The year in space

Bruce Balderson — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:14:35 GMT

NASA you're doing a great job. I liked viewing the reports on the Phoenix Mars lander. I'm in my seventies and want to know as mush as I can. Don't delay the programs.

The year in space

Nan Kirv — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:17:24 GMT

This is a really nice summary! Thanks for doing that.
You might also want to add some words about future space telescope missions, in addition to the robotic missions. The Terrestrial Planet Finder(s) are our main means to detect life on extrasolar planets, but their funding is on hold.

The year in space

Ryan, Florida — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:30:25 GMT

The US government has failed us in the Space Exploration program. John F Kennedy's speech should have been "beat the soviets before the decade is out" not "land on the moon", because thats what would have happened. If someone like Jules Verne saw what we did with our space program and how we have treated it now, he would vomit, have 3 heart attacks and die again.

Congress has failed us, presidents have failed us. GET US BACK INTO SPACE!!!!!!

The year in space

steve smyth — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:46:07 GMT

RE...Alan's question of whether a new spacecraft may emerge in the coming year.
There will be lotsa new rockets...zero new spacecraft.
Keep that in mind.
Gaia Two is a new spacecraft...new launch...new recovery...new purpose...etc...ad infinitum.
Check her out by clicking my name below.
The Rocketeers ain't gettin' us nowhere...PERIOD!

The year in space

David Howell, Tallahassee, FL — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:25:25 GMT

Excellent slant on the year, Alan. I'm a "Kennedy kid" in the sense he inspired me in my youth to look skyward. Been doing that ever since. Great to see some focus back on true exploration versus the experiments and studies possible in the space station. We must go further, further OUT THERE to find our ultimate destiny as a species. We will soon exhaust this planet's ability to support us, so we go forth and forage...or we die. Comes down to simple survival.

The year in space

Eric, Salinas, CA — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:12:07 GMT

Great article Alan! I always enjoy hearing about space exploration. One thing I hope for in the coming year is getting Griffin replaced. He's wasted too much effort on the new Ares rocket while letting our shuttle fleet go to heck leaving a big 4 year gap in our ability to launch space missions. I never liked the bushwhacker's arrogant and ignorant new space race just to beat China back to the moon and on to Mars. We need to have space cooperation not another space race. We need to have Europe and many other countries get on board going back to the moon and on to Mars so that we taxpayers don't have to pay the whole cost. Much better to do the moon and Mars the way we did the International Space Station.

I look forward to seeing what new discoveries we see in space this coming year. Will we see more new planets and find more planets with possiblities for life? I can't wait for the new Hubble repair mission to get off the ground to make Hubble better than ever. As always I look forward to Alan keeping us informed.

The year in space

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:08:39 GMT

I'd like to see NASA cooperate with ESA and have probes circling every planet past Mars. The goals would be to evaluate which planets could (and where on them) support a human outpost. That would a good goal for the next 20 years. This goes beyond the idea of developing generational ships that could power and get us to the next closest stars.

The year in space

Frank Glover, Rochester, NY — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:26:27 GMT

"We need to have Europe and many other countries get on board going back to the moon and on to Mars so that we taxpayers don't have to pay the whole cost."

You mean, that .6% (that's six-tenths of one percent) of your tax dollar that annually funds all (not just manned space) of NASA? (That's down in the *noise* of other government agencies, not to mention the various proposed 'bailouts.' If NASA spent what people *think* it does, there would be hot-dog stands on Pluto by now...)

"Much better to do the moon and Mars the way we did the International Space Station."

You mean like the 8 billion dollar station that ultimately will come in closer to 100 billion? (just because it's an absolute sliver of federal spending doesn't mean it's always spent efficiently)

Excuse me, I have to stop laughing, now...

The year in space

Warren Leary, Washington, DC — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:32:11 GMT

Alan, terrific summary of the year and future NASA issues.

The year in space

Michael Jones — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:53:32 GMT

I'm hoping NASA will abandon its current nostalgic rush to return to the Moon (with maybe a side trip to Mars someday) and instead focus on upgrading the ISS so it can function as an Earth-orbit terminal for one or more Earth-Mars "cyclers" that would, aside from providing a recurring transport system to and from Mars, would put a useful bit of infrastructure in place to support continuing Mars missions and serve as a foundation for future expansion on human space missions.

The year in space

Jason — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:33:14 GMT

NASA is strong and does a lot of great stuff, but it needs to be strong and do even better.
The future of the human race depends on our scientific knowledge, not bailing out companies or fighting wars that in 100 years no one will care about anyways. The solution to most of today’s currents problems can be solved by furthering our knowledge of space and our planet.
I agree with one of the comments above. The ISS should be expanded for missions to mars the moon and beyond. What we need is 2 sets of space craft’s:
1. One craft that runs missions just between earth and the ISS, where its primary mission is just to deliver fuel and supplies.
2. The second type of space craft would need to be built in orbit at the ISS. This craft could be designed for long term travel and would not need to be concerned with re-entry. It would just dock with the ISS and re-fuel, re-supply and transfer people.

Keep up the great work.

The year in space

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:25:40 GMT

Alan: My 11 year old son received a "star" with his name on it for Christmas. It is in the Hercules constellation. Where could we find a possible Hubble view of the area of the cosmos that would contain his "star"? We have the coordinates on the Certificate, but would like to know if we could possibly actually "see" the star through Hubbles' lens. There must be others that would wish to do so and this may make an interesting story on how we could do it. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

The year in space

Alan Boyle — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:48:03 GMT

Dear Delmar: A lot of folks scoff at star registries because they don't really, officially "name" a star. But I won't take that position here because it's a nice gesture that will get your son interested in astronomy ... and I know how interested you are as well. Right now the only thing I can suggest is to use a graphical program such as Google Earth/Sky or World Wide Telescope to zoom in on the star you're interested in. If you send along the RA and declination, maybe there's a way I or someone else who is smarter about these things can look into it further. Actually, this might be of use:

http://archive.stsci.edu/

All the best to you and your family for Christmas!

The year in space

red — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:05:52 GMT

Another consideration is Obama's strong focus on climate change and its implications - a focus that came through loud and clear last week through his appointments to top science posts. Obama will likely want his NASA administrator to take a similarly strong stand on the importance of Earth observation and climate science.

Griffin might not be a good fit for that role, especially considering the flap he caused last year when he told NPR, "I am not sure that it is fair to say that [global warming] is a problem we must wrestle with."
===========================================

Griffin's NPR comments are just one aspect of his mismatch with this priority of Obama's. If you check the NASA Earth Science missions in development, you'll see that they've practically dried up, especially if you don't count ones for other agencies. Heliophysics and planetary science missions with implications to Earth Science are also becoming few and far between.

Ares has been funded too much at the expense of these efforts, as well as at the expense of NASA's New Millenium, NIAC, Centennial Challenges, lunar probe, aeronautics, space plane demo, and other projects.

To better address Obama's climate/environment/energy emphasis, NASA will probably need to undergo a number of changes. Ares and Shuttle will probably need to go to free up funding. Here are some possible NASA efforts that would allow NASA to help contribute to solving the problems Obama wants to solve:

- traditional environment probes as suggested by the National Academies for Earth Science, with complimentary Heliophysics and Planetary Science missions
- heavy use of commercial suborbital rockets, smallsats, and "hosted" NASA science instrument payloads on commercial satellites for new types of low cost Earth science and engineering work
- aeronautics work in fuel efficient planes and air traffic management
- space station (ISS and possibly commercial) use on science and engineering related to energy and the environment
- engineering efficient satellite and spacecraft power systems, power-using systems, and closed-loop lift support system improvements with spin-off potential
- astronaut environment satellite servicing missions (in the Hubble tradition) with a new line of serviceable environment satellites (NASA, NOAA, ESA ... it doesn't matter), ISS-compatible astronaut transport based on EELVs or commercial rockets, and eventually new support infrastructure like tugs and propellant depots

Astronaut missions to the Moon would still come closer with the (in many cases commercially-oriented) infrastructure and capabilities implied by the above items, which would make an eventual astronaut Moon program more achievable. In the meantime, since these items should be considerably more affordable than Shuttle/Ares, there should be budgetary room left over to do a thorough robotic lunar precursor program of lunar science, ISRU demos, and engineering and habitation tests so when the time comes for serious Lunar development and settlement, we are ready.

The year in space

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The year in space

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:39:53 GMT

You just have to laugh...I for one am so glad all our fantasies about space and space science, took form in the 20th century. It all began as a thought written down and only written down after the terrible mis-construction that religion imparted upon the world prior to the 1600's. It's also too bad that women thinkers have always been put aside in this "male associated thing".

I hazard to guess there were many space faring thinkers long before H. G. Wells and the like.

The year in space

nike tn — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:42:00 GMT

- heavy use of commercial suborbital rockets, smallsats, and "hosted" NASA science instrument payloads on commercial satellites for new types of low cost Earth science and engineering work

The year in space

China Wholesale — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:13:53 GMT

It all began as a thought written down and only written down after the terrible mis-construction that religion imparted upon the world prior to the 1600's.

The year in space

kereviz — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:57:43 GMT

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The year in space

buy cheap metin2 yang — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:03:39 GMT

This is a very good simple! Thank you to do that.
You may also want to add a few words about the future of the space telescope task, besides the robot task. Terrestrial planet finder (s) is a major means of our lives to detect extrasolar planets, but their funds.

The year in space

nusret — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:14:12 GMT

The year in space

magic — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:03:15 GMT

You mean, that .6% (that's six-tenths of one percent) of your tax dollar that annually funds all (not just manned space) of NASA? (That's down in the *noise* of other government agencies, not to mention the various proposed 'bailouts.' If NASA spent what people *think* it does, there would be hot-dog stands on Pluto by now