So, now it's crunch time.President Barack Obama will have in hand this week the final results of his blue-ribbon panel's research on what to do about NASA.
The decisions he makes in the coming weeks or months could forever alter the course of NASA, the Kennedy Space Center and Brevard County.
We expect no big surprises in the panel's report. They've all but spelled out every option they plan to present to the president in public meetings and documents. We've outlined that in the newspaper and online for you several times during the past few weeks. So although the report gets attention this week, and the president starts mulling the options, we want to spend the week hearing from you about what's going on.
We've begun an interactive town hall meeting of sorts, where you can chat with each other and with our reporters and editors (and maybe some special guests) about the options before the president and what the United States should do with its human space exploration program. The centerpiece of the effort is a simple 10-question poll with questions centered around the choices facing the White House.
You can go to floridatoday.com or to our space blog, The Flame Trench, to find links to the poll and town hall forum site. (Or click here).
We want to hear what you have to say on the matter, and we'll do our best to moderate the discussion and debate and to answer your questions.
Mostly, we want to know what you would do if you were in the Oval Office.
Should the U.S. extend space shuttle operations beyond the currently planned retirement in 2011?
Should the International Space Station be ditched in the Pacific Ocean in 2016 as planned or keep operating through the end of the decade?
Should NASA cancel the Ares I rocket it's developing to launch astronauts after the shuttles retire?
Should NASA go back to the moon, or to Mars, or an asteroid, or someplace else entirely?
Or maybe you're one of the many people who think the space program is a waste of money that could otherwise be spent on solving other problems in the U.S. and around the world.
That's fine too. We'd welcome a lively discussion and debate among people on all sides of the issue.
Of course, one hazard of live discussion online is that not everyone seems capable of behaving themselves and using appropriate language. To keep the discussion civil and appropriate for all ages, we will have to moderate the comments so foul language and personal insults don't spoil an otherwise meaningful conversation.
The poll and forum opened Sunday and will run through Friday afternoon. We plan to publish the results in Sunday's editions of FLORIDA TODAY. As a newspaper editor, I also want to hear from you about whether you liked this online, interactive approach to a community conversation on an important public issue.
19 comments:
NASA should stop everything they are doing and START FROM SCRATCH. They need to fire everybody and hire everybody back according to their COMPETENCE. They need to kick these idiotic unions out of there and leave them protesting at the gates. Hire people who actually want to work. The nepotism needs to go as well.
After you fix ALL THESE ISSUES then you can start thinking about doing something meaningful again.
The international space station should be a group effort to keep it going. The United States should not be the only one maintaining it or deciding if it gets ditch. Maybe there could be more space tourism to the station to help pay for it? I believe the Shuttle program should be extended but to a few launches a year so we still have access to the space station without relying on the Russians until a new ship is completed. The new program should focus on the moon for the first step before thinking about Mars. It has been over 40 years since anyone has gone...They need to do what can be done first then do their dreams but everything requires funding.
I just don't see the point of spending more money on NASA,just to help Brevard County ,Florida stay aflot.
We have way to many other problems in this United States that needs fixed, such as JOB,HEALTHCARE,TAXES and countless others.
Fix other problems on the ground then we can go back to space and other things.
I see people in this county talking down the President on every front, but rest assured if he would give into your thinkings, he would be your President fore that short time.
Have a blessed week ahead.
Get the politicians out. Get the scientists, explorers, and adventurers in. Return to the J.F.K. attitude. "We will not do this because it is easy. We will do this because it is hard." If you want to encourage the economy, this is a great place to do it in Central Florida. The space program can supply jobs to countless people across the country. And oh yeah, get a good retirement program going. That place seriously needs some new blood. The old is getting kind of thick and slow moving.
NASA should spend their budget on unmanned scientific projects, space telescopes, lunar and Mars rovers,asteroid and planet flybys, etc. When one considers the understanding of the cosmos that has come from the Hubble telescopes instruments and the Mars rovers it's mind-boggling. The money needed to put man in space and keep him alive could be better spent on pure science projects until we have developed safer more reliable propulsion systems. Should we send men back to the moon? We have been there, done that, and got tired of it and scrubbed the Apollo program 40 years ago. To go back, would require congressional funding 10-20 years in the future. Congress can't accurately anticipate this year's budget requirements, let alone the future.
I don’t get it, we spend billions to build the ISS for what, to mothball it in the coming years? We don’t we send it to the moon to serve as our ‘Moon base’?
Where else are you going to go? We're running out of room on this planet. You don't learn anything by doing the same thing or standing in the same spot all the time.
I feel there is no good logical reason the Greatest Nation on Earth should depend on Russia to get Americans to "the Mostly paid for by Americans" Space Station.
People need to realize Research and Development is not CHEAP! NASA is The United States of America's Reseach and Development Department. They should be funded to the percentage level of the overall budget as they were in the sixties.
NASA provides tens of thousands of jobs across the nation via contractors to perform the Reaseach and Development to reach their goals.
I read America is going to pay 50 MILLION Dollars a seat to fly Americans to the Space Station. Is this the same seat that "tourists" flew on for 20 Million Dollars?
It seems our Non-Representive Representives we send to Washington are interested in, 1.) Whatever they need to do to keep there job for an additional term, 2.) Give money to non-appreciative Foreign Countries, 3.) Voting along their respective party lines, against or for anythng, whether it be right or wrong for "We the People", it is what the party wants, not the people.
We should maintain flying our America Astronauts to the Space Station and developing the next replacement vehicle.
This will cost money and those Non-Representive Representives in Washington should provide the funds.
The Space Station shold remain in place amd be used as it was originality planned, for research, and manned by Seven Astronauts.
It was completed behind schedule, due to accidents (the price of Reseach and Development) there is nothing guaranteed safe in Space Travel and our explores (Astronaunts) are well aware of this, but continue on for the betterment of The United States of America.
The Space Station should continue its life until the next program is in place.
We need our Non-Representive Representives to start doing their job for the betterment of The United States of America.
I am very proud of my coutry, but I feel those Non-Representive Representives are an embarrassment to me and my country, The United States of America.
Before the Gov't decides to kill the various programs related to space maybe they should look at the benefits that have come from placing men on the moon and in a somewhat permanent space station. Today the public is ignorant in regards to the advances in medical knowledge gained from space flight. Communication satelites, weather satelites, GPS satelites all have benefited mankind.
Get rid of all those at the space center that are doing nothing but reading the newspaper. Way too many managers managing managers.
Continue with the shuttle and space station or another vehicle to get to the station. Seems so stupid to have done all this work and now hand it over to Russia. I'm thinking down the road the US will be learning another big lesson there. Then lets get set up with a new goal for space exploration and get to it.
I am to the point, I don't care what the Government does. Just make a decision. If you want to kill NASA, then do it. I'll find another job. If you want to explore, then FUND IT!. Just make up your mind. Less than 1% of the federal budget is not going to cut it.
Every day I go to work I feel sad thinking of what could have been accomplished. There are amazing vehicles which could have been built, missions that would inspire millions of people around the world, and technologies developed that would improve everyday life.
Instead we have an agency where the 10% of the workforce that is competent and willing to do the hard work is completely railroaded by the other 90%. We need to cut the crap, cut the fat, realize that amazing feats are risky, and stop the political infighting.
There is no unity to a mission or goal. Instead there's a handful of groups building empires and trying to levy requirements on the other groups. Meanwhile, the management ignores the problem because of the "don't rock the boat" mentality. The people who pay the price are the engineers and technicians on the ground level, which means nothing gets done.
And it certainly doesn't help that Washington flip flops depending on which way the political winds blow.
So how can it be fixed? It can't. The only people who can change it are senior managers and high level political appointees who are so out of touch with reality that they can't make a logical decision. Moreover, in order to get to that level you have to be a mini-politician with that "don't rock the boat" mentality. Those types of people can't transform NASA into the efficient and effective agency that scientists, engineers, and technicians wish it was.
Progress is the answer and progression in my view is the key to that progress.
The Space Station is necessary but it's to close to the earth, think of what it could be used for. Think Big, like conversion to a spacecraft or a weigh station between earth and the moon or even mars. It's nice to have Station as a safety net.
Continue with Aries like we did with Saturn, the bugs will be worked out before manned missions just like they were with Apollo/Saturn. There needs to be a commitment made by the government, not just lip service!!
Shuttles need to be continued until Orion/Aries is ready. We have put all this effort into making the shuttle safer, four launches per year isn't a strain on the safety of that system. But we're going to have to firm up that decision now, additional money will be needed to fly but also to restart the external tank production lines, etc.
Moon first to test new systems and equipment for future travel to Mars, and other solar system moons.
Keep it real! This 30 to 40 years down the road planning is bunk, we need to be on the moon in 8 years and to Mars in 12. This keeps it real for the workers and the public and something that can be achieved.
Develope super populsion systems to allow faster speeds in space, cutting down travel time to destinations.
We must do this as a unified nation and 70+% of Americans want this done, and don't worry other nations will jump on board once we commit to these plans, they may not contribute as much but they sure as heck will want to benifit from the new discoveries in science, engineering, materials and other technologies.
We must do this to keep the nation strong and the leader on this earth!!
Astronauts are adventurers. Brave men and women. No denying that. But NASA overall? It's a joke. When a rocket does manage to make it up, everyone is amazed - not because there is a rocket going up, but because they FINALLY manage to get one right. And even then we hold our breath afraid it will go wrong, because there are just so many 'problems'.
It's not worth the lives at risk and the money.
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in my new ghostNASA article __ http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/052strangestory.html __ I try to predict the CONTENT of the Augustine Commission's REPORT that should be available next tuesday and could be "built" around (just) FIFTEEN (clear, accurate, authentic, certain, incontestable, indisputable, indubitable, irrefutable, nailed down, no mistake, no two ways about it, sure, surefire, uncontestable, undeniable, unequivocable, unquestionable, unshakable and uncontroversial) points...
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Doesn't look too promising:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32738086/ns/technology_and_science-space/
I'm not a rocket scientist, or a NASA employee, just a woman who receives Florida Today on the Internet in order to keep up with our winter residence. Regardless of my lack of "inside" knowledge, it seems to me that to rely on Russia to take us to the space station, and to pay them to boot, sure makes the space race of the 60's seem a farce. On top of that, to close down the space program only to reopen it again later, seems like it would waste more money than it would save.
In my honest opinion the Orion capsule should have been reconsidered as well by the Augustine Panel. The Orbiter itself is absolutely a great space vehicle, the way we launch it (strapped to the side of the fuel tank) was/is not wise. The choice to go with the Orion capsule was purely a knee jerk reaction to the Columbia accident and is two steps backward. If I remember correctly (and I may not), I think it was a cosmonaut that said the best way to go into space was aboard the Soyuz, but the best way to come back to earth was aboard the Space Shuttle Orbiter.
For launching man into space I would like to see something like what Burt Ratan and Scaled Composites is working on, but on a larger scale. An aircraft lifts the space vehicle as high as air breathing engines can reach to launch the rocket engine space vehicle into orbit. When the space vehicle returns to earth, it lands like an aircraft.
Along that line, I think NASA should have a competitive fly off for the new launch vehicle, similar to how the DOD selects new fighter jet.
We must continue the International Space Station as long as possible. We can deorbit the older portions of the station one piece at a time as they reach the end of their useful life and add new modules as needed.
Regardless of what path is chosen, Congress must adequately fund NASA.
The comment that was submitted at 9:40 am seems to be missing the large picture here. NASA is not not only Kennedy Space Center, actually it is on segment of a very large space agency.
The space shuttle program has been acting as a giant vacuum to all funding needed for the great number of science and aerospace programs. It had a great run, but it is time to move the focus on something new, with far less maintenance costs.
It would be wise to turn over this activity of low earth orbit transport to commercial entities. That was the plan before the loss of Columbia. Where else can does someone get a 6 year notice that their job might be changing? Most are lucky to get 2 weeks. It's time to encourage new ideas and growth for future generations. I'm so tired about hearing and reading the prolonging of the shuttle program. People won't be happy until another vehicle is lost. It is not worth the risk or funds any longer.
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