Senate Bill Adds Shuttle Flight, New Shuttle-Derived Vehicle

simonbp writes "The Senate Commerce Committee this morning marked up a compromise NASA Authorization Act that rolls back some of Obama's plans for NASA, while keeping others. The bill adds at least one more shuttle flight, keeps Obama's technology demonstrators and commercial access to ISS (albeit at reduced funding), restores the Orion crew capsule, and replaces the Ares rockets with a Shuttle-Derived 'Space Launch System' for going to the ISS and Beyond, which could be ready as soon as 2015."

Congress

[Machupo]

They should just mandate that NASA builds a space elevator by 2020 and be done with it...

Re:Wrong Direction

[Bruce Perens]

ARPA did a better job. If we have the will to define and stick to a mission, we can structure independence into it. If we don't have the will, maybe it's best left to non-government entities.

Re:Insurance:

[Bruce Perens]

Well, ISS is more part of the problem than it is a program we need to support until some future date. What's it for? Not research, that is done better by other programs. It and the shuttle seem to have been designed to justify each other. And unlike interplanetary research, we actually do have free enterprise building near-earth capability.

Re:Wrong Direction

[Bruce Perens]

Caltech does just fine building MSL, without all that much help from NASA other than signing checks. You don't need NASA to give Caltech a grant.

Re:Wrong Direction

[Bruce Perens]

Well, today NASA to a great extent relies on Caltech to do the pure science programs for them. Mars Science Lab, etc. Why not cut out the middleman?

Re:Congress

[Bruce Perens]

Heavy lifters might be safer for people on the ground than space elevators. Think about what happens if the belt breaks.

Re:Too late

[Bruce Perens]

What is really wild is that this discussion goes on while X-37B is over our heads. Why not declassify it and leave it in the hands of DOD?

Re:Too late

[Bruce Perens]

Well, X-37B and X-38 seem to share a lot other than size, and the program's been in development all of that time.

Re:Wrong Direction

[Bruce Perens]

Maybe I'm missing something, but doesn't NASA design and build all the equipment necessary?

No. They subcontract that.

Re:Wrong Direction

[Bruce Perens]

They do keep some technical employees at NASA just because you don't MBA's writing the technical specs and determining if the contractor met them.

Yes, but all the reports I hear are that MBAs running the show is indeed happening. And folks with less qualification than MBAs in congress.

It needs to be run by scientists, and with independence.

Re:Too late

[Bruce Perens]

Yes, but the article you cited says it's now based on the HL-20. So, I would like to know how much of this actually came from either federal program. It sounds like the body shape, and that's it.

Re:KILL IT

[lgw]

The moment you mention "Atlas Shrugged" you marked yourself as a retard.

Your point is invalid.

Good day.

But you just mentioned "Atlas Shrugged" too, so now you're also marked as a retard. Oh, shit, I just did it too!

Re:Proven delivery system

[Farmer Tim]

Could we lie about the asteroid and shoot them into space now?

Shuttle shuttle shuttle

[Profane MuthaFucka]

I'm fucking sick of this stupid technology. Both astronauticides were the result of stupid shuttle technology.

Side-by-side. Bah. Rockets were meant to be cock-like. Erect. Vertical. Long necked, if you will.

The shuttle broke twice because of the side-by-side architecture. It's time to make rockets that looked like cocks, I mean rockets. Long, tall, and long.