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Feb. 2nd, 2003 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bzarcherHrm. On space for the future:
Bush is talking about not backing away from space travel. He's also talking about wanting to fund the next-gen shuttle as soon as possible.
Now, the pundits are saying "Oh, that'll take 10 or 15 years."
Now I don't really believe that, and here's why:
1: This assumes no budget modifications for NASA.
2: This 10-15 years comes from a statement by Mr. "Better, Faster, Cheaper", who said he also didn't -believe- in a next-gen vehicle, and who if Gods are kind, will be REPLACED since he's clearly dropped the ball on a lot of the agency's projects. (A lot of the recent failures, though not Columbia, can be traced back DIRECTLY to that "BFC" policty.)
3: If Bush is smart, he will pump LOTS of budget to NASA. Why? Because it not only serves as a great flagship plank for his re-election campaign, but it makes him look really good for helping to create more jobs, particularly in Aerospace, and on local levels ought to do wonders for the job situations in Texas and Florida, both states that he has a big investement in making sure like him. (For that matter, a lot of the South will like him if he does this. A surprising amount of the space industry is in there...)
4: We made Apollo happen in under 8 years, including 2 crippling setbacks. No, we don't have men like Von Braun anymore, but we do have geniuses of equal calibur. Plus, we have 15 years of research on next-gen work already done. We just need to start being more serious about it.
We'll get there.
We will not back down.
Bush is talking about not backing away from space travel. He's also talking about wanting to fund the next-gen shuttle as soon as possible.
Now, the pundits are saying "Oh, that'll take 10 or 15 years."
Now I don't really believe that, and here's why:
1: This assumes no budget modifications for NASA.
2: This 10-15 years comes from a statement by Mr. "Better, Faster, Cheaper", who said he also didn't -believe- in a next-gen vehicle, and who if Gods are kind, will be REPLACED since he's clearly dropped the ball on a lot of the agency's projects. (A lot of the recent failures, though not Columbia, can be traced back DIRECTLY to that "BFC" policty.)
3: If Bush is smart, he will pump LOTS of budget to NASA. Why? Because it not only serves as a great flagship plank for his re-election campaign, but it makes him look really good for helping to create more jobs, particularly in Aerospace, and on local levels ought to do wonders for the job situations in Texas and Florida, both states that he has a big investement in making sure like him. (For that matter, a lot of the South will like him if he does this. A surprising amount of the space industry is in there...)
4: We made Apollo happen in under 8 years, including 2 crippling setbacks. No, we don't have men like Von Braun anymore, but we do have geniuses of equal calibur. Plus, we have 15 years of research on next-gen work already done. We just need to start being more serious about it.
We'll get there.
We will not back down.
