(Lunar News Network) It’s all over. The U.S. is getting out of the manned space exploration business. The Obama Administration has decided not to fund the Constellation program. NASA will not return to the Moon and go on to Mars and beyond. The dream is dead.

(The Write Stuff) Administration officials and a former astronaut on Wednesday called President Barack Obama’s plans for NASA “exciting” and “bold”, saying that he was replacing a failed moon program with a new $6 billion project to develop commercial rockets capable of taking astronauts into orbit. [...]

But conspicuous by its absence was any mention of a commitment to develop a new government owned and operated “heavy-lift” rocket capable of taking humans beyond the low Earth Orbit.

While some see this move as killing America’s future among the heavens, this manuaver will actually force NASA to do something that they should have done from the very beginning–aggressively partner with the private sector (aka New Space).

In fact, this is actually what President Obama proposed when re-charting NASA’s course.

(New York Times) President Obama will end NASA’s return mission to the moon and turn to private companies to launch astronauts into space when he unveils his budget request to Congress next week, an administration official said Thursday.

The shift would “put NASA on a more sustainable and ambitious path to the future,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

While NASA has accomplished some extraordinary achievements during it’s life time (landing on the Moon being one of them), the price tag in doing so is not worth the extra deficits if the only result is more flag poles and foot prints.

If humanity is to ever conquer the final frontier, then they need to learn how to not only live off world, but thrive there too–both literally and fiscally.

Giving New Space the American reigns may not bring comfort to many people (as the chance of failure is potentially large).

But to simply fund NASA attempts at making space accessable to all (while skyrocketing the costs) and expecting different results is–whether you like it or not–the definition of insanity.

– Posted from my iPhone

With Congress wresting over the bailout stimulus package, it looks as if SpaceX (who launched their first successful rocket last year) is asking the public to contact their state representatives in order lobby for additional funding for COTS-d (aka the Constellation Orbital Transportation Services).

(SpaceX) What this would mean for taxpayers and high tech jobs in the United States is very significant. Let’s consider the default plan under way, which expects that our country will use the Russian Soyuz at the currently negotiated price of $47 million per seat for the period between Shuttle retirement (2010) and Ares/Orion reaching Space Station (2016). Even assuming that we drop the number of US astronauts going to Station from the current 30 per year with Shuttle down to 14 per year, the cost will be approximately $3.3 billion. However, there is also a human cost in the thousands of jobs that the money could have supported back home.

In contrast, F9/Dragon would cost less than $20M per seat and it is 100% manufactured and launched in the United States. We are estimating that it would create well in excess of a 1000 high quality jobs at Cape Canaveral and an equivalent number in California and Texas, where we do our manufacturing and testing. Moreover, the total cost would only be $1.5B, so taxpayers would save nearly $2B. [...]

COTS Capability D can be completed within two years from date of funds receipt. In fact, with a little extra money and some modifications to the plan, it can be accelerated even further.

Since COTS Capability D is an existing option in an already competed contract, NASA could exercise it right away, resulting in immediate job creation. [...]

If you think this makes sense, please contact your representatives in the House and Senate, as well as Rep. Mollohan and Senator Mikulski who lead the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittees. Please encourage them to fund NASA Exploration in the Stimulus Bill and provide the $300M in funding necessary to begin COTS Capability D.

While the public may not be a fan of spending even more tax dollars for the private sector (note: this author is not), Congress should probably fund the COTS-d program (as outsourcing to Russia does not sound like a great idea).

SpaceX has even provided a video, in order to help inspire Americans to support a home grown NewSpace company.

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(Hat Tip: Tales of the Heliosphere and AstroEngine, Image Credit: ExDream.com)

Rumor has it that President Elect Barack Obama’s transition team is seriously considering “tearing down the walls” that prevents the Pentagon from working with NASA.

(Bloomberg) President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.

Obama’s transition team is considering a collaboration between the Defense Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because military rockets may be cheaper and ready sooner than the space agency’s planned launch vehicle, which isn’t slated to fly until 2015, according to people who’ve discussed the idea with the Obama team. [...]

“If China puts a man on the moon, that in itself isn’t necessarily a threat to the U.S.,” said Dean Cheng, a senior Asia analyst with CNA Corp., an Alexandria, Virginia-based national-security research firm. “But it would suggest that China had reached a level of proficiency in space comparable to that of the United States.”

According to Bloomberg, the Pentagon’s space budget is approximately $22 billion (which is 33% larger than NASA’s budget). By allowing both agencies to collaborate together, NASA would be able to easily retire the shuttle as well as prepare for an eventual moon landing.

This could also benefit the Pentagon as it could help encourage citizens to join a “future space force” (which would make the Pentagon very happy).

Unfortunately a marriage between civilian and military would have its draw backs as well, since an alliance between the two could alienate NASA from future space allies like India and Japan who may not be open towards partnering with foreign military agencies.

It could also change NASA’s focus from scientific exploration of the universe to a more “divide and conquer” approach (which in the long run could help the US to eventually conquer the solar system).

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After defeating John McCain in the bid for the White House, President Elect Barack Obama is determined to bring about the necessary change in government in order to keep the US economy from going off of a cliff.

While Obama is already asking for “meaningful cuts and sacrifices” in order to keep our economy afloat, it looks like his team may be hinting that future budget cuts could potentially affect NASA’s Ares I rocket as well.

(Space.com) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s NASA transition team is asking U.S. space agency officials to quantify how much money could be saved by canceling the Ares 1 rocket and scaling back the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle next year. [...]

The questionnaire, “NASA Presidential Transition Team Requests for Information,” asks agency officials to provide the latest information on Ares 1, Orion and the planned Ares 5 heavy-lift cargo launcher, and to calculate the near-term close-out costs and longer-term savings associated with canceling those programs. The questionnaire also contemplates a scenario where Ares 1 would be canceled but development of the Ares 5 would continue.

While the questionnaire, a copy of which was obtained by Space News, also asks NASA to provide a cost estimate for accelerating the first operational flight of Ares 1 and Orion from the current target date of March 2015 to as soon as 2013, NASA was not asked to study the cost implications of canceling any of its other programs, including the significantly overbudget 2009 Mars Science Laboratory or the James Webb Space Telescope.

According to the article, Obama seems to be committed towards keeping COTS alive (which is great news for companies like SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace).

While Ares I and Ares V do have have their fair share of critics, canceling either may end up hurting America’s chances of beating China back to the Moon–unless a viable alternative can be found.

Note: If President Elect Obama decides to cancel the Ares rockets, NASA may want to consider teaming up with India and Japan, in order to make up for the short fall in funding (as well as support).

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(MSNBC) Moscow is ready to help Cuba develop its own space center, Russia’s space agency chief said on Wednesday after talks in Caracas with Venezuelan and Cuban officials, Itar-Tass news agency reported. [...]

“We have held preliminary discussions about the possibility of creating a space center in Cuba with our help,” the chief of Russia’s Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass in Caracas.

“With our Cuban colleagues, we discussed the possibilities of joint use of space equipment…and the joint use of space communications systems,” Perminov was quoted as saying.

While it will be interesting to see whether or not Russia decides to arm Cuba as they did in the past (in response to the US arming Poland), this may spark a renewed interest in Congress to maintain its status as a space power.

This could easily translate in not only more funds for NASA, but potentially a greater role for NewSpace as well.

With Russia hungry to establish its former glory (and China not too far behind them), we could see a global space race pitting the east against the west, which may ultimately translate into lunar colonies down the road (as mining helium-3 may require a human presence to keep away squatters).

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After the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia, Senator McCain is asking the President to delay the space shuttle retirement in order to help America avoid dependence upon Russia during “the gap.”

(Space.com) McCain, joined by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and David Vitter (R-La.), also cited Russia’s recent military incursion into neighboring Georgia earlier this month as evidence that Russia’s continued cooperation on the international space station program should not be taken for granted.

Once the space shuttle is retired, Russia stands to possess the only means of transporting astronauts to and from the space station until the shuttle’s successor – the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and Ares 1 launcher – comes on line around 2015. [...]

McCain, Hutchison and Vitter, in their letter to Bush, wrote that Russia’s actions “raised new questions about the wisdom of providing” the exemption the White House seeks from a provision in the Iran, North Korea, Syria Non-proliferation Act barring so-called extraordinary payments to the Russian space program so long as Russia continues to help Iran acquire missiles and other advanced weapons.

While Senator McCain’s rival for the White House, Senator Obama has proposed an alternative solution (basically giving NASA an extra $2 billion), neither solution will help NASA as the agency lacks the funds to continue shuttle flights and finish the constellation program.

NASA is (understandably) tired of circling the globe while dreaming of the stars beyond our home world.

With firm plans to establish a lunar base (which will hopefully turn into a lunar colony), it would be better for NASA to allow the private sector (aka NewSpace) to replace Russia in ferrying astronauts, thus freeing up NASA to help humanity establish settlements off world.

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With the recent crisis in Georgia (note: the country) slowly coming to a close (hat tip: Hot Air), many are wondering how this latest conflict will affect NASA’s relationship with Russia–especially regarding transportation of US astronauts towards the International Space Station (aka ISS).

While only time will tell whether or not Russia reaches out towards its former allies, one thing is clear–NASA may no longer be able to rely upon the international community to send its “boys and girls” beyond the sky, leaving them with no “dedicated” access towards the ISS (and beyond) during the gap.

Even though some may see this new dilemma as a crisis, this may perhaps be a golden opportunity for the private space sector (aka NewSpace) to prove their worth towards NASA–not to mention the public as well (hat tip: Space Transport News).

(Guardian.co.uk) SpaceX’s offices are in the aptly named Rocket Drive, close to Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles. And it has lofty ambitions. Nasa’s Space Shuttle is due to be retired in 2010, when Musk’s company hopes to take its place as the leading provider of launches.

SpaceX won an award of $278m from Nasa for three demonstration flights of its Falcon 9 rocket, which will carry the Dragon spacecraft – a vehicle that will be able to transport cargo or seven crew members. This will culminate with a dock and delivery and return of cargo with the International Space Station.

If that is successfully completed, there will be an option of similar value for passenger launches to and from the space station. This, coupled with commercially booked missions into 2011, means that SpaceX is profitable, it says – even though it has yet to get a rocket into orbit.

If SpaceX (as well as others) are successful, humanity may witness a new era of space exploration where the private sector begins to replace the government as the main transport service beyond the heavens, reducing the overall cost of launching material into space.

While this may mean that expensive projects like the ISS will be replaced by better, less expensive alternatives, it could also help transform NASA into a regulatory agency (similar to the FAA), instead of having to “bend the metal” themselves.

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(Orlando Sentinel) U.S. Sen. John McCain took one small step — but not a giant leap — toward outlining his NASA policy today by announcing his support for the agency’s moon-Mars program in a release that commended NASA on its 50th birthday.

“As President, I will act to make ensure our astronauts will continue to explore space, and not just by hitching a ride with someone else. I intend to make sure that the NASA constellation program has the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration,” said the Republican presidential candidate in a statement. The impact was perhaps diminished somewhat by the statement’s failure to capitalize “Constellation.”

Meant to replace the space shuttle, set to retire in 2010, the Constellation program aims to send astronauts to the Moon, and eventually Mars, aboard a series of new rockets and capsules.

John McCain has previously stated his interest in sending a man to Mars, while Barack Obama has largly “danced around the issue,” supporting robotic exploration but speaking nothing about landing people on other worlds.

(Orlando Sentinel) None of them included manned missions to the moon or Mars –- pillars of NASA’s current exploration agenda. Patti Grace Smith, former Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation with the Federal Aviation Administration, said Obama instead was focused on:

1. Closing the gap between the shuttle and its replacement.

2. Completing the International Space Station.

3. Using NASA to monitor climate change.

4. Supporting scientific research

5. Keeping weapons out of space

You can hear her presentation here, about 20 minutes into the panel discussion (first video). After this posting, the Obama campaign forwarded an e-mail from Patti Grace Smith, which notes she was “summarizing points that were already released as part of Obama’s plan” and that she is not a representative for Obama, just an “early Obama supporter and fundraiser.”

Even though neither campaign has expressed a desire to fully fund NASA (which would actually allow them to accomplish these visionary goals), McCain has at least shown an interest in expanding our civilization beyond our homeworld, instead of viewing the solar system through the lenses and instruments of robots.

While the space community needs to work with both parties in order to ensure that space exploration does not become a partisan issue, they should be more than willing to vote against candidates content to keeping the human race Earth bound.

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(Orlando Sentinel) The measure also includes an extra $1 billion to accelerate the Constellation program, a series of new rockets and capsules that NASA hopes can carry astronauts to the moon and eventually Mars. Its first mission is planned for 2015 — five years after the shuttle’s 2010 retirement. [...]

“We’re really on to the next administration at this point. That’s 99 percent of our focus,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, one of the bill’s sponsors. “By an overwhelming, enthusiastic and bipartisan majority, the U.S. House has endorsed an aggressive promotion of NASA in general and human spaceflight in particular.”

After expressing uneasiness over the idea of outsourcing International Space Station flights to the Russians, it looks as if Congress is demonstrating its full support of NASA–regardless on whether or not the presidential candidates think human exploration is a good idea or a futile one.

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Unfortunately it seems that many Senators are not as comfortable with working with their former foe, especially with tensions heating up between the US and the former Soviet Union.

(Government Executive) Senate Commerce Space Subcommittee Chairman Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., trained their sights on what they portrayed as a high-risk reliance on a partner whose ambitions might run counter to U.S. foreign policy goals. [...]

In the meantime, Nelson said, “there is a realistic political monkey wrench” that could complicate any deal. He said current law forbids any U.S. contract payments to Russia if it continues to support the Iranian nuclear development program, unless the White House requests a waiver and Congress grants it.

Even though NASA is confident in its relationship with the Russians, they need to develop a “plan B” just in case America chooses not to issue future waivers (which would hurt NASA, or at least cripple the ISS).

While NASA has made serious attempts at courting the private sector (especially SpaceX), they may need to take more aggressive measures if they want to convince congress of their future relevance.

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