In according with the Dubya Mars timetable, NASA gives up on the ISS. Hmmm. “Publicly, NASA’s international partners have expressed support…Privately, they have voiced the opinion that the United States is not living up to its commitments.“
Category: Space Race
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Space enthusiasts and millionaires alike eagerly await Monday’s launch of Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, the first private manned foray into the cosmos. I’d best start saving up my pennies. Update: Mission Success!
Mars, Inc.
A White House Commission on NASA will recommend increased privatization as part of the space agency’s upcoming redesign. At first glance, this sounds like Dubya kicking more money back to his favorite companies. That being said, my lefty-leaning friends who work in the aerospace industry have told me that NASA’s current culture is far too risk-averse and bureaucratic to ever be very efficient, and that privatization may be the only way to make continued space exploration feasible. If so, I guess I’m for it.
Ares or Bust.
Via a frequent reader, Explore Mars Now, a website which attempts to visualize red-planet-viable spacecraft using existing technology. Well, it’s already more realistic than Mission to Mars.
Opportunity Knocks.
NASA scores another success on Mars with the flawless landing of the Opportunity. And, in other good news, scientists have determined the Spirit has memory issues, and have upgraded their prognosis from critical to serious.
Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
“I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon,” once quipped Jerry Pournelle. “I never dreamed
that I would see the last.” Hopefully, we can now prove him wrong. Dubya officially announced his space plan in front of NASA’s DC headquarters today, and the upshot is this: More scientists, less entertainers, a Research Lab in every city, and he’s going to disband all the Spearmen and Pikemen still lying around so he can build the SS Planetary Party Lounge.
Ok, just joking…some of y’all out there might think that was funny. At any rate, the plan is the ISS by 2007, the CEV by 2014, the moon by 2015, and Mars thereafter. Say what you will about election year boondoggles, but I still think creating and funding long-term goals for NASA is a wise investment. (Besides, if you want to cry election-year boondoogle, you don’t need to go any farther than Dubya’s ridiculous $1.5 billion marriage-promotion plan.) NASA still has serious organizational and cultural flaws, sure, but I think it’ll be better able to address them if there’s at least some semblance of a “vision thing” to build on.
Laying the Groundwork/Snoopy Come Home.
NASA sets its sights on an Apollo-based Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to replace the earlier space plane idea, and the Mars rover begins scrounging for water. Meanwhile, the search continues for the missing Beagle.
High Moon.
Perhap’s he thinking about the November election, or perhaps he just fell asleep in front of Outland the other night. Either way, next week Dubya will make the case for a moonbase and a Marshot. As y’all might expect, I’m all for it, although Bush, Sr. said much the same thing over a decade ago and it went nowhere. I’m also with the folks who agree that some sort of shuttle alternative may need to be in the works before we can seriously start setting up a lunar settlement…but, hey, let’s at least start thinking big again.
Red Rover.
W00t. I was on holiday break when the Beagle disappeared on Christmas Day, so now I’m doubly pleased that the Mars Rover has successfully landed on the Red Planet. Not only is it great for space exploration in general, but NASA needed a success in the worst way.
Voyage of the Beagle.
A flurry of probes, headed by the ESA’s Beagle 2, prep for christmas on Mars. Let’s hope they fare better than the ’99 wave.