Political Commentary, Space

The Dog That Didn’t Bark

10 Comments

Anyone see something missing in this message from the administrator?

Lori and I are meeting on a regular basis with our NASA senior leadership to develop our strategy for the future once the final report is released. Additional details on the process will be shared as they become available. In the meantime, staying focused on our current missions is critical. Let’s safety fly out the shuttle manifest and complete the construction and build out of the International Space Station (ISS). Let’s continue our robust exploration of Mars through our robotic rovers and other vehicles yet to be launched. Let’s continue our superb execution of the missions of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) as we gather more data to support future human exploration of the moon. Let’s vigorously pursue the critical missions designed to enable us to gain the essential knowledge of Earth’s environment – our atmosphere, our oceans, our weather – that will enable our policy makers to make wise, informed decisions on climate change and other threats to our environment.

There seems to be one “current mission” not mentioned. It starts with a “C.” And ends in “onstellation.” At least as far as the administrator is concerned, Ares would seem to be dead.

10 thoughts on “The Dog That Didn’t Bark”

  1. On a superficial level, I wouldn’t mind seeing the actual names “Constellation,” “Orion” and “Ares” retained for whatever rockets and spacecraft get developed.

    They’re catchy and iconic, and I always thought they were the only good things to come out of Griffin’s reign (of terror).

  4. NASA could also simply declare that any rocket they buy to send up astronauts is henceforth an “Ares,” and any purchased capsule carrying said NASA astronauts becomes an “Orion.” In a hundred years, the history books will smooth the whole thing out and it will look like it was planned that way from the very start.

  5. Mmmmmm…. what if “Orion” becomes a habitation module that has extended spaceflight capabilities (ie able to support humans for months long flights) but having no launch with humans aboard or re-entry ability. Crews reach the “Orion” via a SpaceX Dragon.

    Oh yeah, this “Orion Module” would also be designed and built by SpaceX as well, on a fixed cost contract. NASA can claim they designed it, it would still be “Orion” after all…..

  6. For what it’s worth, Bolden also said this:
    “I ask that you be patient and not become involved in conjecture about the contents of the report. It would be premature for any of us to draw conclusions regarding the outcome of the committee’s work before its final report has been formally submitted.”
    Not that it is going to stop certain people.

  7. Sure, it’s premature, but I (and I imagine many other people) enjoy the exercise. And they are spilling a lot of information on which to base guesses about the outcome.

  8. Mark, there is nothing in the contents of the report, if they correspond to the public meetings (and supposedly they do) that supports the “program of record.” But dream on.

  9. I’d like to think so as well, but it’s probably more that he’s refraining from saying anything specific about Ares/Constellation until the Augustine Report is submitted.

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