vulture4

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• Commented on Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize

  "He3, solar power satellites, asteroid mining etc" These are all fantasies created by people who want to raise the demand curve by claiming human spaceflight has infinite value. We don't even have DT fusion, the advantages of He3 are limited,...

• Commented on STS-135 Is Almost A Certainty

  The ISS was designed to be supported by Shuttle, not just for one more mission but as long as needed. After decades of struggle the Shuttle is finally working well, and it makes sense to fly it until something better...

• Commented on Letter: Armstrong, Cernan, and Lovell Support NASA Authorization

  The Shuttle will still be shut down at the very point when it is finally working superbly. The huge sums spent on keeping obsolete Constellation derivatives going will still be wasted. The only thing that might be useful is the...

• Commented on The Senate NASA Compromise: A Hinge of History?

  "That said, the Shuttle was and remains a dangerous and expensive compromise. It killed 14 people (so far) and costs $2 billion/year exclusive of any mission costs." This is simply inaccurate. The reliability of launch vehicles is dependent primarily on...

• Commented on Flip Flopping at DoD Over Solid Rockets

  Agree. SRB processing is very expensive and contributed to high Shuttle costs, economics of reuse have questionable from the start and decision to use them on Ares was inexplicable. There is no commonality between the SRBs and any DOD system....

• Commented on OSTP Space <strike>Summit</Strike> Conference Update

  We were working on next generation spaceplanes in the 90's. Then the entire Reusable Launch Vehicle program was cancelled under GW Bush. The X-37 was picked up by DOD, and will presumably be launched soon, at least for one flight....

• Commented on Daniel In The Lion's Den

  Obama missed several points he should have made. Most of the space workers would have lost their jobs even if Constellation had continued. Yet as long as Bush was in power there wasn't a peep from them. Bush wanted to...

• Commented on Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) Meeting Report

  >>Many, though not all, of the participants interpreted that question to mean: How can we make the moon economically viable? The primary markets for exotic travel are research and tourism. However they would have to be users who pay for...

• Commented on Atlantis Lands to end a Near Flawless Mission

  Did not see any tile damage, and a new record for fewest problems during preparation for launch. After 129 flights the Shuttle is finally working well, launching 6 times a year with 7 people and 22,000 lb each time. Why...

• Commented on Time Magazine's Best Invention of the Year

  The Time list of "best inventions of 2009" also includes the Messenger probe (launched in 2004), teleportation, a video game without a controller, a football team that doesn't punt, a human-powered vending machine, and "the edible racing car". The magazine...

• Commented on China and U.S. To Cooperate in Space (And On Trains)

  Inviting china to join the ISS program maes sense. ISS is short on capital and needs a new partner with deep pockets and capable rockets. China wants to be accepted as a member of the first rank of industrialized nations....

• Commented on When Others Discover What We Have Forgotten

  China is not interested in racing with us at all. If they lost, they would look incompetent. if they won, they would irritate their biggest customer. They are interested in proving they are in the first rank of industrialized countries,...

• Commented on Moving On To New Things In Space

  There will be five Shuttle flights by the end of 2009, and there have been as many as eight in 12 months....

• Commented on Challenge Everything

  Is this just a general motivational statement or an actual program? I am having difficulty finding anything that is actually being done under this program, i.e. discussion or ideas proposed....

• Commented on More KSC Layoffs Announced

  All the more reason we should not be tossing the Space Shuttle in the trash can ten years earlier than planned, when we do not have anything comparable to replace it, and currently have no plans to ever have anything...

• Commented on Sinking Expectations at SaveSpace.us

  Unfortunately many of the local political leaders have campaigned long and hard on a platform of cutting taxes regardless of the consequences. Now here they are saying taxpayers in other parts of the country should be paying more taxes to...

• Commented on Full Text of Jeff Hanley's Latest Rant

  Hanley seems competent, unfortunately Constellation has such serious problems that its long-term success is inconceivable. The first problem is the lack of any meaningful strategic objective. The second is decision-making by an interminable series of boards that insist on making...

• Commented on Jeff Hanley Dumps on Augustine

  The obvious way to get rid of the "gap" is to cancel Constellation and extend Shuttle. In fact, the cancellation of Shuttle is inexplicable. Did anyone notice we just had four launches in five months? With seven people and tons...

• Commented on Pro- and Anti-Space Commerce Views In the Senate

  Nelson also asked Augustine how much it would cost to extend Shuttle until commercial human access to ISS was available. Astonishingly, Augustine said only $10 billion. However much the sum is, it is much less than continuing Constellation and would...