If he’s ignorant about anything concerning heavy lift it’s about the chances that SLS actually has of becoming an asset to the American space program.

See http://tinyurl.com/laz5bxv . Hearing starts at about 45:00.

Edited fluff?

“I just want to see American astronauts do something more than bus-riding around in LEO”

If you actually looked to see what was happening on the ISS, then you wouldn’t call it “bus riding”.

Real science is being done on the ISS, and it’s the kind of science that is REQUIRED if we are to do anything more than Flags & Footprint type exploration.

Or is that all you want to do? Flags & Footprint trips to the Moon? Pick up a few rocks, hit a few golf balls?

We don’t know how to keep humans healthy in a zero-G environment long enough to successfully complete a trip to Mars – going to Mars before we know how to keep people alive and well is a waste of money.

You are too shortsighted Chris.

“Such a mission flight plan, would be an ideal technology-demonstrator.”

No need to send it in orbit around the Moon Chris, we can just send it up to orbit the Earth for as long as you want, then send up a Commercial Crew vehicle to rendezvous with it to check it out and bring it back.

You are always trying to over-complicate things…

“…the least expensive way to ‘be in space’ is to contract for seats on the operational Soyuz for the rest of the decade…”

Listen Putin-boi, unlike you, there are American’s that don’t want to be reliant on Russia for access to our space station, and Commercial Crew is not only that access, but it’s also a new revenue-generating industry for the U.S. And that industry will generate jobs here at home.

Every dollar we send to Russia is a dollar that permanently leaves the country.

“The OBJECTIVE is to get ‘crews’ on orbit to conduct the elusive, nebulous, ‘valueable’ research.”

As you’ve admitted many times, you don’t follow what is happening with the ISS, so you are ignorant of the research that is taking place there that is the key for ANY space exploration we want to do. For instance, Chris Hadfield just returned from being the first Canadian ISS commander, and he has been in the news talking about how deleterious the effects of zero-G have been on his body. If we can’t mitigate such effects, then we are doomed to Apollo-style stunt trips for picking a few rocks and hitting a few golf balls – what a deal for $100B!

“just becaue Congress labeled the ISS a ‘national lab’ doesnt make it so”

Actually it does, since it’s within the power of Congress to designate such things.

And again, the best place to study the problems and solutions to zero-G and space is IN space, and the least expensive location for that is LEO.

Do you want to be stuck doing short space exploration trips forever?

Speaking of whom, it appears that Jeff Bingham is moving on. I thought he might hang around to provide continuity, but I guess not.

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/jeff-bingham-to-leave-senate-commerce-committee