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• Commented on Its Getting Harder To Stop Constellation

  I get your point! I really do. As Heinlein commented on Technological Progress (and I paraphrase) "Sure we make mistakes. Big mistakes. But we are moving so fast they can't catch up with us." Ahem. Providing we don't trip and...

• Commented on House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request

  I repeat: "Well actually my sources were your sources, just reading a bit further down the page!" The OMB refutation was linked to by the article YOU cited! Did you read your cites? More to the point. Did you read...

• Commented on Has China Been Formally Invited to Join the ISS Program? (Another Update)

  Rather like the US with the abandonment of Lifeboat Alpha and later the X-38 and later the entire ISS! Dennis Tito was going to Mir before NASA insisted that the latter was deorbited and blocked the intentions of MirCorp. There...

• Commented on Has China Been Formally Invited to Join the ISS Program? (Another Update)

  "but we never asked the Soviets to come to the moon with us." Well actually: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4209/ch2-4.htm and http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html “Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars." (President Kennedy,...

• Commented on House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request

  Well actually my sources were your sources, just reading a bit further down the page! With regards to the OMB. Are you suggeting that this Office can just make these numbers up? That there is no scrutiny? OMG! Please note...

• Commented on Has China Been Formally Invited to Join the ISS Program? (Another Update)

  With respect I would doubt that Perminov/ RKA would make this oveture without consulting with all major parties first. The "we" probably includes all International Space Station partners. Even Brazil! Russia was probably nominated to break the news. Probably when...

• Commented on Its Getting Harder To Stop Constellation

  In one word: Sustainability! Apollo was not sustainable, the Shuttle wasn't really but you persevered in the face of two disasters and horrendous operational costs. But in sustaining the STS, NASA lost the ability to sustain itself in other vital...

• Commented on Its Getting Harder To Stop Constellation

  Two points: a/ "While the consumer class thrives, great disparities remain. The 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe accounts for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South...

• Commented on House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request

  Ahem "President Bush agreed..." acceded, acknowledged, acquiesced, complied, conceded, concurred, consented, gave blessing, gave carte blanche,... His Presidency. His responsibility. Thus technically Bush *is* responsible for 2009 and (partially) 2010 budgets. (See below.) Obama's first 'solo' Budget is 2011 -...

• Commented on Yet Another Stealth Launch at Wallops (Update)

  http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Exceptional back catalogue. Here's STS 125 for example: http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=110:sts-125&layout=default As to why NASA doesn't maintain a parallel archive? Who can say? However perhaps Wallops need a visit from Lori bearing in mind what she said to a younger generation...

• Commented on House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request

  Going? Sorry but the bailout was (technically) under Bush too :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932010#Emergency_and_short-term_responses http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXTl_q8nIqk8&refer=home Without TARP & whatnot we would have been in a much MUCH worse state. And we are not out of the woods yet! http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/ezmoneymatters/images/2008/09/15/great_depression_stock_graph_where_.jpg "Double Dip Recession"...

• Commented on Garver Online - Today

  The battle for hearts and minds amongst America's newest generation is more stark than Climatologist vs Astronaut. It is between god fearing, god believing; supernaturalist peasant and rationalising thinking citizen-scientist. That is the significant difference between the educational policies for...

• Commented on Video: Reason.tv: Porker of The Month: Pigs In Space

  My guess and IANARS is that if some of the "game changing technology" pays off over the next five years then, rather than monolithic structures of the Cx program and a monolithic HLV, the next generation of American space construction...

• Commented on Video: Reason.tv: Porker of The Month: Pigs In Space

  Mike. The Obama era effort is largely identical to the Bush era effort. As it *returns* the US to the VSE of Marburger: affordable and sustainable deep space exploration. I watched, from afar, as an architecture predicated on the above,...

• Commented on John Glenn Has Something To Say

  Poor choice of words: "We wait on international relations we will have a very long wait." Columbus 2004 - 2007 (Whoops 2008!) ditto Kibo Your current President and Executive is working hard to mend a lot of broken bridges busted...

• Commented on House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request

  Well bearing in mind that the request and especially it's deadline is the very definition of an impossible request. Attachment 1 being a case in point. However: "6) All other records NASA deems relevant to the support of the Administration's...

• Commented on John Glenn Pushes for Shuttle Extension

  Whilst applauding the sentiment, there is NO money in Europe for this sort of program. We will be struggling to maintain our existing commitments. I also doubt that the US: DoD/ Congress/ Fox 'News' Network will allow the tech transfer....

• Commented on John Glenn Pushes for Shuttle Extension

  With three fingers pointing back at themselves. Deservedly so....

• Commented on John Glenn Pushes for Shuttle Extension

  "Let's not forget that everything tends to be politics with the Russians." Unintentional humour? SpaceX has a long way to go before it can match the Russians in confidence and competence. The Russians will also charge a premium for Soyuz...

• Commented on John Glenn Has Something To Say

  Whilst largely agreeing with Senator John Glenn's summation of the state of HSF I must take issue with the following rhetorical point: "Starting at the end of this year, and probably for the next five to ten years, the launches...

• Commented on White House Responds To Congress on FY 2011 Budget

  Try the presentations here: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/new_space_enterprise/home/workshop_home.html http://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/sbag2/presentations/PlymouthRockasteroidmission.pdf http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Million_Mile_Mission.html http://iaaweb.org/iaa/Studies/nextsteps.pdf Exciting stuff! From the televised committees I have seen to date one gets the impression that your politcal class have not read any of these documents. But I blame their staffers... Please...

• Commented on Constellation Layoff Update

  Apart from the obvious i.e. Orion is worthwhile salvaging. And it's political purpose. Orion has the potential to become a nexus of various technologies the US needs to develop TO CATCH UP WITH THE RUSSIANS: - long on orbit duration...

• Commented on Charlie Bolden's BP Moment

  If Keith will permit a quote from the article: "Trent stressed that Bolden has not withheld funding or threatened to cancel the project. However, in e-mails to NASA officials in April and May, he worried that Bolden's consultation with Marathon...

• Commented on Moon Water Update

  One is reminded of the MASCONs. Clearly large pockets of ice near the surface (Oh I wish) will show up as LESSCONs! Hence the other probe: GRAIL. If there is one topic in which I am in agreement with Messrs:...

• Commented on Moon Water Update

  But they had better do a good job first! In addition to unprecedented temperatures and temperature differentials there are always the electric craters! Roll on LADEE But is that "lady?" Or "laddy? Inquiring minds want to know!...

• Commented on White House Responds To Congress on FY 2011 Budget

  Congress, desperately hoping that all the finger pointing at NASA will somehow absolve them of the three fingers pointing back at them. Where were they when Cx STARTED to go awry? "You can fool some of the Space Cadets..."...

• Commented on PETAnauts Are Persistent

  The guy I point to at Harvard is the lead 'scientist' for the experiment. Read my previous comments! There I set out a methodology thay even PETA would approve of and produce a result with MEANING....

• Commented on PETAnauts Are Persistent

  Drake how about this scientist: http://nasawatch.com/archives/2009/11/street-theater.html#comment-25394 et seq with especial reference to http://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/PROFILES/ProfileDetails.aspx?Person=JB32 Further to this I understand that the radiation is to be administered by injection? How does this simulate the real problem: GCRs. However I have yet to...

• Commented on Water Worlds

  One can't help but be amused by the "metre-thick layer covering the Moon." bearing in mind that we would have had to process the Moon to get it. Alas the Moon is no watering hole and Mars is little better:...

• Commented on Kepler Data Dump - And NASA Ignores it (Update)

  We had this discussion over the LRO data and look, less than a year later we have Moon Zoo! This is to be expected. The PIs and their henchPGs and UGs get to cherry pick the data for some career...