Main Engine Cut OffTo me, Mars is where all the interesting discoveries live and our future awaits, but lunar missions are much better suited for a governmental space program—or at least for a governmental space program that is run like NASA has been run for decades.
NASA’s Resource Prospector mission is important. We have to learn how to live off the land if we want to go anywhere. The more people working on that problem, the better.
There are a few interesting bits in NASA’s latest release about the Mars 2020 rover—tighter landing ellipses, better site selection, and better imagery during EDL.
As I said the other day (and ranted about on the podcast this week), this hearing was focused on maintaining the status quo at all costs.
Great, encyclopedic rundown of an interesting program by Chris Gebhardt on NASASpaceflight.
Ted Cruz called a hearing on NASA’s space exploration policy in the next president’s administration. The president of France’s CNES discussed some policy statements, and I went on a rant about his thoughts on Ariane 6 and its competition.
Interesting rundown of the predicament that SLS is in for the Europa missions, EM-2, and beyond. And this doesn’t even touch on the budgetary issues surrounding the use of the EUS.
History will not be kind to the AR1 program. It’s a fairly expensive development program focused on building an American alternative to the RD-180, an engine used on a launch vehicle that will be phased out within 3-ish years of when the AR1 would be completed.
NASA awarded a grant for technology that could be used to operate a Venusian lander on the surface for much longer than we have previously.
Our political system is increasingly incapable of supporting a thriving national space program. Congress battling the executive branch tooth and nail for Orion/SLS and the Europa mission is only the tip of the iceberg. Factor in the massive amounts of pork and governmental overhead…it runs away from you quickly.