Bernardo de la Paz

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• Commented on The Long Confusing Path Toward Space Station Utilization

  A bit off topic, but something that should be considered. What became ISS was initiated in the mid '80's and has just been completed this year - call it roughly 25 years from inception to construction complete. Officially it has...

• Commented on Neil Tyson: Misquoted or Missing The Point?

  "NASA is not having a hard time replicating Apollo because of technology ... they are having a hard time replicating Apollo because they are getting less than 1/10th of the Apollo funding adjusted for inflation and their scope is much...

• Commented on Neil Tyson: Misquoted or Missing The Point?

  "NASA has never been about "exploration", but about geopolitical competition in technology." Precisely! That is exactly NASA's purpose and that of its predecessor N.A.C.A. If you read the history of how the N.A.C.A. and NASA came into being and their...

• Commented on Medvedev: Punishment for Space Failures Will Not Include Firing Squads

  "...while favoring congressionally doled out pork over commercial space..." That's an illogical statement. If the money is appropriated by Comgress, then by definition whatever it is being spent on is not commercial space. Conversely, there is nothing under Comgress's control...

• Commented on Medvedev: Punishment for Space Failures Will Not Include Firing Squads

  That is a very disturbing and progress stifling notion. I wonder if Medvedev thinks that heads of state should be held criminally accountable for their failures too?...

• Commented on Apollo on Truth Serum - Not Steroids

  Andy is wrong. He almost saw reality in the he's right about the concepts of affordability and sustainability being paramount to the success of a commercially healthy space industry. But that is precisely why we can no longer follow the...

• Commented on NASA Releases SLS Acquisition Materials

  "Does Bolden really want to preside over the disintegration of space science and aeronautical research at NASA and its conversion into an aerospace contractor's welfare agency?" You mean like with programs such as shuttle, ISS, Constellation, COTS & CCDev, and...

• Commented on Senate Action on CCDev Budget

  Mr. Wilson, that is really over the top absurd on the part of you & RC. Do you seriously believe the average taxpayer will not consider using government funding to assist companies to develop new products or services that they...

• Commented on Senate Action on CCDev Budget

  CadetOne, (1) is strictly a government market and an extremely narrow and limited one at that, without a clear path to a sustainable business model, hence the reason calling COTS & CCDev 'commercial' space flight is delusional....

• Commented on Senate Action on CCDev Budget

  RC, how could you possibly find it ridiculous or libelous to suggest that current headlines might be making Congress skittish to use taxpayer money to subsidize private businesses? With folks pointing more fingers at each other than they can count...

• Commented on Senate Action on CCDev Budget

  With the Solyndra scandal exploding all over the news right now, it's not too surprising that Congress is being a bit shy about getting involved in more crony capitalism deals....

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  joesnokowski, Hansen seems pretty full of smug comments and he calls himself a climate scientist. It's not as simple as just looking at CO2, or did you miss the point of the CLOUD experiment? Here's another one that raises important...

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  stan's brain, your poor reading comprehension does not justify your derision. If you'd read the link I posted, you could have easily followed the prominent links to the original research publications if you wished. For example: http://cloud.web.cern.ch/cloud/ I posted that...

• Commented on A Fading NASA, Afraid Of Its Own Shadow

  "NASA is in wander mode - absent a "leader"." 14 months to go......

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  Mr. Cowing, you hit the nail on the head: "the way he does these things using his NASA affiliation tends to leave the impression that he says is what everyone at NASA thinks - and that is not accurate. Obviously...

• Commented on Sudden Self-doubt in Russia

  This sort of thing was pretty normal in the 'legendary Soviet days' too....

• Commented on Large Budget Cuts Ahead for FY 2013

  I agree with the principle that everyone must share in the belt tightening to come, but I don't agree that a 10% cut should be regarded as a make or break difference in strategic direction. Effective leadership should be able...

• Commented on This is How NASA Allows Others To Determine Its Public Image (Update)

  I agree Ragnar. With an available data set of exactly zero to refernece in regards to extra terrestrial life or even other than human intelligent civilizations of any kind and no evidence whatsoever that such might exist or if so...

• Commented on This is How NASA Allows Others To Determine Its Public Image (Update)

  Seems equally probable that aliens would destroy us all for having a civilization that spent money on such a stupid and worthless study....

• Commented on More Climate Change Arm Waving

  Because it is better to go to the source data than opinions or interpretations of the data and because these two graphs (one for the north and one for the south) summarize in easy to understand fashion the trends in...

• Commented on More Climate Change Arm Waving

  "That's good news. Someone needs to inform the polar ice caps about this so they'll stop melting and raising sea levels! Marcel F. Williams" Mr. Williams, the polar ice capS (plural) are not melting. The south polar ice cap does...

• Commented on Russia Has Decided To Throw the ISS Away in 2020 (Update)

  "They are the first American company to fabricate, integrate a launch vehicle and spacecraft combination, orbit the spacecraft and retrieve it." Well, perhaps the first to succeed. You have to give at least a little credit to the consortium of...

• Commented on Russia Has Decided To Throw the ISS Away in 2020 (Update)

  "If an unmanned flight is delayed 2 years, does anyone really expect a full manned vehicle with working escape system to be functional in 3?" Nobody with any experience. The only NASA projects since the end of the Apollo era...

• Commented on Russia Has Decided To Throw the ISS Away in 2020 (Update)

  " Keith's note: So, I guess that's it then. [...] Who makes all of these "deals" for the U.S. anyway? We seem to be getting the short end of the stick each and every time." Mr. Cowing, there's actually a...

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  Not a fabrication or smear at all Stan. Don't misunderstand - I admire SpaceX's accomplishments, efficiency, and determination as much as anybody and am glad they are around. That doesn't mean they are perfect either and my point is that...

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  Not quite correct Tinker. Most of the Convair division of Genetal Dynamics was bought by Lockheed and is still operated by Lockheed Martin to this day. Among other things, they constitute the main LM division that builds the F-35 and...

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  "Sarcasm aside, commercial crew, being commercial and all, should go on and do its thing in parallel with Nasa human space flight program, not instead of it." True indeed, Flyboy. The extent to which the self-anointed 'commercial-crew' contractors and their...

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  expressnews10, Despite their names, COTS & CCDev are not commercial space flight, they are government programs. Falcon / Dragon, Cygnus / Taurus II, Dream Chaser, CST-100, etc. are government contracts. Space X, Orbiral, Sierra Nevada, Boeing, etc. are government contractors....

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  Les, as frustrating as the relative lack of budget commitment may be, the even greater crisis at this moment is the catastrophic lack of leadership. Given whatever budgeting is available, those in charge are still responsible for providing leadership that...

• Commented on Being Clear As To Who Actually Cancelled The Shuttle

  Excellent and very accurate summary Mr. Gray. True that the Bush administration set the wheels in motion for cancellation of the shuttle at this time. Possibly it was premature, but it had to happen sooner or later. It did not...