The Briefing Room
General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Elderberry on September 05, 2022, 01:51:31 am
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Bloomberg by Adam Minter 9/4/2022
The lunar mission is already years late and billions over budget. Meanwhile, private companies have been pushing boundaries in space travel for more than a decade.
For the second time in a week, NASA scrubbed the launch of the Space Launch System designed to return Americans to the moon. First conceived in 2010, and initially scheduled to have its first test flight in 2017, the rocket is now scheduled to take off no earlier than late September, and possibly much later. NASA, for its part, is hoping Americans will overlook a decade of expensive failure and pray for the best.
They shouldn't. The SLS’s path to the launch pad should never have happened. Conceived as a means to maintain US aerospace employment, and based in part on older rocket designs and parts, the project has siphoned funds and energy.
Some proponents argue that the SLS launch marks the beginning of a "renaissance" for the US space program. It's the first mission of NASA's Artemis program, designed to land Americans on the moon mid-decade and eventually lead to a permanent lunar base. All of that will require a working and successful SLS, and this mission -Artemis I - would stress test its capabilities and send Orion, a vehicle that will eventually hold astronauts, on a trip around the moon. It sounds groundbreaking, but the reality is that private-sector space companies have been pushing boundaries for more than a decade while the SLS lingered through delays and blown budgets.
The last humans to visit the moon’s surface arrived via the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Congress canceled an additional three missions due to cost, safety and waning public and policy-maker interest. Instead, NASA pursued the space shuttle, the International Space Station and a rich robotic exploration program of the Earth and beyond.
More: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-04/nasa-s-artemis-rocket-is-a-gigantic-failure-and-waste-of-money (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-04/nasa-s-artemis-rocket-is-a-gigantic-failure-and-waste-of-money)
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Paying people not to work is a gigantic waste of money.
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Paying people not to work is a gigantic waste of money.
I dunno. If we could get much of Washington to step away from their keyboards, put down their pencils, and turn off their phones, it might be a good investment.
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Space Launch System designed to return Americans to the moon.
I understand that's the goal, but why? Why do we need to return to the moon?
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I understand that's the goal, but why? Why do we need to return to the moon?
Apparently, it is now vital to the United States government to put a woman and a person of color on the moon.
That's the true goal - really.
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Of course!
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Whenever government is involved, project costs always go lunar (or galactic). Those are the two built in set points on any project: over budget and ludicrously over budget.
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Apparently, it is now vital to the United States government to put a woman and a person of color on the moon.
That's the true goal - really.
Bonus points if they can squeeze in a Transvestite and a Furry.
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Andy wrote:
"Apparently, it is now vital to the United States government to put a woman and a person of color on the moon.
That's the true goal - really"
Now you know why the Chinese will get there first this time.
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Before you say it, yes, I'm aware that this may not be reliable. But, fwiw:
Looking Over Strange Terrain (LOST)
@LookingOver
Rumor is from a NASA friend:
Artemis program has a affirmative action hire mandate, of which some questionable less then qual hires were made. The launch has been postponed several times because of these hires. Whistleblowers will be emerging soon to talk about it.
6:37 PM · Sep 5, 2022
Right now they are trying to figure out how to release the setbacks in a positive light.
6:40 PM · Sep 5, 2022
This poster seems to be a black man, so I doubt he's being bigoted about AA.