Congressional Flak on NASA's Plans

FYI, Andy Pasztor, author of the WSJ article, was also the author of the WSJ article from a few days ago which completely misrepresented Burt Rutan's congressional letter to make it seem like Rutan was opposed to commercial LEO transportation:

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/02/what-burt-meant.html

If you search through Andy Pasztor's earlier work on NASA's new plans, he seems to have produced quite a few dubiously worded articles. Hmm...

Uh, does anybody else, post Columbia and Challenger, find this concern about other supplier's safety records a bit disingenuous as a reason to stick with NASA?

Yes, Change is difficult. I suspect more happiness to come in the future.

In some repects this is not all that bad. The activity is just starting.

So, let's get this clear: US lawmakers are criticising a strategy because it depends on US entrepreneurs, denigrating this as 'faith based'.

Gobsmacked, as the British tabloid newspapers say.

Betting on business interests is certainly a risk but a bold one, and in my book it deserves applause. Anyway, developing private business, economic activity, in space is a primary goal in itself - not just a means to an end. Tax dollars alone are never going to fly that many people into space.

And has everyone forgotten that Musk was building his rocket anyway, with or without NASA? Bigelow cannot possibly have known there would be government contracts either - even they both thought it was a shrewd bet.

These guys are not going to stop whatever NASA does. In 5 years time SpaceX and Orbital's vehicles will have proved their reliability and I bet Musk will be ready to fly astronauts whether or not they are Government Issue.

Even if Congress snatches defeat from the jaws of victory, commits to build the world's biggest rocket and put another 12 men on the Moon, it surely won't be long before private industry makes this entire debate look truly short sighted.

Worst case scenario: in 5 or 10 years time, the Vision will be unchallengable because everyone will see that the obstacles to space exploration are technology and capabilities, not NASA programme management, government funding, or size.

Well - everyone deserves the occasional outbreak of optimism...