Private Sector Space Dreams

The American bureaucracy of which NASA is a part of, has by force of congressional decree and presidential inattention except in election years, become affraid to take any bold moves in manned spaceflight.

They talk a good game, the public takes it hook, line, and sinker, and nothing really ever becomes of it. The shuttle was just suppose to be a part of a shuttle-station program. Towards the end of its career, it finally did that job. But in the beginning, it was nothing more than a glorified dump truck.

And it was paid for by the American taxpayer.

Back in the 1990s, there was a chance to replace the shuttle with a newer spacecraft. The VentureStar from Lochkeed Martin or the DC-X vertical take-off/landing, single-stage to orbit spacecraft. The DC-X was a sub-scale, flight tested piece of hardware. The VentureStar was a computer animation only. Guess which one the Clinton Administration went with? That's right: VentureStar.

Then Columbia broke up on reentry.

President Bush proposed shutting down the shuttle program and replacing it with the Apollo on steroids program known as Constellation. Now President Obama will cancel even that and hope that the private sector will take over.

Well, I (slightly) agree with President Obama that it would be better for the private sector to come into its own as far as transporting folks up into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). But, the government should have kept the Constellation Program going.

I remember in a Air Force ROTC classroom in my college days, my instructor was describing the problem faced by FDR in the Pacific War. He had General MacArthur promoting a campaign that would go through the Philippines. Admiral Nimitz wanted to go straight across the Pacific to the China coast cutting the Japanese supply line in two.

President Roosvelt decided that it would be in the best interest of the war effort to go with BOTH strategys.

I submit to the reader that the same thing could have been applied to the Constellation Program. I'm on record opposing the idea of Super-Apollo, but NO American manned spaceflight program is even worse to think about.

So where this this lead us to? Private Space Industry.

In fact, I think it is going to be up to men like Bigelow and Rutan to get American civilians back up into space (without government aid). And more important, get them to the surface of the moon and back to Earth on a regular flight schedule.

Eventually, a lunar base will be built. And maybe then, NASA will get funding from Congress to lease a base on the moon.

So, are there enough deep pockets in the worldwide civilian sector to make it possible for the non-government space program to make it to the moon and Mars ? And do it before the Chinese gets there.

Check out the article "Moon dreams" from The Economist website(February 18, 2010) for the article that inspired me to write this posting.

___

Ref. The Economist, February 18, 2010, "Private-sector space flight. Moon dreams" (http://www.economist.com/science-technology/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15543675).

The Tomorrow That Never Was

I have always loved airships. And I happened across this blog that had this image from a Modern Mechanics October 1934 magazine.

Take a look for yourself. Also think about that movie form several years ago Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

__

Cap'n Bob & the Damsel blog. February 19, 2010.(http://rpc.blogrolling.com/redirect.php?r=7157837ea0474f1d10412dcd9a2702ea&url=http://capnbob.us/blog/).

Sky Captain and the Wolrd of Tomorrow images at The Internet Movie Database website.(http://us.imdb.com/media/rm4189362432/tt0346156).

V - Shape UFO Video

Found this very interesting UFO video today. Took place on a flight on January 30, 2010 on a flight from Manchester, England to Bulgaria. Photographer's daughter spotted it and then pointed it out to her father.

You can read more details from the YouTube site itself, just click on the video to watch it.

V-Shape UFO.

UPDATE: February 20, 2010-Seeing the above video made me think of something that I wrote about a long time ago. Finally found the link to it and you can check it out. Its a plan to "float" up to space instead of "blasting-off" to space. Check it out (http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-means-of-getting-to-space.html)

___

Ref. YouTube.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dYTvVWSR2c&feature=player_embedded).

ufo-blogger.com (http://www.ufo-blogger.com/2010/02/v-ufo-uk-bulgaria.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ufo_blogger+(Ufo+blogger+Uncover+The+UFO+Truth))

Austin Kamikaze attack on the IRS today

Take a look at my posting on the Austin Kamikaze attack on the IRS today.

(http://www.theshanksdimension.com/2010/02/joseph-stacks-kamikaze-attack-on-the-austin-irs-office/)

India's Home Grown Aircraft Carrier Project

I came across this blog (Live Fist) by accident and it made for a great read. Since I wrote a article about Japan getting back into the aircraft carrier business(they call them Helicopter Destroyers). Please use the links below in the Ref section to read the entire article, and or my previous article on the Japanese Helicopter Carriers.

The Indian Indiangenous Aircraft Carrier Program is in the finalization phase of the design and equipment purchases have already begun for it. The new ship will be built by Cochin Shipyards.

The photograph with this article is of a model of the proposed ship that is based upon the Russian model of naval aircraft operations. In fact, look closely and you will see the models on the flight deck are Mig-29s.

___

Ref. Livefist blog. February 10, 2010 by Shiv Aroor. (photo by Shiv Aroor also).(http://livefist.blogspot.com/2010/02/exclusive-naval-design-heads-paper-on.html).

Aerospace, Technology, Paranormal and UFOs. by Don W. Shanks. September 6, 2009.

(http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2009/09/japan-is-gettin-back-into-carriers.html)

The Ongoing Saga of the Charlie-Foxtrot Tanker Deal

Well, I think after reading this article (see link below in ref section), the Great US Air Tanker saga is going to end up with a split buy between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

Its (really) no longer about getting what the Air Force really needs. It's about politics and keep voters supplied with jobs in key states. That means both Boeing and Northrop Grumman will both win the KC-X tanker project.

The KC-135s are REALLY long in the tooth now and needs to be replaced quickly as possible. Neither company is in favor of the dual build contract. Boeing and Northrop Grumman want a winner take all approach. The USAF supply chain would prefer just a single type of aircraft to support for this mission instead of two.

By doing the split buy, the Air Force gets new tankers in the air quicker. Current projections mean that at least 15 new tankers can be built a year. It will take decades to replace ALL of the KC-135.

Image is of the Boeing offering based upon the Boeing 767 airframe.

__

Ref. (http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/split-25582-aerospace-tanker.html)

More Evidence of Water on Enceladus

Recent data from the Cassini probe that is in the lunar system of Saturn has spotted water vapour spewing from the moon Enceladus' icy surface. This just adds to more evidence of a sub-surface ocean on that moon.

The probe spotted negatively charged water molecules in the moon's atmosphere. On earth, such ions are seen where liquid water-such as water falls, or ocean waves crashing against the shore is seen.

Quoting that article: "We see water molecules that have additional electrons added," explained Andrew Coates from University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory. "There are two ways they could be added - from the ambient plasma environment, or it could be to do with friction as these water clusters come out of the jets, like rubbing a balloon and sticking it on the ceiling," he told BBC News.

Cassini has also detected sodium in these plumes. This is a sign of dissolved salts in any mass of liquid water that has been in contact with rock for a long epriod of time.

Picture are from the BBC article.

___

Ref. BBC, February 8, 2010. "Cassini detection adds to Enceladus liquid water story" by Jonathan Amos. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8495663.stm).