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NASA has unveiled the design for the new rocket that is expected to enable astronauts to explore Mars "and beyond" in coming years.
The Space Launch System or SLS is expected to blast off on its first test mission at the end of 2017, NASA announced at a news conference Wednesday. It is designed to allow astronauts to explore the area between the Earth and the moon, near-Earth asteroids, Mars and its moons "and beyond."
My expectations of this ever becoming reality are nil if we can't get rid of the Teabaggers sailing on the Teatanic. There is no way they will ever allow funding of this project.
I think it is going to be another costly mistake for many reasons. First, we did not build the Saturn V and then come up with a plan to use it. We developed the plan first and then designed a rocket to meet the plan specifications. The Space Launch System is a rocket to nowhere, one that will likely be cut by future administrations exactly like the Constellation program before it, wasting more billions. There isn't even a guaranteee that it will meet whatever specificatons we might need for future missions. They could build it and find that it isn't what we need.
Secondly, NASA cannot afford it, they cannot sustain it, and it will not advance exploration. With the intense fiscal pressure facing all agencies, NASA should focus on making the most efficient use of the money allocated to it. This means setting priorities and making decisions based on merit and readiness. It will be painful, but it is necessary. Most importantly, it is time to put wasteful programs aside, such as the SLS. We can no longer afford it, and it’s an abuse of the agency’s mission.
The SLS was never put out for competition among the various aerospace industries. They chose the companies to do the work based on who was already doing work for the Shuttle program. Like Constellation, it is simply another ad hoc work program to keep Shuttle employees in a job. If other companies had been allowed to compete (i.e., Space X, and others), they could have come up with a better system at a much lower cost. No one in industry conducts business the way NASA has with this new program.
If they need a heavy lift vehicle that is capable of lifting the cargo they specify for this one, there is already an alternative that promises to do it much sooner, and at a much lower price per pound. And that is the
Space X Falcon X, Falcon X Heavy, and the Falcon XX:
In fact, the XX is designed to lift more payload than the SLS will ever carry.
The Falcon 9 will be ready to deliver the Dragon capsule to the ISS in November. It could be man-rated next year, and deliver a man-rated Dragon capsule to the ISS sometime next year. The Falcon 9 Heavy will be ready in two years. The Falcon 9 with the Merlin 2 engine, soon thereafter (this one will have more lifting capacity than the Shuttle). If Space X delivers on its promises, I see no reason why it shouldn't be allowed to enter the bidding process (that is, the bidding process that should have taken place but didn't).
My expectations of this ever becoming reality are nil if we can't get rid of the Teabaggers sailing on the Teatanic. There is no way they will ever allow funding of this project.
My expectations of this ever becoming reality are nil if we can't get rid of the Teabaggers sailing on the Teatanic. There is no way they will ever allow funding of this project.
I'm a Tea Partier and I fully support space exploration. A lot of us do. We like science. Science is good.
The money NASA spends on stuff like this is a drop in the bucket compared to what President Skippy and the Nitwits drop every time they open their mouths.
Listening to GOP Presidential candidates talk about science is like listening to children talk about sex: They know it exists, they have strong opinions about what it might mean, but they don't have a clue what it's actually about.
Listening to GOP Presidential candidates talk about science is like listening to children talk about sex: They know it exists, they have strong opinions about what it might mean, but they don't have a clue what it's actually about.
who cares about politcs having NASA putting the american flag on mars and be the first country to ever set foot on another planet would be a major milestone for man and 35 billion is nothing.
who cares about politcs having NASA putting the american flag on mars and be the first country to ever set foot on another planet would be a major milestone for man and 35 billion is nothing.
I agree. Our president is in campaign mode right now for a $500 B stimulus. I wouldn't have an issue with dropping $35 on this. It's proven that space exploration benefits us in more than just satisfying curiosity.
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Thanks for posting that. Here's an animation of the launch.
