[oasis-members] Manned spaceship design unveiled

Wed Jul 23 13:54:58 EDT 2008

Guess the Times still hasn't heard of NOAA. . .

~JS~

Looking at Mars

McCain is onboard for Bush's space mission; Obama may be more down to
earth.

July 23, 2008

We know how John McCain and Barack Obama are polling in the red states,
the blue states, Europe, the Middle East, China and around the world.
But how are the presidential candidates polling on Mars? 

Red Planet policy turns out to be one of the areas in which McCain and
Obama present bright, clear policy differences. In short, McCain
supports the vision for space exploration that President Bush
articulated in 2004, which committed NASA to returning human beings to
the moon by 2020, with a vaguely defined ambition to send astronauts on
to Mars before 2050. This vision has since coalesced into NASA's
Constellation program, intended, among other things, to replace the
retiring space shuttle. And the Democratic contender? Earlier this year,
in a 15-page position paper detailing his ideas for education, Obama
sneaked in the following line at the end: "The early education plan will
be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation program for five years." 

Who's right? There's something to be said for pulling the plug on
Constellation. The space agency should take a fresh look at its goals
and practices, possibly even giving up its role as a driver in human
space exploration and becoming a paying passenger on vehicles built and
operated by foreign and private-sector organizations. This would leave
NASA with more funds for the robotic exploration that has brought such
vast rewards on a relatively small budget (and without risk to life and
limb). 

But where your taxes are concerned, nothing is ever simple. Bush's 2004
vision, announced shortly after the landings of the Spirit and
Opportunity rovers on Mars, brought with it a surge of interest in
robotic science in the inner solar system -- which could be promoted,
accurately or not, as the necessary prep work for human exploration. The
bulk of NASA funding still goes to human exploration and thus tends to
end up in Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama. But Los Angeles County
could be an ancillary beneficiary of Constellation, because the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory is the most important player in robotic planetary
exploration. 

Fiscal realities and NASA's commitment to keeping its $17-billion budget
flat already seem to be putting a limit on Constellation, but Bush's,
and now McCain's, vision nicely balances realism and ambition. Yet it's
Obama who is sounding like the more realistic, market-oriented
candidate. His campaign said recently that Obama hopes to enhance NASA's
role "in confronting the challenges we face here on Earth, including
global climate change" and "to reach out and include international
partners and engage the private sector to increase NASA's reach and
provide real public economic benefits for the nation."

-----Original Message-----
From: oasis-members-bounces at oasis-nss.org
[mailto:oasis-members-bounces at oasis-nss.org] On Behalf Of Craig E. Ward
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 9:46 AM
To: oasis-members at oasis-nss.org
Subject: [oasis-members] Manned spaceship design unveiled

More possibilities for a crewed vehicle? The article mentions a
ESA/Russian design and an alternative ESA design.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519723.stm 

-- 

cewcew at mac.com

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