Re: SpaceX vs. Japan

If the Democrats win the White House this year, I think they'll end up
pushing Falcon9/Dragon instead of Ares 1/Orion. This would accomplish
the following 3 goals:

1) The budget for manned spaceflight could be drastically cut, while
maintaining a minimal capability to meet international commitments
regarding the ISS.

2) Project Constellation could be killed in the crib by permanently
eliminating the industrial base that would produce it.

3) If launches take place from Wallops Island, NASA's largess would
shift to Greenbelt, MD, Langley, VA, and Wallops Island, VA (Blue and
Purple states) from Houston, TX, Huntsville, AL, and Cape Canaveral,
FL (Red states).


I also think that if President Bush wants to be remembered for
something besides the Iraq War, he'll do what's necessary to ensure
that Project Constellation isn't easy to kill. One step in that
direction would be to offer an agreement to Japan for whatever
assistance they might need in order to get their own manned spacecraft
off the ground.
.