Obama scraps NASA Constellation program (Kentucky, jobs, thought)
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Its a luxury and in times of deep financial problems it should ALWAYS be put on hold... if I am out of job, I don't go and eat $100 steaks... I agree with Obama, he is doing good on this one...
Ok, I know for a fact when I was lurking on this forum that republican posters were talking about how NASA was a waste. And now that Obama has this idea, suddenly you're in love w/NASA? Come on!!! This is a clear example of complete & utter hypocrite BS. What is wrong w/you????
Ok, I know for a fact when I was lurking on this forum that republican posters were talking about how NASA was a waste. And now that Obama has this idea, suddenly you're in love w/NASA? Come on!!! This is a clear example of complete & utter hypocrite BS. What is wrong w/you????
I voted for Obama and started this thread. You wrap your head around that one.
It does appear to be true that the Republicans are just the party of "no" as long as it concerns the Obama Adm.. Regardless of what is best for the Country. For months Republicans have complained of excessive spending and when Obama tries to reduce spending, they complain again. Obvious partisan politics at play. Republicans have said for months now that the main issue is the economy. Americans agree with Jobs and Health care rounding out the top 3. Space exploration and funding for NASA do not make the top 10 of Americans concerns.
I voted for Obama and started this thread. You wrap your head around that one.
Ok, great. I guess you're not in the majority of people that I was talking about. I have the utmost respect for NASA, I've even defended their programs many many many times when people on the right kept screaming about how NASA was useless. I don't think NASA is useless, I think NASA is great & I'm always interested in it. However, it is something that in the grand scheme of things right now should be cut. Now, if you ask me about the local park system here & the cuts they've gone thru, I'll scream holy terror, lol. I guess I'm a hypocrite...we all have our own interests & what we think is important.
My question is, what happens to all the money that has already been pumped into the Constellation program? Oh that's right...
Sunk cost fallacy.
Has Constellation been a well-run program, delivering on time and on budget? Not really. Ares-I was supposed to be a low-cost platform, using stuff from the parts bin (notably an elongated version of the Shuttle SRBs) to cut down on development cost. Sounds good on paper, but it hasn't worked out so well.
Ares-Ix was a half-billion mock-up launched to "show progress" - looked like an Ares-I, but very much wasn't. Even so, it uncovered serious problems with the entire design.
And Ares-V is paper.
Even on paper, neither of them have sufficient lift to support a moon mission, anyway - the proposed solution is Earth Orbit Rendezvous, launching two rockets and docking in LEO.
Keeping a program like that alive isn't necessarily a great idea. There is serious private development happening in the LEO business - hopefully, we'll see SpaceX rise to the challenge.
Republicans have always been huge supporters of NASA, myself included. Reagan pushed for the GPS system as well as the Space Station Freedom (which would later form the base of the ISS). H.W. Bush was also big on the space program with his [far-fetched] plans for a space station orbiting Mars as part of the SEI. After the fall of the USSR further space endavors fell out of public interest..
India and China are both planning manned Moon missions in the near future..
The irony is that NASA is probably one of the government's most successful programs.
My understanding of the moon mission was that it was supposed to be a stepping stone for future travel to Mars. I think it's important for humans to continue expanding into our universe but I understand why funding is being cut short now.
I only wish they'd look into the hundreds of other government programs that waste money hand over fist and bring the ax down on them appropriately as well.
Has Constellation been a well-run program, delivering on time and on budget? Not really. Ares-I was supposed to be a low-cost platform, using stuff from the parts bin (notably an elongated version of the Shuttle SRBs) to cut down on development cost. Sounds good on paper, but it hasn't worked out so well.
Ares-Ix was a half-billion mock-up launched to "show progress" - looked like an Ares-I, but very much wasn't. Even so, it uncovered serious problems with the entire design...
...Keeping a program like that alive isn't necessarily a great idea. There is serious private development happening in the LEO business - hopefully, we'll see SpaceX rise to the challenge.
I agree, thank God someone finally put the last nail in the coffin of the swizzle stick. They would've been calling the Ares I "Widowmaker" had it gone into full-scale production and use. The SRM's have been the cause--directly and indirectly--of both Shuttle disasters. You can't shut them off if there's a problem, you can't bump them on the way to the pad (from UTAH!) lest the propellant grain separate on launch, plug the nozzle, and turn the stack into a gigantic bomb.
So we took the deadliest, least efficient, and most-hated-by-astronauts part of the STS and made everybody ride on that pogo stick? It was a terrible idea from the get-go and 85% of honest AAE's will tell you that they didn't trust the thing. The other 15% being ATK employees.
Solids and people don't mix. I'm sad to see NASA loose the funding, but if something had to die, I'm glad it was Aries I.
I don't believe that private industry beyond SpaceX and government-propped, non-man-rated (or at least not yet) Delta and Atlas have the wherewithal to put people in orbit, but maybe it's time we fell demonstrably behind the Chinese in order to goad us out of our malaise. Or maybe I'm wrong about private space access. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
And it's just another example of how he doesn't live up to his promises and can't be trusted....
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Republican direction?
Obama did an about-face. Surprising? Of course not.
