Senator, recently you released your education proposal. To provide part of the money for funding it, you propose to delay the Constellation program. Now, Constellation has some serious flaws, as anyone who looks at it will tell you – Ares I is a complete waste, and there are serious issues with Orion, and Ares V as well. That said, if you are going to be pulling money from Nasa, and spaceflight in general, on a basic fairness, you need to tell us what your vision is for spaceflight in general (and Nasa in particular).
There is more on the other side
Before I get much further, let me pause an make a personal note here – I run a diary over at Dailykos, all about space (http://www.dailykos.com/user/FerrisValyn). As of right now, I do not have a candidate I am supporting. However, I am taking a real good look at Senator Obama, and would like to support him. But part of that requires a clear vision of what and how you see us proceeding in the area of spaceflight.
In the coming years, space will have a transformative effect on our economy, on energy, on our very basic way of life. You can see this in all the developments that are happen, at places like SpaceX, Armadillo Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, XCOR, Orbital outfitters – countless other places.
The resources that will open up to us include things like large scale clean energy (from space based solar power), incredible manufacturing capabilities (using the zero-g environment), and economic growth through the creation of new industries (like space tourism). But for that to happen, we need a president who understands and appreciates this.
One of the best ways to help this is through careful reforming and utilization of Nasa, to encourage the industry. The current plan, Constellation, has some serious problems. The Ares I rocket is a complete waste – yes, within much of the industry, there is derision about this vehicle from independent sources. It is a waste that only recreates abilities that we already have. The Ares V vehicle, while definitely adding new capabilities, requires substantial development, and is arguably unsustainable vis-a-vie funding. And it wouldn’t hurt to revisit parts of the Orion capsule plan either. However, there are some good things within the program that need to be kept – 2 things of particular interest, the Centiennial challenge program, and the COTS program.
Now, I realize that we have some serious issues that have to be dealt with, but as I said, spaceflight can help to address those issues. However, this is something that will need a few years to fully develop (5-10 years is my suspicion), and in the mean time, there are programs that need funding as well. Ideally, I’d love to see Nasa get reformed, and also get an increase in funding. But, as I said, there are other programs and departments that need funding. Because of that, I (and I suspect other supporters of manned spaceflight) would be willing to see Nasa lose some money, but in exchange we must have reform of Nasa. We need a new plan, something like the Direct Launcher, or something based on EELV, or various other options, that really are sustainable, that move us towards really embracing the idea of moving beyond simply exploring space, and really utilizing and developing it.
So, Senator Obama, please tell us what your space policy will be. And for everyone else reading this, please encourage Senator Obama to develop a good space policy.
While we are waiting, I will post additional points of interest, like viable alternatives to the Ares rockets, and some of the developments that we see in the industry.
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