VSE Progress: Then Vs Now

Leader of NASA's space probe study to speak at Bona, The Times Herald

"Dr. [Douglas] Stanley said a large-scale plan for NASA's future was overdue when he came onboard as director of the ESAS in May 2005. More than a year after President George W. Bush released his long-term "Vision for Space Exploration" in January 2004, NASA still had not pushed forward with concrete plans and was in danger of losing federal funds for the project expected to cost around $100 billion. "Up until that point, Bush had made his announcement but nobody had said how we were going to get to the moon or how we were going to get to Mars," Dr. Stanley said. "Thirteen or 14 months had passed ... and they had eight different contractors doing designs and nobody had made a decision."

Editor's note: Hmm, Doug, I don't exactly share your then vs now comparison as being overflowing with progress. Let's see: the "90 day" study took longer than 90 days and the release of ESAS report was delayed from October 2005 until January 2006. The date for CEV contractor selection has been put off several times and is certain to slip yet again by several months while the CEV is being redesigned because the first design (yours) wasn't going to work the way it was supposed to. CEV availability continues to move (back) to the right toward 2014, and the LOX/Methane option has been tossed out. Meanwhile the ESAS report itself is being re-studied and NASA under (Mike Griffin) is actually getting less money now than was originally planned (or asked for). Yes, NASA is moving forward a little faster Doug, with the CEV sucking up every financial resource in sight and draining science in the process, but the difference between pre-Griffin situation and now is more like comparing a slow moving glacier with a faster moving glacier i.e. never fast enough.