Bolden should know no plan survives contact with the enemy

by | Mar 4, 2010 | commercial launch services, Constellation, International Space Station, NASA, Space Shuttle | 1 comment

Former US Marine Corp Major-General Charles Bolden must by now be reflecting upon the military axiom, no plan survives contact with an enemy. In this case Bolden’s enemies are the Congressmen and women hell bent on not accepting the president Barack Obama spaceflight plan

Now the Wall Street Journal reports of a NASA memo talking about plan Bs

So what could Bolden’s boys and girls come up with? They might want to use the draft bill’s contents as a guide. Why not pre-empt the bill and have an ISS assessment carried out immediately that will address the ideas of Shuttle extension and crew and cargo transportation needs for the flying laboratory?

Let’s not beat around the bush, the politicians are concerned about jobs both within NASA and of those supplying the agency. They want centers maintained and industry supported. So what could be done considering a $19 billion budget?

  • Wind down Shuttle slowly with fewer flights per year and a shift to two orbiters
  • Augustine recommended a flight proven booster for the commercial crew program, use NASA resources to help develop the modified Atlas V for that
  • Rapidly select a heavy lift concept and fund it for post-2020 deployment
  • Rename Orion the Deep Space Exploration Vehicle by adding a habitat module to it 
  • lastly provide a sliding scale of delivery based on NASA funding increases that Congress can understand

To keep Shuttle going will avoid massive job losses at a time when there are mid term elections. At least adding the mooted STS-135 flight would give some workers a breathing space. With this heavy lift, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle and related Orion work there is plenty for the NASA centers to be getting on with and entrepreneurial companies still have a chance with crew and cargo transport

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochinaFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationRocket LabBeidouawardsBlue OriginStarlinkspaceSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonboeingAirbus DSISROCargo Return VehicleresearchOneWebmarsblogspaceshiptwojaxaorionmarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedIntelsatRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiomissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbittestinternetLong March 2D/2sts-122Ariane 5Northrop GrummanSLSChina Manned Space EngineeringElectronflightspace tourism2010cotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4Cbuildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttlespace shuttleEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositesnew yorkrulesAriane 6hanleybudgetatvVietnamshenzhoucongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKInmarsatcnesnew shepardiaclunar landerGuiana Space CenterkscApollolawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AILSprotonUS Air ForceTalulah RileydarpaElectron KSFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Vega CeuAstriumSkylonpicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatNorth KoreaSSLAprilSNC50thinterviewLong MarchSea LaunchfalconWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor