The New York Daily News noted today that New York magazine asked 60 Minutes anchor Morley Safer what he thought of NASA’s new lunar exploration plans. His response? “It’s the only way, short of murder, of getting rid of Donald Trump. And it’s worth every penny.” Hadn’t thought of that rationale, but, hey, whatever it takes…
Um. Huh?
From today’s Aerospace Daily & Defense Report California’s Rep. Ken Calvert says:
“Right now we’re saying we can’t do for 13 years something we’ve already done, and if the Chinese beat us there, that’s embarrassing. I don’t want to see that happen as an American. I think we ought to maintain our pre-eminence in outer space.”
Maintain? We haven’t been able to go to the Moon for 30 years now. How is going back today maintaining anything? Now we should go back to prove we’re not a has-been? That’s like spending a lot of money on a bad toupee. In my opinion, we should put our house in order and start doing things because they are cool and because we can.
In other news from the same source, the cost of the Webb telescope goes up a billion to $4.5B and the schedule slides 2 years to the right. It’s all worth it, though, because the good news is they get to launch on a European rocket. I’m glad we can support their space industry instead of our own. I remember a time when you had to take a country’s ability to defend themselves away at the point of a gun. Not this country. We are so enlightened, we are willing to sell it to the highest bidder for pennies on the dollar.
We can shoot Trump to the moon, only to have him enter an S.R. Hadden-esque state of suspended animation, wake up centuries from now, and return to Earth to assail us with cheap consumer goods at inflated prices.
What is pathetic about this is that we live in a world where the US is the richest country on the face of the earth and some here argue that 104 billion over 13 years (7 billion a year)is too expensive to spend on going back to the moon to build a lunur base while poorer countries like Russia and China, who have much more domestic problems, have a manned space program and, in the case of China, have long term plans to goto the moon. Even a poor country like India has an unmanned space program and is investigating manned space flight to the moon, even though they dont have any plans to go their yet. Its seems like the richer you are the cheaper you are. If they can afford to have a manned space program, then their is no excuse for the US not to have a manned space program and lead. We in the US have a chance to be the first back to the moon, to build a permanent moon base and exploit whatever possible resources that are their. We can do the same on Mars and in the astroied belt. This will all be a benifit to the US, but if we are stupid enough to piss all this space ability away, as some are, then I hope the major language spoken in any future space colonies is Russian or Chinese because that would serve us right.
Which number do you believe, the $104B or the 13 years? Anyone not born yesterday believes neither. Plus, if we screw around building the current line of proposed ESAS vehicles for the next 13 or 20 years, then are we stuck with it for 25 to 30 years after that? We were with shuttle. So when do we get to try some good ideas, you know like some of those that have been kicking around for the last 20 years? Hell, I would be surprised if I live long enough to see one of these ESAS turkeys launch, let alone see what the next thing is. Then at 2 launches a year, it will take how many years to complete a Moon base? Of course, that is all above and beyond the $104B. When do we find out what resources the Moon has to exploit? Do we wait until the Moon base is complete to go to Mars? The concept was to leave from the Moon to get there.
The reality is, it’s not about cost, it’s about confidence. I have no confidence in NASA to get this done in my lifetime. I don’t even think they will make a decent start in that amount of time.
Amen – no confidence in NASA.
My wife and I watch Dr. Michael Griffin – the big
reason to go into space was because the president
said so.. The guy looked like he slept on the
coach the night before.
We were blown away with disappointment – this was NASA last chance.
Whatever they do over the next 13 years – given
their past record and the rate of advancement OTHERS are making. This is NASA last big man project.
Of course – they have yet to build it! And funding? Hmm…
Personally, I have more confidence in Rutan and others.