I see you have once again departed our galaxy.

You are equating lobbying to spend other peoples’ money with deciding how to spend ones’ own? Sheesh.

“Actually “common sense”, I am quite “in” with real space development. As I have mentioned previously, I have several investments with real space commerce companies. Contrary to your fantasy that I am not some disgruntled laid-off robot engineer, I rather invest in space machines and more importantly in the wonderful humans who make and use them.”

Good for you! I am sure you will see your investements grow quite nicely in the near future then. No worries.

” I am very closely in touch with space commerce economics, far more closely than dilettante space activists or people who spend their time trolling for NASA HSF contracts.”

So why do you bother posting here, or do you see yourself as much better than us the “dilettante space activists or people who spend their time trolling for NASA HSF contracts”? Or do you feel an itch for trolling as well?

“BTW, your faith in the sustainability of the NASA HSF budget in the face of the sovereign debt crisis and the looming entitlements crisis sounds like famous last words to me.”

Hey, you did your investements and I do mine. It is quite clear that we are giving up at least short term any HSF in the US are we not? Right. As I said good luck with your investments.

“Unlike many space activists I am not trying to preserve or invent make-work programs. Rather, I prefer to express the vision of real commerce and criticize the old socialist vision. That is my main goal and not, as you think, just to bash astronauts. ”

Are you in a league all your own? Socialist vision? Boy you MUST have lived in a socialist country to really know the meaning of that term, right? And so far your goal has clearly been just to bash astronauts and those who support them. Now of course that has nothing to do with your investments right? You’re not one of those people trying to “influence” the market so to speak, right? I mean you don’t see yourself as trolling I suppose?

” Astronauts are simply the most visible and wasteful symptom of the old socialism”

Are you saying that only soviet astronauts are flying these days? Maybe you ought to go say that to say Buzz Aldrin see how hee’d take that he’s part of a socialist system of astronauts.

“my quest to explain space economics means revealing the central planner wannabes for the morons that they are, that’s what has to be done. ”

You’re on quest now? Wow. Do you have a cult of followers as well?

“Besides, pointing out other peoples’ stupidity is fun, why do you think there are so many flame wars around here if people didn’t think it was fun?”

Save for you and a few others excited on this site there is no flame “wars”, none that insult others anyway. Considering the language you use I wonder how old you actually are.

“I will admit to some naivete insofar as when I originally came upon a blog called “Space Politics” I thought it would indeed be about space politics, ”

Well it is about space politics, the HSF budget is the largest there is so anything else tends to be insignificant and thanks to you will probably stay such. You think you’re doing a service to the robot fans here?

Oh well…

BTW, your faith in the sustainability of the NASA HSF budget in the face of the sovereign debt crisis and the looming entitlements crisis sounds like famous last words to me. We’ve just seen the two biggest HSF programs canceled, and all astronaut fans can seem to do is plan yet more preposterously oversized projects that will have to be canceled in the future. But I digress, you were talking about me so let’s get back to me.

I have no desire to be “in” with a grotesquely distorted and preposterously obsolete vision of the space future, regardless of how much government dole it brings down. Unlike many space activists I am not trying to preserve or invent make-work programs. Rather, I prefer to express the vision of real commerce and criticize the old socialist vision. That is my main goal and not, as you think, just to bash astronauts. Astronauts are simply the most visible and wasteful symptom of the old socialism. If my quest to explain space economics means revealing the central planner wannabes for the morons that they are, that’s what has to be done. Besides, pointing out other peoples’ stupidity is fun, why do you think there are so many flame wars around here if people didn’t think it was fun?

I will admit to some naivete insofar as when I originally came upon a blog called “Space Politics” I thought it would indeed be about space politics, rather than what it is in fact about, namely astronaut fan politics. It didn’t take much reading to disabuse me of this error. If this blog is only about the government HSF budget, so be it. The government HSF budget is by its very nature going to be squandered one way or another. One of my objectives here, after expressing the reality and debunking the traditional mythologies about space development, and after having some fun at the expense of idiots, is to convince those who are at least halfway sane to stop mechanically endorsing wasting even more money on the Exploration Directorate. And believe it or not I have sympathy with astronaut fans despite their delusions and I want them to support things that actually have a chance of flying. Failing that I want to see that the government HSF budget gets squandered in a way that minimizes its negative impact — culturally as well as financially — on real space development. Thus my support for sending astronauts way out of the way to places like Phobos where they can entertain their fans with minimal economic distortion.

“If you want me to compromise, I’m much more likely to compromise with people who are enough in touch with reality ”

See this is the problem. I don’t want you to compromise. I actually would rather you compromise but today I don’t really care. There is a budget, an enormous budget for HSF today and planned for the future in this reality, in this Galaxy. Your only good position would be to see where your ideas might fit, not insulting those who actually try to build the bridges between disciplines such as robotics precursors. See they don’t have to. Actually they might even have gone with the POR and not be that much impacted. BUT the “new” planners see that there is a need for change. And the change is not about going all robotics or all commercials like right now. It is a blend, it is a flexible path for flexible minds. You are either in or out and according to your statements so far you are out. Your own choice. Live with it.

The prime directive of the new plan as far as HSF is concerned seems to be economically useless but exciting missions to “where no no man has gone before”, like Phobos, NEAs, and “ultimately” (i.e. long after the current politicians are out of office and nobody cares what they thought) sending astronauts to Mars.

I am more in sympathy with these than with economically useless “infrastructure” because at least they are not pretending to be useful, just exciting. They are not proposing to have the scarce lunar water squandered forever by a socialist boondoggle. If you want me to compromise, I’m much more likely to compromise with people who are enough in touch with reality that they admit that these proposed BEO astronaut adventures will be exciting but otherwise useless, than with central planner wannabes who pretend that they are designing useful “infrastructure” while designing astronaut-centric nonsense that is so grotesquely distorted that they throw potential entrepreneurs who might have actually figured out how to use space economically way off the economically sustainable paths of space development.

Clearly you are becoming irrelevant like the Constellation and Shuttle huggers. That is sad because when you make an effort you can contribute.

As far as stupidity is concerned you may want to think really hard about this one and how your attitude is being perceived and then how overall this is furthering your goals…

The reality is here for you to contemplate: http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html

Good luck.

“HSF beyond LEO hasn’t been a fact of life for more than 30 years. Only a “fact” of science fiction.”

I said HSF I did not say HSF BEO. Read what I write. The current Flex-Path budget plan calls for exploration though. Look at what Jeff posted here “Jeff Greason wrote @ April 8th, 2010 at 9:57 am “.

Don’t you ever get tired of your anti-astronaut rant? Lost budget? Did not make it to the corps?

There is no one more blind than the one who does not want to see… Or something like this.

Oh well…

I would tend to agree with you but I was only addressing the US part of the plan which is in the proposed budget.