President Barack Obama faces decisions that will set safety levels for American astronauts launching on space expeditions for decades to come.Congress will hear today from NASA officials, proponents of commercial crew transportation and independent safety experts.
You can watch live here in The Flame Trench. Click the NASA TV box at the right side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage of a House space and aeronautics subcommittee hearing, which begins at 10 a.m.
No current NASA astronauts are scheduled to testify. But documents obtained by FLORIDA TODAY through the Freedom of Information Act show exactly where the actual risk-takers stand.
Click HERE to see the full story, which published Sunday in Florida Today.
Click HERE to see the May 2004 Astronaut Office memo that outlines its position on crew safety and next-generation launch vehicles.
Read testimony from those speaking before Congress today.
ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge the NASA image of shuttle Atlantis thundering toward orbit after a Nov. 16 launch from Kennedy Space Center. With nearly 7 million pounds of thrust generated by twin solid rocket boosters and three main engines, Atlantis set sail from launch pad 39A on a mission to outfit the International Space Station with large spare parts -- the types that won't have a way into space after shuttle fleet retirement next year. You can also click on the enlarged image to get an even bigger, more detailed view. Photo credit: NASA/Kenny Allen
6 comments:
three, two, one: END OF PROGRAM !!!!
Which would yield a safer program - flying a proven expendable such as the Delta (with many flights and a considerable knowledge base) or flying an unknown new booster (Ares if it survives)??
Is the Shuttle safe? If it's not safe, we must cancel the next flight. If it's safe, why do we want to cancel it at all? The problems which caused two losses in over twenty years were eliminated.
We have seen several authorities claim that the Shuttles are getting less safe with time. There is no basis for this in reliability engineering. Like all launch vehicles, the Shuttles have become safer as more missions are flown, since any problems that are identified are eliminated by changes in the design. So the next mission is always safer than the last. We should replace the Shuttle when we have new vehicle that is more capable and less expensive.
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the "Back to the Moon in 2028" story in short:
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Bush's "Vision for Space Exploration": Jan. 2004
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ESAS Plan release: Dec. 2005
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Ares "big firecracker" 1-X test: Oct. 2009
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SIX years and $10 billion LOST (2004-2009) ...so far
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Shuttle retirement: end 2010
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first Ares-1 launch: 2017 (+ delays) after a 7+ years GAP
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first manned China mission on the Moon: 2018 (or earlier)
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first Ares-5 test: 2025
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manned Altair landing on the Moon: 2028
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the good news is that all NASA's astronauts on the Moon will live a week in a comfortable suite of the China Moon Hotels & Resorts chain
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http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts/049chinamoonrace.html
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Oh ye of little faith !!.
Most people, even in Brevard, don't care about NASA. NASA thinks this is because they "don't understand". But maybe it's NASA that doesn't understand. How much will constellation cost? $150B? What will Constellation do that will be worth that much?
To pay for Constellation, NASA has strangled life sciences, aeronautics, environmental monitoring, and development of new technologies.
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