Bush's space plan

Why don't we just wait a couple of days and see what the space policy
really is before pointing fingers?

On Jan 9, 2004, at 1:56 PM, Rick Fischer wrote:

> Does anyone on this list have anything good to say about the impending
> fundamental change in the U.S. space program?
>
> I will tell you that I work for NASA and am very happy that the
> detractors,
> many of them it appears, are not in any management position within the
> space
> agency. The constant political paranoia as to why a change is
> occurring, at
> what time and for what reasons are not what you should be thinking
> about.
>
> This group refers to itself as "Spacesettlers", and it irks me why the
> populous here doesn't want to take advantage of another direction in
> space
> travel, or space colonization when its staring you in the face,
> instead of
> anguishing in low earth orbit for another 20 years.
>
> I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular here, just the general
> vibes that are being passed along on this group are troublesome.
>
> P.S. Estimates of a program like this would generate a million new
> jobs.
> Something to think about if you are looking for viable employment.
>
> Rick Fischer
> rick.fischer@...
>
> Inside KSC.com
> http://www.insideksc.com
>
> Join the Inside KSC Yahoo List Group
> mailto:inside_ksc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> From: Al Globus [mailto:aglobus@...]
> Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 2:30 PM
> To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Bush's space plan
>
> On Jan 9, 2004, at 11:18 AM, Combs, Mike wrote:
>
>>
>>> The one good thing clinton did with the ISS was to
>>> convert it from a primary US program with some
>>> international support to a truly international
>>> endeavor.
>>
>> While agreeing with many of your other points, what would prompt you
>> to say
>> this? The general consensus is that Clinton's decision to bring
>> Russia into
>> the program was a complete disaster, and rather than saving expense
>> instead
>> made the station more expensive for the US
>
> The ISS was nearly cancelled just before the Russians came on board, I
> think the margin in the House was about 3-5 votes. If they hadn't
> brought the Russians in, there probably wouldn't be a space station
> today -- which may have been a good thing. Actually, although the ISS
> is too expensive and not very capable, bringing the Russians in did
> exactly what it was supposed to do: improve ties between Russia and the
> US and keep at least some Russian technical people occupied NOT
> building bombs for third world dictators.
>
> Actually, I suspect the real contribution of the ISS is to get space
> tourism started. Could have been done cheaper, perhaps, but the first
> paying tourists went to the ISS, not anywhere else.
>
> The materials in one asteroid (the largest ) are sufficient to make
> orbital space colonies with ~150 times the surface area of the Earth in
> usable real estate. See http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/
> for details.
>
> Al Globus
> CSC at NASA Ames Research Center
> http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html
>
> Views expressed in this email are only my opinions and are not the
> position of any organization I'm familiar with.
>
> D=egroup
> web/S05083543:HM/EXP73762818/A53618/R=0/*http://
> www.netflix.com/Def
> ault?mqso_178338&partid=4116732> click here
>
> D=egroupmai
> l/S=:HM/A53618/rand6791196>
>
> _____
>
> Canada.
>
The International Space Station's (ISS) most important legacy may be
jump-starting space tourism. Consider: the first space tourist, Dennis
Tito, was supposed to go to the Soviet era Mir space station. Under
pressure from NASA, Russia de-orbited the Mir which resulted in Mr.
Tito going to the ISS instead. Now the Mir was a terrific space
station, but by the time of Tito's trip it was also old, smelly,
crowded and probably not all that nice. The ISS was brand new, shiny,
much more roomy, etc. Mr. Tito came back to Earth with glowing accounts
of how great space is. Would his experience have been as good on Mir?

Al Globus
CSC at NASA Ames Research Center
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html

Views expressed in this email are only my opinions and are not the
position of any organization I'm familiar with.