Comments on: Dale confirmation hearing

By: Sam Dinkin

Sam Dinkin — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 20:01:21 +0000

X-15 was $300 million in 1961 dollars so it is still more expensive than SS1 by a factor of ten. Inflation makes it a factor of 30.

By: Donald F. Robertson

Donald F. Robertson — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 22:47:42 +0000

My point was, and still is, that I believe Mr. Kendall drastically underestimated what NASA has spent on automated Mars missions. If so, that makes his arguments that much stronger.

– Donald

By: David Davenport

David Davenport — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 21:58:12 +0000

Donald, one can play all sorts of games comparing the buying power of present dollars to the value of the dollar in some past year.

For example, Mr. Rutan’s SS1 project is reported to have cost $25M. I could go find twenty five houses and lots that sold for about $1M each this year, real estate that orginally sold for less than $100K each when new in 1961. Same lots, pretty much the same house. Then I can deduce that Spaceship One cost about $250K in 1961 dollars, cheaper even than X-15, so there.

Conversely, using the same comparative buying power logic, one could make Saturn/Apollo seem ruinously expensive.

I suppose the same goes for Viking. What is your point, really?

Let me remind you, buddy, that John Henry tried and tried, but he died short of the steam drill.

By: Donald F. Robertson

Donald F. Robertson — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 18:06:23 +0000

It doesn’t. However, contrary to usual practice, Jeff did not start a thread dealing with the new issue of The Space Review, so if I was going to comment on it here was where it had to be.

– Donald

By: Phil Smith

Phil Smith — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:34:08 +0000

Donald,

How does the above relate to the Dale hearings?

By: Donald F. Robertson

Donald F. Robertson — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:46:26 +0000

Regarding Anthony Kendall’s excellent article, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one shouting into the automated wilderness. . . .

However, in 2003 dollars, the total cost of all NASA-led surface-landing Mars missions to date is somewhere near $4.2 billion.

It was my understanding that Viking alone cost something like $5 billion in current-year dollars (circa $1 billion at the time). Am I wrong?

– Donald