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It’s been a while since MarsBlog’s luddite punching bag Bruce Gagnon gurgled up something worthy of a fisking, but here he is doing his best to make up for lost time.
Continue reading “You Just Don’t Fisk Me Like You Used To…”
Well, not so much on the air as over the phone line — after three weeks of searching for some alternative, I finally had to give in and get dialup access. The new house is, unexpectedly, in a technological dead zone: no cable internet, no DSL, unworkable satellite broadband. Even the wireless internet people couldn’t connect me — and no amount of shameless groveling urging could convince them to blast away the ridge blocking my view of their transponder.
Ah well…back to smoke signals.
It seems a few things have happened while I was offline. Much blogging to come…
Now that they’ve shown they can actually do it, it’s time for a go at the X-Prize.
This is great news. But I have to wonder about the strange time-distortion Mike Melvill appears to have experienced during the flight — it seems to have aged him several years…at least according to Fox News’ reporters, who were adding a year to his age every time they reported on the flight.
SpaceShipOne has successfully taken off.
The ascent to separation altitude will take around an hour. More news later, as time permits (I’m closing on a house, setting up utilities, and registering my car today, so I have no idea what my posting time will be like).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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