MarsBlog.net

By NASASpaceFlight.com. At their subscription site.

Jon Goff has a few interesting details from his first look at the appendices:

Now, having seen some of what’s in them (I’ve mostly been focusing on the 300+ page appendix to Chapter 6, that details all of their launch vehicle related decisions), I can understand why some people might not want that data to see the light of day. I was hoping to get permission to post a screenshot or two and some direct quotes, but for now you’ll have to get a subscription and check it out yourself.

Some gems to look for when you get a chance, all within the first 40 pages:

• Exceptions given in the ground rules and assumptions on maximum dynamic pressures to In-line SRM based crew launch concepts that weren’t given to any other vehicles (without the exception, all of the five-segment Stick concepts would’ve been ruled out from the start).
• Unrealistically assuming a fixed LAS mass regardless of first stage characteristics (like T/W, max-Q, and whether you can shut them down or not).
• Inaccurate dry mass numbers for existing EELV upper stages (just as some of the guys on NASASpaceflight.com had been saying for years now).

Hmm… It’s almost as if the study was rigged to generate a particular outcome…

I can’t wait to see what other “gems” are buried in the full text. Of course, I will wait, since I’m not going to pay for a “level 2″ subscription at NSF to obtain copies of information that I’ve already paid for (that, and I’m not going to help support a site which I loathe for its constantly-flickering animated ads).

[hat tip to the vactioning-in-our-home-state Rand Simberg]

Posted on May 3rd, 2009 under Constellation, Moon-Mars Plan, Orion, Space Policy, Space Technology. Tags: altair, appendix, ares, Constellation, ESAS, launch vehicle, Mike Griffin, nasa, Orion. Comments: 2

Finding 1
The Commission finds that the long-term, ambitious space agenda advanced by the President for robotic and human exploration will significantly help the United States protect its technological leadership, economic vitality, and security.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan. Comments Off

Finding 2
The Commission finds that the space exploration vision must be managed as a significant national priority, a shared commitment of the President, Congress, and the American people.

Recommendation 2-1
The Commission recommends the President establish a permanent Space Exploration Steering Council, reporting to the President, with representatives of all appropriate federal agencies, and chaired by the Vice President or such other senior White House executive that the President may designate. The council shall be empowered to develop policies and coordinate work by its agencies to share technologies, facilities, and talent with NASA to support the national space exploration vision.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan, Space Policy. Comments Off

Finding 3
The Commission finds that NASA?s relationship to the private sector, its organizational structure, business culture, and management processes ? all largely inherited from the Apollo era ? must be decisively transformed to implement the new, multi-decadal space exploration vision.

Recommendation 3-1
The Commission recommends NASA recognize and implement a far larger presence of private industry in space operations with the specific goal of allowing private industry to assume the primary role of providing services to NASA, and most immediately in accessing low-Earth orbit. In NASA decisions, the preferred choice for operational activities must be competitively awarded contracts with private and non-profit organizations and NASA?s role must be limited to only those areas where there is irrefutable demonstration that only government can perform the proposed activity.

Recommendation 3-2
The Commission recommends NASA be transformed to become more focused and effectively integrated to implement the national space exploration vision, with a structure that affixes clear authority and accountability.

Recommendation 3-3
The Commission recommends that NASA Centers be reconfigured as Federally Funded Research and Development Centers to enable innovation, to work effectively with the private sector, and to stimulate economic development. The Commission recognizes that certain specific functions should remain under federal management within a reconfigured Center.

Recommendation 3-4
The Commission recommends that the Administration and Congress work with NASA to create three new NASA organizations:

• a technical advisory board that would give the Administrator and NASA leadership independent and responsive advice on technology and risk
  mitigation plans;

• an independent cost estimating organization to ensure cost realism and accuracy; and
• a research and technology organization that sponsors high risk/high payoff technology advancement while tolerating periodic failures.

Recommendation 3-5
The Commission recommends that NASA adopt proven personnel and management reforms to implement the national space exploration vision, to include:

• use of ?system-of-systems? approach;
• policies of spiral, evolutionary development;
• reliance upon lead systems integrators; and
• independent technical and cost assessments.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan, Space Policy. Comments: 1

Finding 4
The Commission finds that successful development of identified enabling technologies will be critical to attainment of exploration objectives within reasonable schedules and affordable costs.

Recommendation 4-1
The Commission recommends that NASA immediately form special project teams for each enabling technology to:

• conduct initial assessments of these technologies;
• develop a roadmap that leads to mature technologies;
• integrate these technologies into the exploration architecture; and
• develop a plan for transition of appropriate technologies to the private sector.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan, Space Policy. Comments Off

Finding 5
The Commission finds that sustaining the long-term exploration of the solar system requires a robust space industry that will contribute to national economic growth, produce new products through the creation of new knowledge, and lead the world in invention and innovation. This space industry will become a national treasure.

Recommendation 5-1
The Commission recommends NASA aggressively use its contractual authority to reach broadly into the commercial and nonprofit communities to bring the best ideas, technologies, and management tools into the accomplishment of exploration goals.

Recommendation 5-2
The Commission recommends that Congress increase the potential for commercial opportunities related to the national space exploration vision by providing incentives for entrepreneurial investment in space, by creating significant monetary prizes for the accomplishment of space missions and/or technology developments and by assuring appropriate property rights for those who seek to develop space resources and infrastructure.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan, Space Policy. Comments Off

Finding 6
The Commission finds that international talents and technologies will be of significant value in successfully implementing the space exploration vision, and tapping into the global marketplace is consistent with our core value of using private sector resources to meet mission goals.

Recommendation 6-1
The Commission recommends that NASA pursue international partnerships based upon an architecture that would encourage global investment in support of the vision.

The Commission suggests the JSF/F-35 model for international cooperation rather than the ISS model.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan, Space Policy. Comments Off

Finding 7
The Commission finds implementing the space exploration vision will be enabled by scientific knowledge, and will enable compelling scientific opportunities to study Earth and its environs, the solar system, other planetary systems, and the universe.

Recommendation 7-1
The Commission recommends that NASA seeks routine input from the scientific community on exploration architectures to ensure that maximum use is made of existing assets and emerging capabilities.

Recommendation 7-2
The Commission recommends that NASA ask the National Academy of Sciences to engage its constituent scientific community in a re-evaluation of priorities to exploit opportunities created by the space exploration vision. In particular, the community should consider how machines and humans, used separately and in combination, can maximize scientific returns.

Recommendation 7-3
The Commission recommends a discovery-based criterion to select destinations beyond the Moon and Mars that also considers affordability, technical maturity, scientific importance, and emerging capabilities including access to in-situ space resources.

Posted on June 16th, 2004 under Moon-Mars Plan. Comments Off