Who needs facts when you can have “upper case”?

This debate, at its heart, is not about Old Space vs. New Space but rather how most effectively to spend our space money. Constellations cancellation was not so much about politics but about money. That program had gotten so expensive and so behind schedule that I believe any competent administration, republican or democratic, would have cancelled it. If Constellation had been on-time and within budget it would be alive and well today. But it had become a boondoggle which realistically had no chance of doing its mission given the money and time that most people were willing to allocate towards it.

When Constellation got cancelled it wasn’t a surprise to those of us who had been watching the program, the money, and the politics. We knew the program was falling behind and needed far more money than it was alloted. Despite what Mike Griffin said about always getting the money he asked for. We also knew that the political support for the program was very shallow except for those politicians in whose districts big Constellation contracts were in effect. We knew that the program was in severe danger of cancellation and many people, including myself, agreed with the cancellation when it happened.

In my opinion the cancellation, on that fine day at KFC, was abruptly and ineptly presented. It hurt a lot of people’s feelings. Not only was their dream giant rocket program gone, to many their dreams of turning NASA into some kind of Moon Development Agency was also unceremoniously snatched away from them. There was much wearing of sack-cloth and gnashing of teeth. Many are still grieving. But, to be fair, this mainly happened because those people had been living in a bubble. They had not been paying attention to what was going on with the money and the politics. They did not know the score and many were blind-sided because of that.

It didn’t take long for the politicians, in whose districts were companies and corporations who took the financial hit, to react. They threw together a big rocket design using only parts from the companies they represented and then wrote it into a bill that eventually became law. That’s how we ended up with SLS, an ugly and outdated retro flintstone rocket using parts and processes invented before many of us were born. The politicians designed the rocket in a way to bring money to people and companies in their districts. They did not design the rocket to be a cost-effective solution and to make the best use of taxpayer monies. Those politians have the souls of thieves.

Meanwhile “New Space” comes along. Mainly people who grew up during the Space Age and who believe mankind is more than ready to move into space if only the processes for doing so are done competently. They know how to make rockets and get into space. We’ve been doing it for over fifty years and the people who did it took great care in recording how they did it. So the knowledge-base was there. What remained was how to improve and stream-line the processes. That’s basically the heart of what New Space is trying to do, get it done as economically and efficiently as possible but still actually getting the job done.

I could go on and on but this is more than enough. New Space is basically about using money and resources in the most efficient way to get us into space. The arguments about “New Space can’t or won’t do this thing!” or “Old Space can’t do that thing!” are mostly just people acting badly, even though I occasionally indulge in them myself. But they are all stupid arguments, and beside the point.

“New Space” is about getting into space, everywhere, the Moon, Mars, everywhere, in the most economical efficient way possible.

“New Space” is about getting into space, everywhere, the Moon, Mars, everywhere, in the most economical efficient way possible.
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Chris, what in the world makes you think that a republican administration is going stop or stifle commercial space and return America to the old way of doing things? Is it just because you are not happy with the current democratic administration so you just assume a republican administration would do things more the way you do like? If so, I think you’ll be disappointed. Generally speaking republicans tend to support commercial over big-government programs.

I think the most republican thing about Bronco is his stance on commercial space. Well, that and killer drones.

I’ll repeat, if you think a republican president is going to step on commercial space because Bronco supported it you are probably in for a rude surprise.

I think your only real hope is if the next president comes from one of those states who need MPCV or SLS for the jobs.

And I can’t see any new president starting a big-government moon program. Congress doesn’t want it that much and the people don’t want it that much. A moon program with NASA and commercial partners seems far more likely and it remains to be seen if that can even happen.

Elon truly does believe in his company and its products. He believes in his people and their shared dreams. He also truly believes in his new country and how we do things here. And he’s not particularly quiet about any of it.

This bothers some people. It doesn’t bother me but it does bother some. I say we cut him some slack on his enthusiasm. As long as he is trying to move us into space we should cheer him on shouldn’t we?

“Perhaps you believe American Airlines and BOA represent the United States government. They don’t.”

You sure don’t like free enterprise and capitalism, do you? How much money have you lost in the stock market?

Look, maybe you want to live in a country where the government has to do everything, but that’s not America.

And I think you think NASA’s budget is still being funded at the Apollo-era level, but it’s not. A simple look at the facts shows that NASA’s budget continues to shrink, both as a percentage of the national budget and in real dollars.

The only way we’ll be able to afford human exploration beyond LEO for any period of time will be if private industry is a partner with NASA, or the private sector does it by themselves.

And I don’t care if it’s a government employee or someone from the private sector, especially if they are U.S. citizens.