's too much to put 0.6 percent into the NASA budget," said Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham. "That is idiotic in my opinion."

"The investment that we made back in the 1960s was paid back. You got the return on the investment for the next 30 years. It was a driver of technology that really helped make us the leading, driving economic force of the world," he said.

"What are we doing today, what investment are we making today that will ensure that we have that kind of return for the next 30 years? I don't see it out there," he added.

COMPELLING GOAL NEEDED

What's lacking, the astronauts say, is an inspiring goal, a motivating force, such as what the objective of landing on the moon did for the Apollo initiative.

"To me, exploration is going someplace that you haven't been before," said Aldrin, who would like to see NASA move on to Mars, rather than leading a return to the moon.

The current plan, developed in the wake of the 2003 Columbia accident, is for NASA to complete the space station, return astronauts to the moon and eventually move on to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.

President Barack Obama, who met with the astronauts at the White House on Monday, said NASA would continue with its "inspirational" mission.

"It's fair to say that the touchstone for excellence in exploration and discovery is always going to be represented by the men of Apollo 11," he said in the Oval Office. "You inspired an entire generation of scientists and engineers that ended up really sparking the innovation, the drive, the entrepreneurship, the creativity back here on Earth."

A presidential panel is reviewing options for the U.S. human space program and is expected to issue its recommendations next month. A National Research Council report released last week suggested NASA programs mesh more closely with national economic, environmental and strategic goals.

"The only way to have people glued to their TV sets is to have an accident ... or do something that is really different," Lovell said.

The astronauts' comments came six days into space shuttle Endeavour's 16-day construction mission to the station.

On Monday a pair of spacewalking astronauts spent the day stashing a spare cooling system pump, antenna and other gear outside the station. The equipment is needed to keep the outpost operational after the shuttle fleet is retired.

"I want to see the space station have a return on our investment. I think it can," Lovell said. "We've done a lot more with the Hubble Space Telescope, which I think has been one of the greatest triumphs of the space program."

Russia, Georgia, NASA--potential problem

"U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he fears Russia's aggressive action against Georgia may have some serious consequences on the American space program."

Indeed...politics and science don't always mix well.

"Senator Says Russia's Actions Could Hurt U.S. Space Program"

by

Eun Kim

August 13th, 2008

space.com

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he fears Russia's aggressive action against Georgia may have some serious consequences on the American space program.

If Russia fails to hold back military action in the former Soviet republic, it could hurt U.S. chances of accessing the International Space Station once NASA retires the space shuttles in 2010, the Democrat from Orlando said Tuesday.

The Russian Soyuz vehicle will be the only option available for NASA to send crew and cargo to the space station until the shuttle's replacement becomes available for manned missions in 2015. Nelson fears deteriorating U.S.-Russia politics may result in "Russia denying us rides or charging exorbitant amounts for them."

NASA's agreement to purchase rides on the Soyuz came about from a waiver Congress granted the agency from the Iran-Syria Non-Proliferation Act. The law prohibits the United States from buying space-related goods and services from Russia while that nation exports nuclear technology to Iran.

NASA's waiver from the ban expires in 2011. Nelson fears that recent developments between Russia and Georgia may make it hard for lawmakers to extend the exemption.

"It was a tough sell before, but it was doable simply because we didn't have a choice. We don't want to deny ourselves access to the space station, the very place we have built and paid," Nelson said. "It's going to be a tougher sell now unless there are critical developments during the next 48 to 72 hours."

Nelson blamed the Bush administration for making the nation so reliant on Russia by failing to devote more money to the space program.

"If I were president I'd be pulling out all the stops to get Russia to understand the consequences of continued bad behavior," said Nelson, who just returned from a trip to Afghanistan with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other lawmakers.

The Russian incursion had just begun as the delegation was leaving central Asia, Nelson said.

"We actually flew over Georgia coming out of Kazakhstan because the Russians would not give us diplomatic overflight," Nelson said.