7 ms·

What happened to that? Lack of funding?

by ap22213 10y ago

InclinedPlane 10y ago
It was a typical flags and footprints mission without much thought given to cost, so it ended up having a sticker price of about a trillion dollars, give or take. Congress hated it so much that they curtailed even the hint of talk about a Mars mission by NASA for well over a decade.
- nickff 10y ago
  The current president's plan is a 'flags and footprints mission' (over 20 years from now). Where are you getting the trillion dollars figure?[1] Even the 90-day report came out at less than that.[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_for_Space_Exploration#/media/File:NASA-Main_budget_chart_14-01-2004.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_for_Space_Exploration#/... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Exploration_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Exploration_Initiative
- internaut 10y ago
  Come on brah, you can 'lose' a couple of trillion down the backseat of the sofa at the Pentagon but you lose your shit when NASA asks for a mere 1 trillion dollars spread over a number of years? I feel pretty tall from this horse. Even the horse is feeling pretty aristocratic about the whole affair.
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    In fact, I didn't even blink when you implied that the military brass have sofas with back seats. Who else would have a couch with an entire other couch bolted to the back of it? At only 15x the cost of one normal couch, too.
    - internaut 10y ago
      For a hidden camera prank I want to go into the Pentagon's reception area, find a couch, and then struggle to pull out one of those enormous cheques with a lubricious number of zeros on it. Maybe I could even get some people in uniforms to help me yank it out. I would then finish by galloping (bearing the cheque) into the sunset on an empty road, and at the top of a mighty hill I would yank the reins and the horse would paw the air with its front hooves as I wave the cheque in triumph.
nickff 10y ago
The basic issue seems to be that NASA moves very slowly these days, as NASA is very decentralized, and each center has different constituencies and interests. As a result of this, the "Vision for Space Exploration" went over-budget and fell behind schedule, then President Obama cancelled it, because he had little incentive to keep spending money on his predecessor's legacy.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > NASA moves very slowly these days This is a narrative I've heard, but is there anything to back it up? NASA has operations on multiple planets and now outside the Solar System. They seem to develop multiple major, pioneering projects, from space telescopes to probes of other planets to earth observatories to Martian rovers, all at the same time. I'm impressed. Sure, they don't move with the agility of a startup, but any SV company would be ecstatic to have that portfolio of operations and development. These aren't self-driving cars. > President Obama cancelled it, because he had little incentive to keep spending money on his predecessor's legacy Any evidence of that? Due to the Great Recession, the GOP's refusal to increase revenue (and their work to shrink government), and the current radical budget caps, many programs in many departments - even essential military programs - have had to be cut.
  - nickff 10y ago
    >"This is a narrative I've heard, but is there anything to back it up? NASA has operations on multiple planets and now outside the Solar System. They seem to develop multiple major, pioneering projects, from space telescopes to probes to other planets to earth observatories to Martian rovers, all at the same time. I'm impressed." SLS will end up taking more than 3 times as long and be many times as expensive as even the Saturn V program was, and that is after decades of technological advancement. The current math is that SpaceX does everything three times as fast at a tenth the cost of NASA; this is not a contentious view. Both ULA and Blue Origin are faster and cheaper than NASA too. >"Any evidence of that? Due to the Great Recession, the GOP's refusal to increase revenue (and aim to shrink government), and the current radical budget caps, many programs in many departments - even essential military programs - have had to be cut." NASA's budget was not cut significantly, and the current program (SLS) is incredibly expensive. There is an argument for a single launch vehicle being less expensive to develop and maintain than two, but this is somewhat counter-veiled by only having to man-rate a medium-lift vehicle, and not having to start again (almost from scratch).
elliotec 10y ago
Funding, bureaucracy, war?
dghughes 10y ago
Probably the 2008 financial crash.
dexterdog 10y ago
A new guy took office and needs to pee on the tree.
caio1982 10y ago
Endless war on errorism, financial crisis and recession is what happened. You won't go to space today unless things get stable down here.
- shanusmagnus 10y ago
  Not on the government's dime, anyhow.
- pavanred 10y ago
  Is errorism a typo, an intended pun or a conscious effort to not say the word, because you never know who is watching for it.
  - caio1982 10y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Errorism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Errorism

What happened to that? Lack of funding?

by ap22213 10y ago

What happened to that? Lack of funding?

It was a typical flags and footprints mission without much thought given to cost, so it ended up having a sticker price of about a trillion dollars, give or take. Congress hated it so much that they curtailed even the hint of talk about a Mars mission by NASA for well over a decade.

nickff 10y ago
The current president's plan is a 'flags and footprints mission' (over 20 years from now). Where are you getting the trillion dollars figure?[1] Even the 90-day report came out at less than that.[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_for_Space_Exploration#/media/File:NASA-Main_budget_chart_14-01-2004.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_for_Space_Exploration#/... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Exploration_Initiative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Exploration_Initiative
internaut 10y ago
Come on brah, you can 'lose' a couple of trillion down the backseat of the sofa at the Pentagon but you lose your shit when NASA asks for a mere 1 trillion dollars spread over a number of years? I feel pretty tall from this horse. Even the horse is feeling pretty aristocratic about the whole affair.
- logfromblammo 10y ago
  In fact, I didn't even blink when you implied that the military brass have sofas with back seats. Who else would have a couch with an entire other couch bolted to the back of it? At only 15x the cost of one normal couch, too.
  - internaut 10y ago
    For a hidden camera prank I want to go into the Pentagon's reception area, find a couch, and then struggle to pull out one of those enormous cheques with a lubricious number of zeros on it. Maybe I could even get some people in uniforms to help me yank it out. I would then finish by galloping (bearing the cheque) into the sunset on an empty road, and at the top of a mighty hill I would yank the reins and the horse would paw the air with its front hooves as I wave the cheque in triumph.

nickff 10y ago

The basic issue seems to be that NASA moves very slowly these days, as NASA is very decentralized, and each center has different constituencies and interests. As a result of this, the "Vision for Space Exploration" went over-budget and fell behind schedule, then President Obama cancelled it, because he had little incentive to keep spending money on his predecessor's legacy.

hackuser 10y ago
> NASA moves very slowly these days This is a narrative I've heard, but is there anything to back it up? NASA has operations on multiple planets and now outside the Solar System. They seem to develop multiple major, pioneering projects, from space telescopes to probes of other planets to earth observatories to Martian rovers, all at the same time. I'm impressed. Sure, they don't move with the agility of a startup, but any SV company would be ecstatic to have that portfolio of operations and development. These aren't self-driving cars. > President Obama cancelled it, because he had little incentive to keep spending money on his predecessor's legacy Any evidence of that? Due to the Great Recession, the GOP's refusal to increase revenue (and their work to shrink government), and the current radical budget caps, many programs in many departments - even essential military programs - have had to be cut.
- nickff 10y ago
  >"This is a narrative I've heard, but is there anything to back it up? NASA has operations on multiple planets and now outside the Solar System. They seem to develop multiple major, pioneering projects, from space telescopes to probes to other planets to earth observatories to Martian rovers, all at the same time. I'm impressed." SLS will end up taking more than 3 times as long and be many times as expensive as even the Saturn V program was, and that is after decades of technological advancement. The current math is that SpaceX does everything three times as fast at a tenth the cost of NASA; this is not a contentious view. Both ULA and Blue Origin are faster and cheaper than NASA too. >"Any evidence of that? Due to the Great Recession, the GOP's refusal to increase revenue (and aim to shrink government), and the current radical budget caps, many programs in many departments - even essential military programs - have had to be cut." NASA's budget was not cut significantly, and the current program (SLS) is incredibly expensive. There is an argument for a single launch vehicle being less expensive to develop and maintain than two, but this is somewhat counter-veiled by only having to man-rate a medium-lift vehicle, and not having to start again (almost from scratch).

elliotec 10y ago

Funding, bureaucracy, war?

dghughes 10y ago

Probably the 2008 financial crash.

dexterdog 10y ago

A new guy took office and needs to pee on the tree.

caio1982 10y ago

Endless war on errorism, financial crisis and recession is what happened. You won't go to space today unless things get stable down here.

shanusmagnus 10y ago
Not on the government's dime, anyhow.
pavanred 10y ago
Is errorism a typo, an intended pun or a conscious effort to not say the word, because you never know who is watching for it.
- caio1982 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Errorism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_on_Errorism