Thirty Years of the Shuttle

Well, I knew I wasn't going to get through today without some sort of retrospective thought on the Space Shuttle. So, here it goes.

Just to age myself neatly, I was just about 12 years old when the first flight of Columbia occurred, April 12, 1981 (the 20th anniversary of the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin). I was 12 when STS-2 flew in November of that year. My dad arranged for a car pass for the causeway six miles away from the launch site (Launch Complex 39A, as I recall). I was a nutcase. Florida, in November, and with a chance to get away from junior high for a couple days? Perfect!

STS-2, November 12, 1981

Near as I can recall, Dad had a friend with a condo on the beach near the Cape. I got awakened at sunrise and was treated to a splash of gold across a placid sea. Spent a lot of time reading, as I recall. Dad got me the STS-2 press kit, which I held onto until my late 20s ("NEVER loan a pretty girl anything!" became my new motto on that for awhile), so I stayed entertained until launch time. I came well equipped: a pair of binoculars and two cameras. I looked like an overachieving tourist, which I was. Anyhow, come launch time, my jaw dropped, cameras and binoculars forgotten. I needed to see this with my own eyes. Meanwhile, as Columbia ascended skyward, my dad was trying to grab the camera from around my neck and take pictures. I was already a Star Wars fan by that point, so I had John Williams music going through my head as the mighty beast roared into the air. I think I was shuddering for a couple of days.

So okay, fast-forward 30 (yep, 30) years later. Through various twists and turns, I've found myself living the dream that my 12-year-old self scarcely believed was possible: writing for NASA. I know how the rockets work now. I have more reasons to get keyed up and nervous as the time approaches T-minus 1 minute.

I've got divided duties now: part supporting Marshall Space Flight Center, part supporting the SERVIR program, and I split my day 50/50 between them. Unfortunately, the launch occurred when I was at SERVIR. I say that because Marshall is the place where they design and manage the Shuttle propulsion systems: the four-segment solid rocket boosters and the three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), fueled by thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen from that big, orange external tank. There are lives, careers, and a great deal of pride tied into those things that make fire and smoke.

As it was, a couple minutes before launch, I went downstairs to watch the big TV, where maybe a dozen others had the same idea. As zero time approached, I found myself fidgety, even emotionally stirred (okay, yeah, I was holding back tears). My eyebrows raised as the countdown stopped at T-minus 31 seconds and listened to the radio chatter, quickly clueing in on the fact that they were worried about a d@mned camera. Nothing critical. And sure enough, the countdown restarted, and the fire started. I was so glad I emailed my sister and got her to have her kids--7 and 5--to watch the launch. They needed this feeling.

STS-135, July 8, 2011

Atlantis headed up into the clouds. Much to my surprise the cameras stayed locked on for much of the ascent. My eyes are watching the details like a professional now: are the SRBs doing anything funky? How much foam is coming off the external tank? Is the bird getting all the way to orbit? (And there I had a media-criticism moment, as these TV people think once the fire and smoke is no longer visible from the ground, the "launch" is over. It isn't, people: the bird has to get all the way to orbit, Main Engine Cutoff--MECO--before the job is done.) So I hauled myself back upstairs and watched the rest of the ascent. The tank fell away clean, though I did see some other little bits of junk flying off of it. At the end of it, I was comfortable enough to think to myself, "Well done, guys," and relax. Maybe the media will get their coverage right when SpaceX starts launching people to orbit, but I'm not holding my breath.

And there we are. Thirty years later, and the Space Shuttle program is about to come to an end. What does this mean for NASA, for the future of human spaceflight? I'm going to offer some Bartish thoughts here, none of which is particularly controversial, but some of which will still irritate one or another friend of mine in the space business.

In the near term, any future astronauts, experiments, or food and water will be shipped up to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russian Soyuz and Progress rockets. In the next 2-3 years (hopefully), American private-sector companies like SpaceX will be launching crew and cargo. But for now, there is nothing on this continent to replace the Shuttle, and the Constellation program to send human beings to the Moon and Mars has been scrapped, taking thousands of jobs with it. We have lost something critical to our national character, but I don't think everyone has felt it yet.

Do I want the commercial guys to succeed? Absolutely. The sooner the better, because as soon as the Shuttles are sent off to museums and the workers laid off, the price for a seat on the Russian rockets will probably (pardon the expression) skyrocket. But I liked Constellation. I wanted the U.S. committed to a 20- or 30-year plan to establish bases on the Moon and Mars. That is now not to be. The future is uncertain. Is it improvable? Yes. But that won't stop those of us who like the Shuttle from feeling that, yes, we're losing something important.

First Meeting of Huntsville Space Professionals

One of the advantages of being on a no-overtime type of schedule is that if you work really late one day, you can get out early on, say, a Friday. That's what I did yesterday after kicking it until 10 p.m. Thursday. Since I had the time and might face employment drama after September 30, I decided to attend the first meeting of Huntsville Space Professionals (HSP), a group formed by some downsized NASA folks here in Rocket City, at Chan Auditorium at University of Alabama-Huntsville. The goal of the group is "Preserving and promoting Huntsville's talented human space capital." In short, they want to keep space jobs--or at least the people who filled them--here in Huntsville.

Also in attendance were Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and WAFF TV, Channel 48. (Note to the media: never mind your pushy questions--some people don't like your Very Bright Lights shining in their face--and I was in the back of the room.)

One of the speakers was Lori King-Taylor from Trinity Performance Solutions, which appears to be a staffing company of some sort. Another site she referenced was by the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce. Trinity is helping HSP with establishing a career center, which will assist people with a job search web site, resume writing, interview skills, 401(k) options, entrepreneurship, and counseling. King-Taylor encouraged the crowd: "Keep your head high. This is not your fault. You have done nothing wrong."

Tommy Battle indicated that his office is talking to some of the likely "winners" under the Obama administration's space policy, including firms like SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace, and Virgin Galactic. There are a lot of smart, space-minded people in Huntsville who would prefer to stay here, thank you very much, and there is a lot of specialized equipment and infrastructure needed to build and test rockets here in Alabama, so the road to space will still go through Huntsville. We'll see if these other companies bite or not. And we still don't know what Marshall Space Flight Center will end up doing under the new policy/budget. In any case, Battle is covering all the bases and working with the Alabama Governor's office as well. He had to go to a meeting, so he wasn't able to take Q&A.

The HSP guys also contacted former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, who is now an "eminent scholar" and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UAH. Griffin was out of the country, but responded to Q&A via email. His general comments were that (unsurprisingly) he was not happy with the new policy, but that he has "no influence over this matter." With regard to people worried about looking for jobs, he recommended that people "look in Huntsville first," pointing to opportunities on the Army side of Redstone Arsenal. For dedicated souls who still want to work for NASA, he recommended reviewing the Space Policy and "go where the money is." On the whole, Griffin hoped that Congress "just says no to the ridiculous space policy advocated by the Obama administration."

After reviewing Griffin's emailed-in responses, the HSP folks reviewed the status of the NASA budget. H.R. 5614, the "Protecting Human Space Flight Act," which was introduced by Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) "To impose certain requirements on the expenditure of funds by National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the Constellation Program." More to the point, the point of the bill is to slow down or stop what's going on with Constellation. Otherwise, the NASA budget is entering the "markup" part of budget cycle, where Congress takes what it's been given and starts fiddling with the numbers. The House started its markups June 29, the Senate is due to start theirs July 14. The main difference in the Senate bill is the addition of one more Space Shuttle flight in June 2011. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes "number crunching" going on at the moment, so we'll see what happens. While NASA received a $19 billion budget from the House, they deferred a decision on how to appropriate (spend) that money. We're very likely looking at a Continuing Resolution (CR) come the start of the new fiscal year (October 1).

The HSP guys opened the mike to public comment. There were some questions from the audience on job assistance--the primary reason most folks were there, I'd gather. If the HSP guys were disappointed that more people weren't fired up or getting up to speak, they covered it pretty well. That's not how this town works. Engineers aren't that exciteable, in my observations, and excessive activism is sometimes a political risk.

One gentleman from Southern Capital Management said that he would be willing to share proceeds from a property that he is selling as a commercial property--if folks are willing to put in "sweat equity" to help improve it. Sounds like it'd be serious digging and sweating. He was looking for people with their own Bobcats. Still, the offer's there if you're willing to work...

Otherwise, several Human Resources reps from Technicore, MTS, and United Space Alliance went up to the front of the room to talk to people and collect resumes or other contact information. The HSP guys mentioned that Jacobs was hosting a job fair at the Huntsville Museum of Art 9 a.m. to Noon July 13, and that HSP would be having a meeting at the Monte Sano Lodge next week sometime. Then the meeting more or less broke up.

I am not certain how to rate the effectiveness of this meeting. As I walked in, they were passing out copies of the Obama administration's space policy to make people aware, and they "weren't asking people to take a stand either way." About 50 people showed up, and they managed to get the mayor and the media to show up, so that's a step in the right direction. The HSP guys were looking for feedback on what else they could be doing. I honestly couldn't say. The uncertainty around Huntsville will be around for awhile. "We're caught in a big political game that's going on over our heads," as more than one person said. What happens next is anyone's guess. In the meantime, unfortunately, this group will be necessary for awhile.

Potpourri CXLIII

I know, I know, I really should be outside getting some exercise in the fresh air, but it's my day off, so I'm spending it in whatever lazy fashion suits me best: in my case, blogging, hitting golf balls, and having a couple of brewskis. You enjoy the holiday your way, I'll do it mine.

While I am no longer working for Constellation/Ares, my cube is still located where the Ares Projects are based. And yes, I still care about the fate of the project. It now appears that Congress is punting on passing the federal budget on time or putting any money behind their complaints about how the Administration is treating NASA. So the program--what's left of it--will be in zombie mode until someone attaches the electrodes and gives it new life or it's put down like the wounded pet that it is. Oy.

From Doc:

• A little caffeineated humor. Need a t-shirt that expresses your mental state? Try this.
• And why? Because a story on NPR indicated that caffeine might, in fact, be good for you.

Oh yeah, and speaking of the Constellation Program, the Obama administration has released a new space policy. I have thoughts, but will be judicious about posting them.

• Observation #1: Human space exploration is not listed in the top-line summary of priorities.
• Observation #2: While there's an emphasis on "space nuclear power," that could any number of things: nuclear-powered batteries (what we use on Cassini/Galileo now); space-based nuclear reactors for powering ion drives or other flavors of propulsion that result in radioactive by-products in space; or it could mean starting up a NERVA or Orion type of vehicle, which would actually use nuclear explosions to accelerate spacecraft. We'll have to wait and see.
• General comment: In theory, international cooperation is a good thing, and gosh knows the previous administration (President and NASA) did not go out of their way to push for it in space. However, there are always challenges when you deal with international partners. For example, what if we stop getting along with a major partner (e.g. Russia) over some unrelated political/military fracas? If Russia provides critical components for the mission, would the mission be stopped by diplomatic problems? And then there's our nation's oh-so-fabulous export control laws, which in theory prevent people who don't like us from getting hold of our sensitive technology, but in reality can prevent international teams from working with us because we can't allow them to see how our technologies work, or vice versa. Hopefully the administration will at least fix ITAR before putting international partners on the "critical path" for any future missions (i.e., making their participation essential for success).

Need your business cards refurbished/redesigned? Check out this site.

A variety of things I found through random surfing:

• Shushing sonic booms: http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/supersonic-concept-plane-shush-sonic-booms-100630.html
• First photo of an extrasolar planet: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/first-alien-planet-photographed-confirmed-100629.html
• An astronaut says there's no time for sex in space: http://www.space.com/news/no-sex-in-space-astronaut-says-100629.html
• Nebula photo: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/blue-nebula/
• New look and origin to Wonder Woman: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/a-new-wonder-woman/
• Teaching military history in times of war: http://chronicle.com/article/Teaching-Military-History-in-a/66023/
• Review: The Icarus Syndrome http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/06/28/100628crbo_books_packer?currentPage=all
• Why not socialism? http://reviewcanada.ca/reviews/2010/06/01/the-thinking-man-s-marxist/
• A different view of appeasement: http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=23542
• Legislation and the gender gap: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/science/15tier.html
• Charlie Sheen vs. Emilio Estevez: What’s the difference? http://www.mentalfloss.com/difference/charlie-sheen-vs-emilio-estevez/

Are you really into seeing science stuff? Would you like a trip to Sweden? Check this out.

If you're a big fan of living on the Moon, you might enjoy the Moon Miners' Manifesto, the newsletter of the Moon Society. I don't want to live on the Moon, personally. I like Earth. But I wouldn't mind staying at a hotel on the Moon, say with a nice view of the Earth...

From D2: a graphic designer gets a little snarky with a friend who wanted him to do something they bloody well could have done themselves. I've tried things like this, but it usually damages friendships.

Got this through my space-geek sources:

More on the Times pay wall: http://au.biz.yahoo.com/100702/31/2e1qz.html  Did you know there are only two Space Shuttle missions left? Mark your calendars: November 1 and February 26. We'll miss human spaceflight when it's gone...

Space Studies Institute Space Manufacturing 14: Critical Technologies for Space Settlement at NASA Ames Conference Center October 30-31, 2010!



Thirty five years ago, NASA Ames Research Center was the site of the first large technical study of space settlement. We have made significant progress since then, but with the prospect of low cost space transportation in the near future, now is the time to reinvigorate research and collaboration on the critical path technologies needed for space industrialization and settlement. The 14th Space Studies Institute conference on Space Manufacturing continues in the spirit of the Princeton Conferences initiated by Prof. Gerard K O’Neill in 1974.


The Space Manufacturing and Space Settlement Conferences have always given SSI attendees great value. This conference is the only one solely concerned with the science and engineering of humanity’s expansion into the solar system. Its most important function is to bring together the engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers who do the real work. New space companies and new institutions have formed from collaborations forged at earlier conferences. We hope that this and future annual SSI conferences will be as fruitful.


The specific purpose of Space Manufacturing 14 is to identify and recommend critical hardware research that can be conducted now by SSI, NASA and other organizations.


Registration opens July 7, 2010


*Registration is $250 for a full two day conference (Saturday October 30 & Sunday October 31), which includes a catered lunch for both days and a Friday night Wine Reception.
*Saturday, October 30th, Buffet dinner $35
*Our Official Hotel for this event is the lovely Sheraton Sunnyvale. Exclusive to SSI attendees, a special rate of $89 per night includes an exclusive Shuttle pickup and drop off between San Jose Airport and the Hotel (until 9pm on Friday, October 29, Saturday, Sunday and Monday), transportation to and from the NASA Ames conference center...plus free High Speed Internet in each SSI guest's room.

For history buffs, a time-lapse animation of Middle Eastern empires: http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/EMPIRE17.swf

This sounds interesting: someone is developing a crowdsourced documentary: http://www.onedayonearth.org/

An online introduction to Einstein’s thought: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FE3074A4CB751B2B

Using “cognitive surplus” to change the world? http://www.openculture.com/2010/06/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html


 
Like me, my buddy Martin luckily got moved off of Ares and onto other duties, including speech writing for executives at Marshall Space Flight Center. I suggested the following books/links to help him "think like an executive." Or something. Here to help...
 

Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History: http://www.amazon.com/Lend-Me-Your-Ears-Speeches/dp/0393059316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278081799&sr=8-1

Bartlett’s Quotations: http://www.bartleby.com/

The Complete Works of Shakespeare: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

Not sure civil servants are allowed to quote the Bible anymore, but what the heck: http://www.blueletterbible.org/

This site is useful for finding random “stuff” out on that-thar interwebs thingy: http://boingboing.net/

Also, if you want to absorb the zeitgeist of the early 21st century (and understand what sorts of books that managers/leaders read), consider the following:


Outliers (Basic theme: there are other things that account for success than money, luck, and hard work. Stupid.) http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082187&sr=8-1

The Wisdom of Crowds: http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-James-Surowiecki/dp/0385721706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082257&sr=1-1

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Improbable-Robustness-Fragility/dp/081297381X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082272&sr=1-1

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything: http://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/dp/0060731338/ref=pd_sim_b_12

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century: http://www.amazon.com/World-Flat-Updated-Expanded-Twenty-first/dp/B002N2XI02/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082396&sr=1-4

The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less: http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082577&sr=1-1

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results:
http://www.amazon.com/Remarkable-Boost-Morale-Improve-Results/dp/0786866020/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082506&sr=1-1

Servant Leadership: A Journey Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness
http://www.amazon.com/Servant-Leadership-Legitimate-Greatness-Anniversary/dp/0809105543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278082603&sr=1-1. (Okay, most leaders are NOT reading this one...but more of them should. A great recommendation I got from D2!)

 
Apps, apps, and more apps...I got a little spooked today trying the "Shazam" app on my iPhone for the first time. The gag is, you turn it on, put the iPhone up close to the radio, or even sing a few bars of a song, and it will identify the song's title and artist. That's just creepy. Oh, and speaking of apps, the U.S. Government is now getting in on the act, as reported by my buddy Dar.
More on Constellation: job losses are now estimated at around 5,000 people nationwide. Boo.

John Logdson is apparently a mentor of the folks who created the current space policy. Here are some of this thoughts here.

From my buddy Melissa, a short movie on teamwork.

From Anika, for Star Wars and Joss Whedon fans: a "Joss Whedon is my master now" t-shirt.

From Lin: News coverage of the oil spill is now being regulated.

And lastly, steampunk is making a bit of a comeback, in a variety of formats, including computer keyboards and apparel. For those unfamiliar with steampunk, I recommend reading The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson. It's an alternate history science fiction story in which Charles Babbage got his mechanical computer ("difference engine") to work in the Victorian Era, thereby extending the Victorian aesthetics into the future.

Potpourri CXLI

Science, Technology, and Space

And you thought your job sucked? Check out this accident report from the National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20060131X00140&ntsbno=DFW06FA056&akey=1

The politics of open government: http://govfresh.com/2010/05/the-politics-of-open-government-free-speech/
Russia is starting a 520-day Mars simulation mission: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100602/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_mission_to_mars

Oil Stories…worst case, the leak might last through Christmas: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPfFTgqayIKY&pos=9  

A 21-year-old in NY has a proposed solution for the leak: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/leak_solution_Zw3RdLcmYcdsA4UAz6WMwM#ixzz0phF8fb9b

A little history on the spill…the present mess is not the worst the Gulf of Mexico has seen: http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulf-oil-spill-ixtoc.html, nor is it the largest spill in world history. That distinct dishonor belongs to Saddam Hussein and his troops, who dumped over 400 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf: http://employees.oneonta.edu/baumanpr/geosat2/Environmental_Warfare/ENVIRONMENTAL_WARFARE.htm. There is some hope for recovery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_oil_spill), though military friends of mine tell me you shouldn’t go swimming in the Persian Gulf anyway. Space-based solar power doesn’t do any of this, folks…but it’s hard to prove until we try to build a satellite.

From Lin, a couple of reports on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship:
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/02/the-navys-new-corvette/?test=latestnews and http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2010/06/02/military-tech-action/?test=faces#slide=1. Too bad they're likely to cancel it.

NASA is seeking research proposals for "green" aircraft: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/

From Hu: Coke bottles and Mentos. What could be better? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-hXcRtbj1Y&feature=player_embedded 

As Jimmy Durante used to say, "Everybody wants to get in on the act." Dolphins are now using iPads: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/dolphin-uses-ipad-as.html

Also from ISDC: a great debate turns out to be a bit of a dud: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/05/30/the-other-great-debate/

Satellite highlights of the 2009 hurricane season: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=14606692

From Kate Down Under:

• NASA Revives Voyager 2 Probe at Solar System's Edge - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100529/sc_space/nasarevivesvoyager2probeatsolarsystemsedge
• The conspiracy behind the conspiracy: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/08/12/de-classified-documents-reveal-4th-astronaut-%e2%80%98accidentally-left-behind%e2%80%99-after-first-moon-landing/
• This ain't over: Shuttle Atlantis could fly one more mission before retiring. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100526/sc_space/shuttleatlantiscouldstillflyonemoremissionbeforeretiring

Masten Space Systems has done something very cool: started, stopped, and restarted a rocket engine in flight. Not easy. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=30929
A golf ball hitting a steel plate at 150 miles per hour. That reminds me, I need to get to the driving range when I'm done blogging here. http://www.wservernews.com/56LS6X/100531-Slow-Motion

The X Prize Foundation is hiring... http://www.xprize.org/about/join-our-team

Speaking of hiring, Doc pointed out this site for people looking for a job in the gaming business: http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/

From Hu:

• NASA unveils a satellite system for locating lost hikers, boaters, and other lost outdoorsy types: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-satellite-rescue-beacon-20100525,0,2765269.story?track=rss
• Autonomous robots could be used for Homeland Security: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/25/mighty-machines-autonomous-robots-could-be-used-ho/

Citizens Against Government Waste cheer the demise of the Constellation Program: http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/05/26/augustine-in-huntsville-cagw-cheers-constellations-demise/. Can I come stay at your house if I lose my job?

Here's something new: "Random Hacks of Kindness," putting this interweb stuff to constructive purposes. http://www.rhok.org/events/rhok-1-0/

Another argument for killing Constellation: pollution. http://spacenews.com/commentaries/100524-obama-rocket.html

From @DindraneErin: quantum teleportation. Neato! http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/05/quantum-teleportation-achieved-over-ten-miles-of-free-space.ars


Education
The National Academies have a cool podcast series called The Sounds of Science. One of their recent 'casts was about STEM education, alwasy a favorite topic of Your Humble Narrator. Enjoy!

D2 finally got back to me on what she meant by "stealth STEM."

http://water.signtific.org/


You take a regular guy/gal. They play a game. They solve an EPIC world problem - or just propose solutions. They get hooked on the topic. They want to know more / do more. And they pursue it.

Like an English major who dreamed of Space.

Thanks!

Teacherrrrs innnn SPAAAAACE! http://www.teachersinspace.org/

A kid-made science kit: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/kid-made-science-kit.html

Not sure I hold with all of this, but Lin forwarded the following editorial on how to improve schools: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/05/improving_schools_by_paying_te.html. Lin also provided the following thoughts as well: http://theempressisnaked.blogspot.com/2010/05/yeah-but-never-did-anything-worthwhile.html. (Expecting Sabine not to like these...)

This is sort of a space thing, but it can also fit under the "citizen science" rubric, so I'll do a little relocating. MoonZoo.org wants people to do detailed counts of craters on the lunar surface. http://www.moonzoo.org/about

U.S. Politics
Conservative women are running for Congress in record numbers: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127369770

A TSA critic passes through the airport: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/schneier-at-the-airp.html



Foreign Affairs
Someone suggested this as a “solution” for Israel’s problems with their neighbors: http://wargames.co.uk/Poems/Grave.htm. Western military minds don’t think this way anymore.

The U.S. will join South Korea in a military exercise off the North Korean coast: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Media/us-join-south-korea-military-exercise-north-korea/story?id=10807101 ... and North Korea threatens military action: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NKorea_says_Souths_navy_trespassed_warns_of_military_action_999.html

This is from awhile ago, but it's just a reminder that it's a dangerous world out there (like we needed any more reminders?): http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/24/embassy-jamaica-curtails-service-accused-drug-lords-impending-extradition-spurs/



Culture

From Lin:

• This is kind of cool: a way to give kids toys at low cost: http://www.unplugdesign.com/project2.html

From our British cousins across the pond, a little lesson on how airplanes work (warning: contains dry humor): http://bit.ly/doaQpU

From Anika:

• A podcast of a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion: http://www.vtwproductions.com/home/2010/5/30/podcast-of-the-star-trektng-reunion.html
• You suck at Craigslist, a site dedicate to people who just can't put decent Craigslist ads together: http://www.yousuckatcraigslist.com/
• Some interesting artwork involving Muppets and Star Wars characters: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/05/james-hance-channels-our-collective-inner-geek/ 
• An artist who works with recycled packaging. No, really... http://www15.ocn.ne.jp/~package/package_002.htm  

This is all sorts of wrong, but I laughed anyway: an alien taxidermy throw rug. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/01/alien-taxidermy-thro.html. You realize, of course, that there's an alien out there somewhere with a human throw rug, right?

Now on a t-shirt: "I'm an English major, you do the math."

Some words of wisdom regarding your old friend, the #2 pencil: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/57276  

Whatever happened to achievements? http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/06/achievement-unlocked/

Three Saudi youths are in trouble with the Saudi Arabian religious police after appearing on an MTV reality show: http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6500FV.htm

My buddy Tammie is trying win a $600 writing class. If you have time to vote could you please go to http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?242-First-Step-Contest and click #59 "Four demons down ... but how many remained?" Just tryin' to help.

One of D2's friends has a new food and wine blog worth checking out. This site does serious "long form" essays and reviews on food and wine.

D2 also shared this: Star Wars cookie cutters. Because, really, every home should have some. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-cookie-cutter/

Not sure what the point of Wimp.com is, but they have a great video of three teenage kids belting out O Sole Mio. Do they even give American kids vocal lessons anymore? http://www.wimp.com/threetenors/

What, you didn't know? The movie Airplane was a serious sendup of the '50s movie "Zero Hour." http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/26/airplane-side-by-sid.html

Hmmmm...what Disney Princesses supposedly teach girls about life: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/24/what-disney-princess.html
From Anthony in Hong Kong: all the comforts of home in a Beijing wet bar. http://8daysshanghaibeijing.posterous.com/all-the-conveniences-of-home

From Martin: another Star Trek fan film: http://videos.startrekphase2media.com/Enemy/

You want information? I don't think so: http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/pdf/welcome.html

The rich are different from you and me, they have more money. …they have more money. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/home/orl-celebrity-home-pictures,0,6820906.photogallery

D2 and I are big fans of TED Talks. Here's a talk that takes a punchy look at things and demystify how to create a create TED talk. D2 also directed me to the site that can make it happen: http://get-tedpad.com/  

From the MSN Relationships department, an attempt to "demystify dude theory." Well, maybe. http://glo.msn.com/relationships/debunking-dude-theory-1533313.story?gt1=49000

Potpourri CXXXVII

Here's the latest batch of foolishness...

Boeing flew a formation flight with its newest and oldest aircraft.




Israeli nanotechnology researchers claim to have developed an anti-icing surface.


Some good news for a change: Russia wants to work with the U.S. on space projects past 2020. I don’t think that means they’ll lower the price of Soyuz launches anytime soon, but the sentiment is nice.


The problem with Voyager 2 has been addressed: a bit was “flipped” through random radiation.


The FAA chief doesn’t like his agency being a “piñata” for airlines’ schedule delays. Okay, fine. But if the FAA has been slow to upgrade our out-of-date air traffic control system and ATC delays are the primary cause of planes being stuck on the tarmac, shouldn’t FAA be a legitimate target for the stick?


A citizens group from Texas is visiting Capitol Hill to make a plea for the Constellation Program. Visits matter. So do well-written letters. If you want the U.S. to continue having a human space exploration program (as opposed to just sending humans to low-Earth orbit, which is not exploration), then your voice matters!


Steven Colbert visited Johnson Space Center recently. Nice to have at least one influential media personality digging space.

The inner workings of a 1950s ballistic computer. Cool!


A 1939 Popular Mechanics article describing a transcontinental airplane flight—all 15 hours of it. Yikes!


A Saudi woman beat up a member of the nation’s morality police. I admire her spirit, but don’t like to think about the ultimate outcome.


The Long Now Foundation is sponsoring a talk on fusion.


Food for thought: Science Warriors vs. Philosophers of Science.

From Walt Disney World: How to move a 120-ton Winnie the Pooh tree.

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s something of a revolution going on in Thailand.

From Hu, for D2: two articles on training marine mammals for homeland security purposes: here and here. Cindy, Sandy, Seymour, and Clyde have been busy.


The White House blocked a Chicago chef’s tweets as he was being brought in to serve the President. Predictable. Organizations want to use social media when it’s to their advantage and suppress it when it doesn’t. Can’t have it both ways, guys. And really: what's the security risk on a chef?

From Jerry Pournelle: why don't more medical discoveries become cures? Would you believe government regulations have something to do with it? Would you be more likely to believe it if the story was from Newsweek?

Sabine has some interesting thoughts regarding the No Child Left Behind Act (a regular volleyball Doc and I bat back and forth during some of our daily bull sessions). I will have to reread the entry when I get some more time. I'm not sure if I'm qualified or knowledgable enough to argue for or against any of her points, but she posits a very important question. Paraphrased, she wants to know how failing school systems are supposed to clean themselves up when they're given no money or other resources to do so?

Late Addition from Kate Down Under: a Civil War hero of Gettysburg receives a posthumous Medal of Honor 147 years late. I've actually stood at the position where Alonzo Cushing's artillery battery was emplaced, and it was not exactly excellent ground, nor could it have been easy fighting with no long-range guns. Cushing's unit held Cemetary Ridge in the face of Pickett's Charge at close range. I don't know what would've been crazier: being one of the 13,000 men Pickett led in a dash across an open field or being one of the artillerymen forced to hold the line against 13,000 charging Confederates. The Civil War (called "The War Between the States" by some historians or "The War of Northern Aggression" by historians in my neighborhood) is the reason why American military doctrine has since emphasized minimizing casualties. Over 600,000 American lives were lost in that conflict.

That'll do for now. Off to attempt 8 hours of sleep. I know: craziness!

Potpourri CXXXVI

Busy world out there...here's the small segment of it I could give my attention to today.

Not sure what you’d call this…maybe a clearing house for the most common/popular NASA Twitter feeds?

From Hu (I'll have more on this in a bit): NASA and Congress slog toward a compromise on the 2011 budget.

Are scramjets the future of spaceflight?


Will the X-37 to be used for spying?

A Japanese solar sail mission will be launched this week. Cool!

Just because the U.S. President doesn’t want to go to the moon doesn’t mean India doesn’t. Boeing is in talks with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to help them with a lunar mission. Sigh. Maybe I'd like it in Bangalore. At least there's not much chance of snow and I know they're serious about going to the moon there.

Senator Shelby (R-AL) has inserted language into an Afghanistan emergency spending bill that would prevent changes or cancellations to the Constellation Program. I appreciate the notion, but I still don’t understand why that wouldn’t or shouldn’t be done on a bill dealing with NASA, not the Defense Department. One thing at a time, ya know?

NASA has converted Space Shuttle flight simulator hardware into an educational tool for students.

Well, now I know where my friend George Whitesides went: he's now CEO of Virgin Galactic. Far out.
My buddy Gwen was at Arlington National Cemetary to visit the grave of her father and found the grave of a Medal of Honor recipient who shared the same last name as her husband. While I don't believe he's directly related to Tim, here's the citation for the gentleman of the grave Gwen observed.
 
This year's Nebula Award winners have been announced. Congrats. Wish to heck I could write that well.
 
Here's a short study in cognitive biases because sometimes such things interest me.
 
There was a Star Wars concert in Orlando last week--good timing for the Shuttle launch.
 
An extended set of TED talks from D2 on cancer prevention:
 

I found this TED TALK by Dr. William Li (http://www.angio.org/) very insightful and helpful. It will only take about 20:00 of your time. http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html

The cancer &/or obesity you prevent may be your own - or that of someone you love.

Also, the attached tiff file is a screenshot of the list of AA foods he discusses broadly. It can also be found at: blog.ted.com/2010/02/dr_william_lis.php

Please feel free to share this info with people you know who might be interested. Don't assume I sent it to them. If they already received it, they can delete it. If they receive it several times, maybe there's a message there...

If you haven't yet discovered TED TALKS, you are missing some pretty mind-blowing and mind-expanding experiences!

D2

PS - I discovered some research re: Low Dose Naltrexone as a cancer-preventative, as well as some interesting drug trials in the management of certain inflammatory and immune-system diseases. This opiod-blocker drug is usually Rx'd for managing addictions, of alcohol or certain other opiods, but has show efficacy in LD regimens with cancer, pre-cancerous conditions, HIV, etc. It might be something to talk with your Doc about.

See: www.lowdosenaltrexone.org

Sarah from Across the Pond asked me what was going on with my job. And since I can't explain the status of my job these days without explaining the budgeting process of the U.S. federal government, I thought I'd just repeat what I wrote here:

It's not so much that the President hasn't come to a decision. I don't know how the budget/parliamentary process works in the UK, but here the Pres. submits a proposal for the overall federal budget, then it goes through what's called a "pass-back," where some other part of the government reviews the proposal and kicks it back to the President's people to redo it (usually with guidance on what to cut). And after that, the budget is reviewed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both houses must write a budget law, and those laws have to match. If they don't, they have to go into a conference committee to sort out the differences. Once that happens, the finalized budgets are voted on and sent to the President for a signature.


So far, we're still in the pass-back and Congressional review portion of the process. The Congress hasn't passed a budget on time (October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year) in a few years, so they'll most likely pass what's called a "continuing resolution (CR)," where they pass a budget for part of the year to keep basic services going and civil servants paid until a final budget can be passed. A CR is usually passed at the same spending level as the previous year, and the agencies receiving a CR are told to continue "business as usual" (no new program directions) until a new budget is passed. Sometimes a CR will last for a whole year. That would be fine by me, because that would mean the Constellation Program gets a reprieve for another year. But the Obama administration is still intent on killing Constellation and redirecting the money to other NASA activities, like environmental monitoring or encouraging U.S. private sector companies to build rockets to launch crew and cargo to the International Space Station. I'm not particularly worried about where I'll end up--NASA always needs good tech writers--but for right now the only thing I know for sure is that I'm good through the end of the fiscal year or whenever Congress finally passes the 2011 budget, which would be anywhere from September 30 to February 1. After that, well, I might be writing for something or someone very different. Stay tuned.

And speaking of folks Across the Pond, I got this YouTube video link from Father Dan: a dear 80-year-old Scottish great-grandmother who just belted out "No Regrets" to the delight of Simon Cowell and the rest of the "Britain's Got Talent" audience. Just marvelous.

Woody Allen thinks Obama should be made dictator for awhile and Republicans should “get out of his way.” Yikes. And FWIW, dude: Republicans cannot stop anything Obama does. They don’t have the votes.


Doubleplusungood: Tar balls have been found off the coast of Key West.

Convinced the end is near? You can always buy a spot in a bunker somewhere.

A female lawyer in France got offended at another woman wearing a burqa and tore it off.

A review is questioning the effectiveness of missile defense.

This amused me: the President signed the Press Freedom Act and then refused to take questions from the press. Just because you have the freedom to ask questions doesn’t mean I have to answer them, pal.

A Democratic candidate for Senator in Connecticut has lied about serving in Vietnam. Dude: if you’re gonna lie about something, try not lying about something that is easily checked: you know, like Bush’s National Guard record or Obama’s place of birth (I kid).

For that seriously geeky wedding party: an AT-AT wedding cake.

But what denomination is it? A humanoid robot presided over a Japanese wedding.

I have this app, but have never used it: Shazam has been voted Gizmodo’s favorite iPhone app. My problem with it? I usually want to know the name of a song while I’m driving!

You can get the Joker added to your iPad. You know: if you really want to.

The Euro has fallen to a new low.

Mark Cuban on making money on the internet and why print is not dead.

Social networking and shopping are converging? Yes.

Hotmail is making some improvements to keep up with other web mail services. About bloody time! I’ve been using Hotmail since 1997. I’m due for an upgrade!

I just found this article title amusing: Facebook and Shutterfly are Now In a Relationship.
 
Kids are teaching about time travel on YouTube. They're learning about this via a service called Ignition Tutoring.

From Doc: the U.S. Air Force is doing serious work in testing "fly-back" rocket boosters. About time someone did it. Fly-back units were originally considered for the Space Shuttle, back when they wanted it to be a fully reusable system.

I'm shocked, shocked...too much TV leads to poor school performance. Jeez, they knew this when I was a kid! Have they heard that the Pope is Catholic? That bears...never mind.

The Obama policy presents a conundrum for conservatives according to Jeff Foust and an op-ed in the Orange County Register. The conundrum being that conservatives generally oppose President Obama's spending policies, often going so far as to call them socialist, but here is one situation where he is trying to reduce the government role (Constellation) and actually trying to privatize (by spending more money on commercial launches to the International Space Station)--a standard plank in the GOP platform. However, I don't see this as a problem for conservatives. If space exploration is looked at as an extension of a strong national defense (a standard part of the conservative platforms of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Regan), which it is, then it is fine as a government expenditure. Paradoxically, an increase in government spending on space--Constellation and COTS--would increase the number of U.S. commercial providers of launch services and keep NASA and U.S. space technologies on the cutting edge by continuing the nation's commitment to exploration of other worlds. Crazy as this sounds, if Obama's policy was passed as is but added Constellation, I'd have no problem with it whatsoever. So sayeth this paleocon and "space moderate."

What would make NASA "cool again?" Consider this blog by my fellow space blogger Nick Skytland.

With the recent news of five soldiers getting killed in Afghanistan, this video from Father Dan of joyous family members greeting returning veterans warms the heart.

From Berin: an event called "Can Government Save the Press?" Reminds me of a quip by Ronald Reagan regarding government thinking: "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."

And I think that'll about do for this evening. Stay tuned, sports fans. It's an interesting world out there. You never know what we're going to hear next.

Geek Stuff

Two space things, and a separate item that shows how geeks get older, not better.

The Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) test for the Orion launch abort system is today. I wonder how Constellation Program deniers will explain away a success.

And speaking of Constellation Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has a pretty good op-ed in The Hill on the "crisis of purpose for America's space program." How about this for a purpose: to develop the vehicles and technologies that enable human beings to live and work throughout the solar system? Or is that too simple?

Not-so-random question: if the ultimate goal of dating is to find yourself a spouse (with whom, presumably, you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with), why should you not take it seriously or personally if your dating experiences do not go well?

The State of Constellation

My workplace is in an odd state, and has been since February 1. On the one hand, you've got the President, whom the agency reports to, proposing a budget that would close down the Constellation Program; and on the other hand, you've got a law on the books, passed by Congress, which says that NASA can't radically change or cancel the program without Congressional approval. And really, the budget process has just begun. What to do, what to think?

The best thing I can do right now is sit back and wait. The debate on the 2011 budget is still in the early phases. The good news is that the Ares Projects have been given marching orders to continue to do the work they'd planned to do for 2010, so I'm probably cool job-wise through at least the end of the fiscal year (September 30). Beyond that, NASA will still need writers, still need engineers and other folks. Perhaps not as many in some places as in others. The places and people that depended on human spaceflight will be hurting. There will be new work (assuming the President gets his way, and it's hard to see how he won't) in technology, which will provide work for some folks, but probably not the SAME people who were doing work on Shuttle or Constellation. Different types of work involved--different skill sets--and those people will have to go elsewhere.

Because I support communication efforts and the Ares Projects' Manager, and also because I'm a bit of a know-it-all, some folks have asked me, "Have you heard anything [about the future state of Constellation]?" or "What do you think is going to happen?" Answer: not a clue, save what I've said above, and all that is pretty obvious. Do I know concretely what will happen to the budget or the workforce? Nope. Just riding it out one day at a time. Stay tuned. No doubt there will be more drama to follow.

Potpourri CXXVII

Been awhile...I've been out of town and tending to various personal matters. Let the madness resume.

Virgin Galactic announced the first captive flight of SpaceShipTwo, "Enterprise." Wired magazine also covered the story. Progress!

I wanted to attend this event, but I will be otherwise occupied by Yuri's Night: the National MS (multiple sclerosis) Society Walk April 10 in Huntsville. I have two good friends with MS, and the stuff they have to go through is painful and heartbreaking to hear (or see). Donations go toward MS medical research. I don't know any of the teams, so I donated to the American Legion's team.

From Hu:

• A Wall Street Journal story on the NASA leadership's attempt to back away from the rather drastic February 1 budget proposal. The games continue.
• A Florida Today story indicating that Sen. Nelson is pushing Obama to continue building the Ares V heavy-lift rocket to keep jobs going at Kennedy Space Center. Great in theory, but it'll be awhile before anything launchable would be sent to KSC

From Martin:

• "The world's smallest starship by the world's biggest geeks." Hard to argue with that.
• Michael Okuda, former designer for Star Trek: The Next Generation and also designer of the Constellation Program's vehicle and mission logos, has some smart things to say in defense of the program he has helped come to life.

From Twila: An interesting graphic on how the U.S. federal budget breaks out.

From my AIAA news feed: a Jupiter-size planet has been found in a "temperate" orbit, meaning I suppose that if there were an Earthlike world in that orbit, life might be possible there. The universe gets more and more interesting the more we learn about it.

From Kate Down Under:

• Newt Gingrich gets things almost exactly wrong on the Obama space policy. There are things that the policy does right, but Gingrich, as a historian, should appreciate the historical role the U.S. government has played in developing frontiers--physical and technological.
• The Mars Spirit Rover is chillin' out on Mars, but still operational.
• NASA is in the process of shuffling around the last few Space Shuttles.
• A little late for me to post this, but NASA's Goddard Space Flight  posted some excellent pictures of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.

Also from the other side of the globe, the Down Under Defense Expert (DUDE) sends these:

• Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, and Jim Lovell, three of the most influential and powerful speakers from the Apollo Program, are speaking out against the Obama policy to end the Constellation Program. Who better?
• A look at a New Zealand agricultural show.

From Karl: A YouTube video featuring a variety of quotations (and some rather dramatic music) related to freedom.

From D2: A really cool video on how video games could be used to fix real-world problems. In that video the speaker refers to the Institute for the Future, which is worth a look.

A teenager wins a $100,000 prize from Intel for developing a spacecraft software navigation system. Now THAT'S cool!

A NASA fan site comparing the Space Shuttle to commercial space.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is going to investigate whether NASA's internal plans to shut down Constellation violate federal law. Wonder who takes the rap for that if they say yes.

Found this while doing some random surfing: an open-source site on aerogels.

Who knew? My grad school alma mater, University of Central Florida (UCF) has a Spaceport Research & Technology Institute. Hmmmm...

Lurking under the radar, the U.S. Air Force is still planning to launch a former NASA vehicle, the X-37, on April 10.

If the world was to get smacked by asteroids or comets, would we have a space program capable of handling the situation? The dinosaurs already know the answer to that question.

And just in case you're REALLY interested, the details of the proposed 2011 NASA budget can be found here.

Begging the General's Pardon, But...

The folks at NASA got an email from Administrator Charlie Bolden March 5 (the full text can be found here) explaining why the "Plan B" budget he asked a couple of NASA center directors to formulate was not, in fact, a plan B. Fine. He can call it what he wants. The part of the email that really frosted me was this:

We in the NASA family know all too well the difficulty of the things we do, and we now want to go to Mars and other deep-space destinations. We all know that we can’t get there with the technology and knowledge base that we have today, and that is why we must aggressively embark on a robust program of research and development. I firmly believe we have a budget that supports the goals and dreams we all share, and that we will maintain our technological leadership as well as our acknowledged leadership of human space flight in the world. I need all of you to believe as I do and pull together as a team to make this happen.

With all respect, General, we don't "all know" that we can't get to Mars with the technology and knowledge base we have now. The Constellation Program has been in the process of doing just that.

If the program had been given a bigger technology budget, they might have been able to build some things that did not rely so much on the existing infrastructure (people, contractors, hardware). Or, here's a wacky idea: let Constellation continue doing what it's doing with the technology that's available now, spend additional money on the new stuff, and when that becomes available, retrofit it onto the existing vehicles. That way, you've got both a human exploration program AND a technology program dedicated to making that program better in the future.

However, Constellation was told to do exploration on the cheap, with little to no "new money," and with the bulk of the money not coming until the Space Shuttle was retired. Nevertheless, given the hardware at hand, Ares, Orion, and the rest of the human exploration projects were developing the tools to get America moving beyond low-Earth orbit again.

Take a look around Johnson, Marshall, and Michoud, as well as other NASA centers. Folks across the country have been dedicating themselves for over five years to use what we have in the service of a new direction ("Moon, Mars, and beyond"), and to do so as quickly as starvation budgets allowed. Pulling together as a team is increasingly difficult if you are going to insult the efforts of the team whose work you will count on to execute your new direction.

The NASA Budget, Part III

As usual, the following opinions are mine alone, and do not reflect the positions of NASA, my employer, or the National Space Society. They are the reactions of a private citizen (and NASA contractor) who cares deeply about space exploration.

Let me be positive first. The NASA budget proposed for 2011 increases funding for environmental monitoring, technology research for long-term exploration needs, basic science, and commercial launches to the International Space Station. All of these activities are worthwhile, and I have no problem with any of that.


However, by closing down the Constellation Program and ramping down the Space Shuttle, the administration is killing long-range human exploration beyond Earth orbit in this country.


I did not come to work at NASA to write about satellites or robots or some orbital taxi service to a space station that, quite frankly, bores me. I want to see people on the Moon. On asteroids. On Mars. On the moons of Jupiter. Boldly going where we've never gone before. That's the inspirational part of space for me. That's the mission I signed up for. And yes, I'd like to go to one of those places myself one day.


A lot of other people are like that, too. I love the Mars rovers, and I've been impressed by their longevity. But they're not people. The emotional connection isn't there. Most people my age (40) or older can name the first men to walk on the Moon. Can anyone name a designer of the rovers? That's part of the point: everyone can at least imagine what it would be like to ride a rocket or set foot on another world. Only a select few could imagine or care about building a robot.


The program proposed by this new budget lacks that inspiration. NASA will be reduced to inspiring people who want to build robots or composite widgets, or whatever. It will kill jobs in numerous states (including, obviously, mine), and it will deprive Obama, who claims to support science and engineering education, of one of the most powerful motivators out there: "Study real hard, Judy, and one day you, too, can be an astronaut!"


And from a space settlement perspective, it's a step backward from getting people closer to living and working in settlements off of Earth. So we still need Constellation or something like it for space to reallly inspire people. I just don't know if we can make the sale in the current political or budget climate, which is most unfortunate, because NASA is one of the few federal programs I can name off the top of my head that actually give the taxpayer a productive, useful, and inspirational return on their tax dollars.

Much as I dislike political wrangling, I hope the Congress will fight this budget--NOT to stop what IS being spent, but to PRESERVE what has been cut. Imagine a space program that increases funding for environmental monitoring, technology research for long-term exploration needs, basic science, commercial launches to the International Space Station, AND human missions into the great beyond. How inspirational THAT would be!