Comments on: Don’t mess with Texas?

By: Det perfekta tomrummet › Framtiden fÃ¶r bemannade rymdfÃ¤rder

Det perfekta tomrummet › Framtiden fÃ¶r bemannade rymdfÃ¤rder — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:21:27 +0000

[…] intressanta bakgrunder till frÃ¥gor kring vad som skall hÃ¤nda efter rymdskytteln, spelet mellan delstater i den amerikanska rymdpolitiken och sÃ¥ vidare. Rekommenderas. Skrivet av Gustav. Postad onsdag, […]

By: CharlesTheSpaceGuy

CharlesTheSpaceGuy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:38:42 +0000

This illustrates a HUGE disadvantage that a government operation has. Instead of distributing work based on technical merits – a governmental operation has to distribute it based on Congressional influence, based on gaining political support, etc. The members of Congress can easily influence decisions on how money is spent and where. And this is in spite of the regulations that the Congress levies that claim to get the government to evaluate proposals based on technical merits.

If we centralized operations, government launch operations would be far cheaper and safer. If NASA did not have to create far flung Centers based on earmarks, they could save a lot of money.

The competitive bidding process is compromised by the actions of individual elected officials on a daily basis.

By: sc220

sc220 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:22:17 +0000

This is a very positive development. Shelby needs to take a time out, and reassess his position. He’s getting fed a line from MSFC, who stands most to lose from a shift in architectures. Northern Alabama would do well regardless, since the main assembly facility for the Delta and Atlas is in Decatur, just next door to Huntsville.