Comments on: Bolden to meet with Obama

By: Johnson

Johnson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:41:00 +0000

I think NASA should invest more in nuclear fusion propulsion.
http://www.crossfirefusor.com/nuclear-fusion-reactor/overview.html

By: Rand Simberg

Rand Simberg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:51:50 +0000

NASA HSF will be transformed to operate much as the FAA doesâ€¦enforce government policy and regulations on commercial entities, but with no real engineering expertise to speak of.

That would require a complete rewrite of the Space Act, and it would be pointless, because it’s already within the charter of the FAA, and they’re doing it.

By: NASA Fan

NASA Fan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:22:05 +0000

Who better to dismantle the HSF culture and programs at NASA than a former astronaut.

Perfect fit

By: mike shupp

mike shupp — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:08:47 +0000

??? The point is simply that agency heads are political appointments and thus usually aligned with the White House. An avowedly liberal Democrat (Lori Garver?) would look like like a better fit at NASA than an ex-fighter jock who might have lingering Republicanitis. As for the economic profs willing to carve up the space agency, “every prof” would include everyone from Lew Rockwell associates to Socialist Worker Party stalwarts.

Don’t read stuff into my words that isn’t there. Don’t be so whiny.

By: Ferris Valyn

Ferris Valyn — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:45:08 +0000

Mr. Shupp – I wanna thank you for being part of the committee that like to keep the idea going that Democrats are out to eliminate the Space Program.

By: mike shupp

mike shupp — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:41:04 +0000

I doubt it’s “exactly what Bolden signed up for.” Unless, of course, it’s what took so much arm twisting to get him into the job. But what was the point of getting an ex-astronaut into the Administrator’s seat, that it would slow down the exodus of bodies when NASA started taking cuts? Hell, getting that exodus would seem exactly what the Obama administration wants! And it’s not if there’s a shortage of talented simon-pure Democrats willing to carve the manned space program to shreds — I gather every economics professor in the country would kill to have the opportunity.

By: Robert G. Oler

Robert G. Oler — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:16:49 +0000

I will make one other prediction. whatever changes occur will go down fairly easy in the Congress.

the prediction by some (Mark Whittington for instance) of a significant revolt…are simplistic and unsophisticated.

Robert G. Oler

By: Robert G. Oler

Robert G. Oler — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:59:23 +0000

mike shupp wrote @ December 16th, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Time to start a poll (pool?) on how long C..

I think that this is exactly what Bolden signed up for

Robert G. Oler

By: mike shupp

mike shupp — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:40:25 +0000

Time to start a poll (pool?) on how long Charles Bolden sticks around as NASA Administrator before calling it quits?

By: NASA Fan

NASA Fan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:56:50 +0000

I’m with Robert on this.

Obama will cease all NASA led HSF hardware development activities related to VSE. If I were Obama, insofar as I have been signaling NASA about my intention for months, I would now want to hear (hence the 3:05 Wed meeting) what the impact will be of my , Obama, various options.

Anything beyond Earth Orbit, BEO, will be studied for a long time; the results of this study will lead to the development of a HLV – but it won’t be led by NASA. NASA HSF will be transformed to operate much as the FAA does…enforce government policy and regulations on commercial entities, but with no real engineering expertise to speak of. So the HLV ‘requirements’ will be fed to Industry. There will be some uplifting rhetoric about the future BEO plans that NASA will lead, but this essentially gets NASA off of Obama’s plate for the next 7 years.

LEO service to ISS via commercial sector will be accelerated by the ‘freed up funds’ formally directed at VSE.

ISS will be extended to 2020; there will be a re-emphasis on R&D toward Flexible path (kick the can down the road) option technologies to take up some of the idle employees no longer working on the VSE.

But there will still be many people with nothing to do.

If all goes as Obama plans therefore, there will be less NASA employees as the future unfolds; MSFC and Stennis will be consolidated (hence the meeting this past week of Center Directors); there will be buy outs at JSC and KSC.

There will be some uplifting talk as to how NASA will be a major player in Obama’s STEM initiative; but if I am a young person, and am seeing NASA and aerospace contractors get in the unemployment line, I think I’d think twice about a STEM career in Aerospace.

Earth Science will be re-emphasized, but not sure if that translates into more bucks.

Look for an exodus of very senior people from the HSF programs as things unfold.