Re: Problems at NASA as Military Domination of Space Program Continues

On Sep 11, 10:14�am, Global Network <global...@mindspring.com> wrote:

Panel Urges NASA to Reset Priorities

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125243322742993127.htmlWall Street
Journal September 10, 2009 By ANDY
PASZTOR<http://online.wsj.com/search/search_center.html?KEYWORDS=ANDY+PASZTOR
&ARTICLESEARCHQUERY_PARSER=bylineAND>

A blue-ribbon panel is recommending that NASA shelve its goal of
rapidly returning to the moon and instead focus on nurturing a
robust commercial space industry that can handle short-term objectives
of the nation's space program, such as ferrying cargo and crew to
the international space station.

The panel, called the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans
Committee, headed by former Lockheed
Martin<http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=lmt>
Corp. Chairman Norman Augustine, was convened by the Obama
administration earlier this year to provide an independent assessment
of the priorities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
It presented its findings to the White House Tuesday.

The report has already caused debate among lawmakers, the administration
and aerospace contractors because it casts doubt on the budgetary
and technical support underpinning many of NASA's human space
programs. For example, the report concluded that now is the
"appropriate time to consider" relying on private enterprise to
reduce costs and accelerate access to low-earth orbit.

It compares today's budding entrepreneurial space efforts to the
1920s, when government air-mail contracts sparked a boom in U.S.
commercial aviation.

It calls for sweeping changes in the way NASA does business and
envisions a dramatically expanded role for private enterprise in
human space flight in the coming decades beyond anything proposed
previously.

Some of the details of the study were reported in The Wall Street
Journal last month. However, a summary and excerpt of the report
became available Tuesday.

The panel urged NASA to shift its goal from returning to the moon
and to focus instead on the more long-term objective of reaching
Mars, though it didn't set any specific time frame.

While a rapid expansion of the role of private industry in the
nation's space program carries risks of technical failures or lengthy
delays, the report acknowledges, it could accelerate access to space
for both crews and cargo over the next decade. At the same time,
it could allow NASA to devote its expertise and funds to longer-term,
more cutting-edge technology aimed at deep space exploration. By
following what it dubs a "flexible" exploration path building on
manned and unmanned probes likely to sidestep extended stays by
astronauts on the lunar surface, the report concludes NASA could
build broader public and congressional support for more ambitious
space endeavors.

The report stops short of explicitly rejecting the goal of launching
a mission back to the moon. But the 10-member study group expressed
serious misgivings about the effort.

The final report concludes that NASA's current programs are behind
schedule, significantly under-financed and wouldn't necessarily
provide substantial safety improvements versus alternative proposed
systems, including converted military rockets.

According to the report, NASA's plans to build a new generation of
rockets and space capsules to go to the space station and then the
moon require $3 billion annually above current budget projections.
White House and NASA press officials have declined to comment on
the report, as has NASA chief Charles Bolden. Mr. Bolden is scheduled
to meet Wednesday with several representatives of commercial space
companies.

White House officials are expected to spend a number of weeks
digesting the report before President Barack Obama makes decisions
about how to proceed.

The findings have drawn criticism from various NASA officials and
a number of agency suppliers seeking to protect existing contracts.
These critics contend, among other things, that the study overestimates
the extent of the problems confronting current programs while
significantly underestimating the cost and difficulty of making
alternate rockets safe to carry astronauts. Critics also argue that
many of the commercial options favored by the study don't have a
track record and haven't been fully tested.

Starting in 2011, when the U.S. space shuttle fleet is slated to
be retired, NASA will have to start relying on the Russian government
to ferry astronauts to the space station. The current price is set
at about $51 million per crew member, but many U.S. government and
industry officials expect it to climb.

After the report summary was released, Elon Musk, the founder of
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., one of the companies vying
for commercial contracts to start ferrying cargo and astronauts to
the station, said sticking with NASA's current priorities "flies
in the face of reason and common sense."

In a teleconference with reporters, Mr. Musk also said development
of his company's Falcon 9 heavy-lift launcher �which could start
ferrying astronauts to the space station before the middle of the
next decade for less than half of Russia's prices -- is about a
year late. But "in the space business," he added, "that's early."

In addition to the emphasis on commercial solutions, the report
hits heavily on the need to reorient NASA's leadership and the
mindset of many of its engineers and scientists. The committee,
according to the summary, "strongly believes it is time for NASA
to reassume its critical role of developing new technologies" aligned
with a revamped "exploration mission that will last for decades."
If properly funded and executed, the report concludes, such a
technical roadmap would "re-engage the minds at American universities,
in industry and within NASA" for manned space efforts.

The report's opening paragraph sets the tone. America's human space
flight program "appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory, " the
committee found, because it is "perpetuating the perilous practice
of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources." Even
before release of the summary, NASA officials were studying possible
changes to existing plans, including downsizing a proposed space
capsule and revising rocket programs in order to lower costs by
reusing some space shuttle-derived technologies and facilities.

Other NASA officials, according to a Reuters story Tuesday, have
devised a 30-year stepping-stone strategy �still in its early stages
-- to develop technology and generate public support with the goal
of eventually reaching Mars.

The committee's recommendations assume that the U.S. will continue
to funds its share of space station operations through at least
2020. The panel concluded that the international partnerships forged
around station issues could lead to joint, long-term space discovery
efforts with other countries.

Noting that "space exploration has become a global enterprise," the
summary emphasizes that international cooperation "could strengthen
relationships, leverage global resources and enhance" chances of
success. If foreign cooperation and commercial solutions still leave
the U.S. with inadequate resources, according to the summary, "it
should accept the disappointment of setting lesser goals."

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