Bernardo de la Paz

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• Commented on California Reps Support White House Space Plan

  And now the real debate begins. Boeing's congressmen are ticked that the Congressional leadership plans to reverse the administration's plan to gut the budget of Lockheed's Orion spacecraft to pay for Boeing's CCDev spacecraft....

• Commented on Which "Compromise" Will Prevail?

  If it's dependent on government budgets, then it's not commercial space flight. 'Commercial' in this context just means somebody elses pet contractor(s)....

• Commented on Commercial Space Proponents Respond

  Mr. Matula, brilliantly stated, sir! If we really want to change the status quo, NASA should be returned to its original intended function of supplying industry with technical aid, not financial aid. NASA (& previously N.A.C.A.) were supposed to be...

• Commented on Commercial Space Proponents Respond

  Everyone please stop the lie of calling this 'commercial space'. It's not. This is just a new generation of contractors trying to muscle in on the established player's turf and the old guard contractors trying to fight back over who...

• Commented on Cernan Calls On Bolden To Resign

  "Whatever happened to that "all mankind" in "we came in piece for all mankind"?" It was left on a plaque on the moon. It was nothing more than PR fluff that was meant to score a few sound bite points...

• Commented on NASA's FY 11 Budget: Kicking The Can Down The Road

  By definition, if the money comes from the NASA budget, then it IS the NASA way. COTS, COTS-D, CCDEV, Obama's Bold New Plan, whatever name it goes under - are all funded out of the NASA budget and therefore are...

• Commented on Paradigm Shift Ahead

  Space X may be an interesting new contractor and Falcon 9 may be an interesting new rocket, but none of this can be considered a 'paradigm shift'. This is nothing more than the newest contractor joining the industry. Good luck...

• Commented on Using ISS Needs To Extend Shuttle - Update

  For more than I decade I have been worried by the shuttle funding trap that NASA is caught in and agree with those who think NASA desperately needs to move beyond the shuttle. However, from the reality of where NASA...

• Commented on Commercial Sector Reaction

  I've said it before and I'll keep saying it; If NASA is paying for it and NASA is the only customer, what is 'commercial' about it? The switch from Constellation to 'the Merchant 7' is nothing more or less than...

• Commented on Is A Human Space Flight Compromise Emerging?

  "So why are the DIRECT costs inaccurate?" See my previous comments regarding the fundamental flaw of DIRECT being the incompatibility of economically efficient flight rates for crew missions and heavy cargo missions. The inevitable failure of DIRECT as a sustainable...

• Commented on Is A Human Space Flight Compromise Emerging?

  "This is why I advocate cutting ISS funds (currently $2 billion a year) in half so that we can spend the other billion funding a NSS (National Space Station) program in order to deploy a space station, or stations, in...

• Commented on Is A Human Space Flight Compromise Emerging?

  "[...] this is essentially identical to the 1989 NASA "90-Day Study" in response to GHWB's "Space Exploration Initiative". At least someone is up on their history." Yes, you are essentially correct. And the painful truth is that this should have...

• Commented on Is A Human Space Flight Compromise Emerging?

  Aerobraking is your friend. With present technology, it is the obvious linchpin to serious and economically sustainable operations beyond LEO....

• Commented on Is A Human Space Flight Compromise Emerging?

  Oddly enough, for a change it looks like political compromise might get to the best answer. While this may not be the ideal space program one would design from scratch, given where we are at today and the resources available,...

• Commented on Taking Space Exploration Beyond Traditional Partnerships

  This is probably a good time to remember how & why NASA (originally N.A.C.A.) was created: http://www.planetfreebook.com/Classic_collection/classic_books_author_ABC_PDF_edited_filenames/Bilstein.%20Roger%20E!Orders%20of%20Magnitude%20-A%20History%20of%20the%20NACA%20.pdf...

• Commented on The Merchant 7

  What's so new about NASA being used to funnel public money to private contractors? Seems like the same tired old game, just different faces. Some of the faces aren't even new, but only back from the dead....

• Commented on Avatar

  I saw it in Imax 3D; it is very impressive and entertaining. Worth seeing, but don't wait for it on the small screen. --WARNING: Plot spoilers follow.-- I agree with the comments that the story is a bit silly though....

• Commented on Shields Up! NewSpace Is Under Attack

  If "NewSpace" considers it urgent that an existing NASA program be cancelled so the money can be freed up from an existing NASA contractor and given to "NewSpace" instead, then isn't "NewSpace" really just the latest iteration of "SameOldSpace"? I...