Alabama gets ready for a new Space race? (Birmingham, Mobile: dangerous, versus)

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by FatTails

I understand, but I think he'll pull it off. First, I don't think Elon really cares about getting back. His goal is to land a million people on Mars, not get them back to Earth. Second, he already said he thinks people will die during these missions. He isn't NASA; he doesn't have to pause for five years if something bad happens and there will be no shortage of volunteers to keep the missions going. Just look at how he tests his rockets. He's doing a new test every month whereas it takes NASA years to do the same thing. Honestly, DOD needs to take acquisition lessons from Elon on how to fail faster to achieve cost, schedule, and performance goals.

You forget that Elon Musk is not using his own money. Ask long as the board members for SpaceX let him do what he wants all is OK. If SpaceX were to invest billions in a Mars mission that ended in a failed mission with no survivors do you really thing the board would just just give him billions more to try again?

What you also forget is that NASA has had at times almost unlimited funds as long as there was political will behind it. On the other hand Elon Musk has to answer to a board that has fiscal responsibility which means they are required to make sure that SpaceX makes money at least in the long run.

Like I said Elon and SpaceX are a long way from a mission to Mars. Let him actually put a long term base on the moon and keep it going for more than a year and I might reevaluate my thinking.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

You forget that Elon Musk is not using his own money. Ask long as the board members for SpaceX let him do what he wants all is OK. If SpaceX were to invest billions in a Mars mission that ended in a failed mission with no survivors do you really thing the board would just just give him billions more to try again?

What you also forget is that NASA has had at times almost unlimited funds as long as there was political will behind it. On the other hand Elon Musk has to answer to a board that has fiscal responsibility which means they are required to make sure that SpaceX makes money at least in the long run.

Like I said Elon and SpaceX are a long way from a mission to Mars. Let him actually put a long term base on the moon and keep it going for more than a year and I might reevaluate my thinking.

NASA has never had unlimited funds.

NASA's budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021 is $23.3 billion. This represents a 3% increase over the previous year's amount. It was passed by Congress on 21 December 2020—nearly three months into the fiscal year.

The President's Budget Request (PBR), released on 10 February 2020, had proposed $25.2 billion for FY 2021, an increase of 12%. The increase almost fully directed toward supporting a 2024 crewed lunar return, with over $3 billion proposed for human landing systems. Ultimately, Congress provided only 25% of those requested funds, all but guaranteeing that a lunar return will not happen by 2024.

NASA's budget is set by an annual process that begins with a proposal from the White House and ends with legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. The budget specifies funding amounts for programs and projects in human spaceflight, space science, aeronautics, technology development, and education.

NASA's budget peaked during the Apollo program in the 1960s. After the United States won the race to the Moon, space exploration lost political support and NASA's budget was cut significantly. Since the 1970s, NASA has hovered between 1% and 0.5% of all U.S. government spending.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

You forget that Elon Musk is not using his own money. Ask long as the board members for SpaceX let him do what he wants all is OK. If SpaceX were to invest billions in a Mars mission that ended in a failed mission with no survivors do you really thing the board would just just give him billions more to try again?

What you also forget is that NASA has had at times almost unlimited funds as long as there was political will behind it. On the other hand Elon Musk has to answer to a board that has fiscal responsibility which means they are required to make sure that SpaceX makes money at least in the long run.

Like I said Elon and SpaceX are a long way from a mission to Mars. Let him actually put a long term base on the moon and keep it going for more than a year and I might reevaluate my thinking.

There's a rumor in the twitter world that the previous Deputy Administrator, Lori Garver, maybe considered as the next NASA Administrator. Garver who was a lobbyist for SpaceX before the Obama administration, she was instrumental in providing the NASA funding to SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Program. Many would have to acknowledge that the Commercial Crew Program was a success in getting American Astronauts back to the Space Station on American rockets.

If Lori Garver gets selected as the new NASA Administrator, there's little doubt that SpaceX will do well in receiving funding to go to Mars (or the Moon first).

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

NASA has never had unlimited funds.

NASA's budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021 is $23.3 billion. This represents a 3% increase over the previous year's amount. It was passed by Congress on 21 December 2020—nearly three months into the fiscal year.

The President's Budget Request (PBR), released on 10 February 2020, had proposed $25.2 billion for FY 2021, an increase of 12%. The increase almost fully directed toward supporting a 2024 crewed lunar return, with over $3 billion proposed for human landing systems. Ultimately, Congress provided only 25% of those requested funds, all but guaranteeing that a lunar return will not happen by 2024.

NASA's budget is set by an annual process that begins with a proposal from the White House and ends with legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. The budget specifies funding amounts for programs and projects in human spaceflight, space science, aeronautics, technology development, and education.

NASA's budget peaked during the Apollo program in the 1960s. After the United States won the race to the Moon, space exploration lost political support and NASA's budget was cut significantly. Since the 1970s, NASA has hovered between 1% and 0.5% of all U.S. government spending.

You misquoted me. I said "almost unlimited funds". Besides I was only using a figure of speech to make a point. I guess you are too young to remember. After President Kennedy said the United States would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade NASA was given an amount each year that was more than 4% of the federal budget. I realize that was not unlimited but that illustrated that the federal government had the political will to give NASA what it needed to meet the President's mandate. Don't forget how hard that was because the United States was also in the middle of the Vietnam War.

If the federal government today were to mandate that NASA land on Mars before the end of the decade and gave them 4% of the federal budget to do so then maybe they might actually be able to do it.

[HB2HSV]

How Alabama beat Colorado for Space Force HQ selection

https://www-al-com.cdn.ampproject.or...outputType=amp

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

How Alabama beat Colorado for Space Force HQ selection

https://www-al-com.cdn.ampproject.or...outputType=amp

Don't forget that was only a preliminary selection. The final selection is not until 2023. I expect the final criteria will be modified by politics. Considering that Colorado is probably more favored by Washington now I expect the final selection will be there instead. However, this could change depending upon the results of the 2022 Congressional elections.

[trey1121]

I know well how much Senator Shelby has done for all of Alabama. I imagine he is tired of Washington also. I almost feel selfish in saying this but I would love to see Senator Shelby run one more time. I know he would easily win even if anyone was crazy enough to run against him.
Assuming he is still in good health in 2022, we need him to help assure that Colorado does not steal Space Force HQ from us. The final decision will be made in late 2022 or early 2023. With his seniority and clout, not to mention contacts, I feel he could help insure it will be at Redstone. Once this is done, he would be able to retire early in his term. This may be wishful thinking. I’m sure it’s come up in more influential circles than from a retired school teacher!

[Dangerous-Boy]

is there a spaceport in huntsville?


Also, is there an amtrak station?

[Suesbal]

What was wrong with the old “Space Race”?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9c7AuIi7A0

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by trey1121

I know well how much Senator Shelby has done for all of Alabama. I imagine he is tired of Washington also. I almost feel selfish in saying this but I would love to see Senator Shelby run one more time. I know he would easily win even if anyone was crazy enough to run against him.
Assuming he is still in good health in 2022, we need him to help assure that Colorado does not steal Space Force HQ from us. The final decision will be made in late 2022 or early 2023. With his seniority and clout, not to mention contacts, I feel he could help insure it will be at Redstone. Once this is done, he would be able to retire early in his term. This may be wishful thinking. I’m sure it’s come up in more influential circles than from a retired school teacher!

Yes, I'd like for Shelby to do one more term. Otherwise, we have to depend on Tuberville and whoever the new senator would be, and at least half that isn't very good.