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Commented on On the Bus to Crazy Town with Rep. Bishop
"Editor's note: So .... I do not have the right to express my opinion? That's odd. When did that happen? If you don't like NASA Watch, by all means find another website to read." I think part of the confusion... -
Commented on Looking Backward - Not Forward
"I think it's fair to say that Aries 1 slips are not solely due to underfunding" True. The Ares-1X launch was delayed due to shuttle delays in the Hubble repair mission, including the Hubble computer failure.... -
Commented on Looking Backward - Not Forward
"If the Falcon 9 tests doesn't work before the Pres comes down, Space X is screwed" Hopefully the flight is a success. Knowing how spaceflight is and how optimistic companies wanting work can be, to not expect delays and launch... -
Commented on I Smell A Compromise In The Making
"Editor's note: where did I say that there are "7000 jobs in commercial to transfer to" ? I never said that. There will be no where near 7000 jobs created. Read carefully before you start putting words into my mouth."... -
Commented on Looking Backward - Not Forward
It sounds like to me Tom Young is being realistic. Those people all gung ho for this commercial option are not seriously looking at all of the risks. This has not been done before and the chance of it taking... -
Commented on Fact Checking In Houston
"At least we still have a destination to go to in the ISS with this new approach." It's life was only extended until 2020. And that assumes we can lift heavy spares to it. It still hasn't been demonstrated (since... -
Commented on Fact Checking In Houston
Constellation had its own problems, but I'm not convinced the commercial world will be better. I've worked with plenty of COTS equipment and they make all kinds of promises, but we've had all kinds of problems making schedules and budgets... -
Commented on OSTP Space <strike>Summit</Strike> Conference Update
There is no sustainable HSF market at this time. Once ISS is gone, where will they go? Whatever plan there is, it will go the route of the ELV and come down eventually to one company providing the capability. Then... -
Commented on Space Policy Snapshot
"I have heard 2005, 2008, 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2019 as IOC for Ares I and Orion" Ares wasn't even started until 2005 so those early dates are made up. And that's part of the problem. People have been throwing... -
Commented on Fact Checking In Houston
One of the reasons for the anger has been that the planned human spaceflight program was canceled with no real plan in place. NASA is still working on how this idea of commercial crewed space will work. The fact that... -
Commented on Nelson's Compromise Emerges
"Is the Oldsmobile Orion (TM) further along than the X-43? When is the Olds Orion scheduled for launch?" How many crew will be flying in the X-43 when it launches, huh?... -
Commented on Fact Checking In Houston
"The previous president also went quite a while before appointing a NASA administrator." Speaking of fact checking, Dan Golden was NASA administrator from April 1, 1992 to November 17, 2001. President Bush was elected in Nov 2000 and began his... -
Commented on Tug of War Over Commercial Space Safety?
Most of NASA's regulations do seem reasonable, especially with the threats of program cancellation should loss of life occur. What safety rules should be relaxed?... -
Commented on Nelson's Compromise Emerges
"The answer is a penalty contract" That wouldn't work. The company can go bankrupt or while we start over that would be many more years with no US HSF capability.... -
Commented on Tug of War Over Commercial Space Safety?
And all of these new regulations are going to be written and reviewed overnight? That's another reason we're not ready for a commercial only human spaceflight capability yet. In the meantime, Obama's proposal is to stop all US human spaceflight... -
Commented on Tug of War Over Commercial Space Safety?
"I can't see NASA as being sufficiently independent to be the regulator of commercial spacecraft safety." The FAA isn't any better. Just ask the NTSB. They make safety recommendations but the FAA is also responsible for the airlines making money... -
Commented on Upcoming Policy-related Events
"Sounds like SpaceX will bid 600 million on crew" I would be interested in reading the bid review on that one. It sounds like they are leaving out a lot of costs which would seem to indicate a lack of... -
Commented on Bolden Stands His Ground
"They ARE ALREADY designing and building manned spacecraft, and have done so since before Sputnik." Huh? SpaceX was only founded in 2002 so your statement is not correct. If you check the message I was replying to, Antoine Lavoisier was... -
Commented on Bolden Stands His Ground
Hiring smart people does not make you experienced or proficient at human spaceflight. You also have the management, policies, procedures and quality assurance at the company to make high rel products and catch mistakes as much as possible. This is... -
Commented on Bolden Stands His Ground
I'm sure that US companies could design and build a human spacecraft. The problem is how long it would take and how much it would cost. There are many examples of high tech projects that start out with bold promises... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
"if you want to move forward, a fresh effort like Falcon is not a bad idea." Falcon 9 is based on a O2/Kerosene technology so it sounds like it is also "Tried and True" and not that much of a... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
My main question on how they plan on recovering the 2nd stage is it would be I would think near orbital velocity. So to recover it, you would need a re-entry system and a large one at that. That would... -
Commented on Bigelow Is Looking For a Few Good Astronauts
They have also said that it is important for astronauts to be in control of the vehicle in case of problems.... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
"I don't think the fact that Falcon is using a government facility for launch necessitates any openness from SpaceX" I don't think SpaceX using a government facility requires any openness. However, they are competing for public contracts and are trying... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
How is SpaceX recovering the second stage?... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
"Why single out SpaceX" Well for one thing, Garver has touted their claim of being able to have a manned capsule within 3 years or less of them starting. Another is SpaceX is looking to be launching their spacecraft before... -
Commented on A HotFire for Falcon 9
SpaceflightNow reports "The company has released detailed updates on the cause of Tuesday's aborted engine test and other progress, but SpaceX was unable to announce when it would make static fire attempts. Officials did not give reports on the status... -
Commented on OSTP Space <strike>Summit</Strike> Conference Update
H2O2 engines have better performance, but my impression is that they have higher life cycle costs (design, build, operate). You also have handling problems with H2 because of the smaller molecule. I think the better approach is for O2/Kerosene. It... -
Commented on Daily Space Policy Reaction
"Then there's wait for up to three more commercial expert companies to fly crew, in about 3 years" That's assuming the commercial companies can deliver on that promise. There's no evidence to support this and is more likely to be... -
Commented on OSTP Space <strike>Summit</Strike> Conference Update
"we're too scared to build a high-ISP rocket so we're resorting to solids" The Falcon 9 is not a high ISP rocket. Their web site lists a sea level ISP of 275 and it appears that the SRB used for...
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