I listened to it at noon (instead of listening to the Obama speech — I recorded that on DVR). It was a pretty good discussion. Warren had Jeff Greason (at my suggestion, otherwise it would have been me), Bobby Block from the Orlando Sentinel, Scott Pace, head of the Space Policy Institute at GWU (and a good friend and former colleague from Rockwell in the eighties), and Jonathan McDowell, of Jonathan’s Space Report fame (I hadn’t realized he was a Brit, and I really should blogroll the site).
Scott was the only defender of Constellation, on the ground that we have to stick with something and finish it, and not change policies each time we change administrations. I don’t think he really understands just what a financial programmatic disaster it was. Or maybe there’s something in the water at GWU. He’s starting to sound like his predecessor (and thesis advisor), John Logsdon. Of course, he was Associate Administrator for PA&E during the Griffin era, so he (like Mike) may take the cancellation a little personally. Next time I get back to DC, I’ll argue with him over a beer.
Rand – happy to have that beer, it’s better than the water in DC! John Logsdon was my predecessor here but not on my thesis. He was at KSC for the President’s speech while I was doing the C-SPAN rounds. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/222557
There’s definitely something in the water in DC, Scott. 😉
I thought that John had advised on your Master’s thesis.
Scott was the only defender of Constellation, on the ground that we have to stick with something and finish it, and not change policies each time we change administrations.
Scott might have had a point if the new policy doesn’t solve that problem, too. He should realize that by building infrastructure and having multiple commercial launch options, NASA in 2020 will be in a much better position to embark on a BEO mission. If you have orbital refueling and an orbital way station like ISS, then you don’t have to build a moon/L2/NEO mission from scratch. Obama’s plan sets the stage for mission timelines that are politically sustainable as well.