Comments on: Before the next four years, focus on the next eight weeks

By: MaDeR

MaDeR — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:27:55 +0000

"Dragon will fly crewed (spaceX crew) without a LAS" Ever heard about SuperDraco?

By: Googaw

Googaw — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 03:04:39 +0000

As to SpaceX and Boeing, thereâ€™s a simple way to keep them on board; give each four flights a year.

Yea, there’s no such thing as budget constraints.

By: Anonymous American

Anonymous American — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:52:08 +0000

Well said, Josh. I’m enjoying watching those troglodytes growing smaller in America’s rear-view mirror. “Mary” and her ilk belong in history’s dustbin. Good riddance.

By: vulture4

vulture4 — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 01:00:05 +0000

I can easily believe that NASA requirements for crew transport are inflating costs. A lot of these requirements really have no practical effect on safety, they’re just there because if anyone can think of something, no matter how unlikely or off-the-wall, no one questions the need for a plan to respond to it, complete with equipment, training, and operational costs that go on for the life of the program. As to SpaceX and Boeing, there’s a simple way to keep them on board; give each four flights a year.

By: common sense

common sense — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:53:52 +0000

An EML station has no purpose right now. However, if someone was to take their head out of their… err sand they might see that an EML station may not be that hard to make if based on the lessons learned from ISS or possibly a Bigelow station. We could envision an infrastructure of flights Earth-LEO and LEO-EML. We would need to build the transit vehicle that would bring so much lessons to a deep space vehicle a la Nautilus-X. The Earth-LEO transit would be left to the private vehicles. Even though an EML station is pointless just right now, if I had a choice between SLS/MPCV and EML station and transit vehicle, I think the choice would be easy. FWIW.

By: common sense

common sense — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:46:28 +0000

Do not discount the difficulty of building an effective LAS, a LAS that will save the crew. The LAS designed for Ares I had a good chance of killing the crew. That being said there are multiple ways to approach a LAS. You could have one limited for on-pad ops or other known limitations. It is important to realize that the added complexity of essentially having another vehicle on your rocket does not necessarily make it safer. What is important is the integration of the LAV (Launch Abort vehicle = Capsule+LAS) to the LV itself. Separation and flight characteristics (e.g. control and stability) are paramount. So again they don’t necessarily need a LAS at all to be “safe”. The illusion of 100% safe is what is the danger, economically. Are you 100% safe in a B737, in an F-15? No. What you have is a defined “envelope” of flight. Going out of the envelope is what kills. Same for a darn rocket. Yes a first or second stage can explode but a 747 tank can explode as well. No one has an escape system on a 747. An F-15 ejection seat really is there for combat and the more likely occurrence of departing the designed envelope. And so on and so forth. After another maybe 3 flights of F-9/Dragon they should have enough data to know how safe their ops are and whether they can fly a crew. No matter whether there is a LAS or not.

By: Jeff Foust

Jeff Foust — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:17:09 +0000

A reminder that comments should remain on the topic of the post. There are plenty of places for general political discussion; this is not one of them. Thank you, as always, for your cooperation.

By: josh

josh — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:58:00 +0000

@Mary

Let me just say that you come across as the perfect embodiment of a mindless partisan hack who confuses spouting ridiculous, counterfactual talking points (“obama is a socialist”) with constructive discussion. people like you are the reason that the gop has gone bonkers. go on living in your little bubble, the american people will leave you behind.

By: Robert G. Oler

Robert G. Oler — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 06:53:16 +0000

The EML station could be the shiny toy to distract the beloved as NASA moves to kill SLS and maybe Orion…RGO

By: Robert G. Oler

Robert G. Oler — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 02:36:20 +0000

They are doing everything to come up with an LAS…the Grasshopper the second generation dragon with the big DRACO’s…it wont take much when all of that is mature. RGO