Re: WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 16 Mar 07 Washington, DC

In article <meked4-q3b.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, The Ghost In The Machine <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
In sci.physics, mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:48:45 GMT
<hLKMh.25$25.95@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
In article <3o6cd4-hmm.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, The Ghost In The Machine <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
In sci.physics, mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:04:57 GMT
<JfnMh.17$25.104@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
In article <ep69d4-pjf.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, The Ghost In The Machine <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
In sci.physics, mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mmeron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 01:24:58 GMT
<KVkMh.13$25.69@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
In article <1174525991.021333.222320@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Eric Gisse" <jowr.pi@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
On Mar 21, 12:29 pm, Sam Wormley <sworml...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[...]


2. NASA BUDGET: NO ROOM FOR THE ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER.
Yesterday, Bart Gordon (D-TN), chair of the House S&T Committee,
noted that the budget reality bears little resemblance to the
"rosy projections" offered by the Administration when the
President announced his "Vision for Space Exploration" three
years ago. Don't scrap the vision - kill the science. One
casualty is the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer that was
scheduled to go to the ISS on a 2008 shuttle flight. Griffin now
says there's no room for the AMS on the shuttle because every
flight is crammed with hardware to finish the ISS. It wouldn't
do to drop an unfinished ISS into the ocean. The AMS was
designed to search for antimatter. Nobel prize winner Sam Ting
of MIT, made the case for AMS personally to Dan Goldin. It was
cited repeatedly by NASA to show that the ISS would do basic
sciencehttp://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN98/wn061298.html.

Deorbit the ISS onto the VLB containing the shuttles. Two birds, one
stone.

Hmm, the idea has merit:-)

What is the ISS even *FOR* anymore? Not even enough room to stuff on
an experiment designed specifically to work on the ISS...

What do you mean "anymore"? The ISS always had the same purpose, to
keep the shuttle alive. And the shuttle is there to keep the ISS
alive. Perfect symbiosis.

The shuttle is scheduled to die in 2010, IINM. What will replace it
is not clear to me yet.

It is certainly not clear to me and I see no evidence that it is clear
to NASA. One cannot come with a decent design absent a well defined
mission.

A well-defined mission? From our erstwhile President?
Surely you jest... :-)

Much as it pains me to burst your political bubbles, NASA had no well
defined mission since the end of the Apollo project. That's 7
Administrations, quite bipartisan. Note that "continue with general
space research" is not a well defined mission.

Come to think of it, I think you're right; NASA hasn't
really been the same since the Apollo-Soyuz affairs.

Right.

The "space truck" is at best uninspiring -- sort of
like the difference between Lewis & Clark, and a modern
diesel driving down the highway (10-4 good buddies; is
there a smokey on my tail? C'mon back...) Granted, the
latter perform a very useful service, but it's not quite
as romantic.

Indeed. And by now the bulk of our space activities is in the
category of "useful services", a space trucking industry. "Take this
satellite and deliver it to orbit, pronto". Nothing wrong with this
but it is quite separate from exploration. Different type of
priorities, different type of people involved, etc.

I'm not sure a Martian trip will be all that exciting either, especially
since it will take half a year to a year to get there.

And since there doesn't appear to be, in the public eye, a compelling
reason to get there.

In truth, I'm not sure what could serve as a mission, comparable to
"getting to the moon", right now.

Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | chances are he is doing just the same"
.

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