[extropy-chat] Re: defending the Vision for Space Exploration

[Neil Halelamien]

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 12:06:31 -0700,
extropy-chat-request at lists.extropy.org Terry W. Colvin wrote:
> IMO it's an astounding engineering as well as scientific feat.  

I heartily agree, and would love to see more missions like this.

The whole
> thing appears to have been virtually flawless, this being especially
> impressive since it was a first (and only) attempt.  The sad part is we will
> not likely see a followup for many years especially now that Dubya has his
> heart set on exorbitant low return stuff like the manned Mars & Moon
> mission.

I'm not so sure I agree here. I hate Dubya as much as the next
reasonable person, but the Vision for Space Exploration is something
that should've been done a long time ago. NASA needs a concrete goal
like it did in the 60s to solidify its efforts, and exploration is a
terrific goal. Exploration is a step towards eventual settlement,
which I'm a big fan of. A permanent, largely self-sustaining lunar
base (one of the VSE's goals) is something I look forward to seeing.

Also, while I'm a big fan of space science, I'd argue that it should
fall under the scope (and have the same sorts of competitive funding
as) the NSF, rather than NASA.

I think I've mentioned them before here, but I really hope that
t/Space (a company headed by David Gump, Gary Hudson, and Burt Rutan)
gets the final VSE contract. There's some info on them here:
http://www.transformspace.com/Background.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T/Space

Their plan call for NASA to act as more of a customer for launch
services, with private enterprise taking more and more of a role over
time. Eventually private enterprises role would be large enough that
the market would be self-sustaining, allowing space endeavours to
truly blossom.

> If I were King, I would can the manned flights, including the ISS,
> and concentrate on what NASA (and everyone else) does best.

I partially agree -- I think that that the best thing to do would be
to dump the shuttle and ISS ASAP. However, I think it's important that
NASA at least provide a market demand for orbital human spaceflights,
and help forge the way for an eventual dominance by private
enterprise.