More on the future of NASA

[unixronin]

smandal pointed me at this excellent analysis on Ars Technica.

Regarding the initial news reports, I don't know that it's so much that the reports were intentionally slanted, so much as that they were written from the viewpoint of the general news media's typical appalling ignorance about science: they don't even know enough about the subject to know what parts are actually important.  They don't understand why in-space refuelling matters.  Heavy lift capability is funny science words to them.  They don't understand the technical shortcomings of ARES.  But "The entire Constellation program is cancelled"?  THAT, they understand.  So that's what they reported.

Comments

[montieth.livejournal.com]

What's crazy is the Ares V heavy engines, generate 1,000,000 lbs of thrust. Apparently they needed pumps that would work for these. Nothing they had worked. Apparently someone realized the F-1 Pumps DID flow this quantity of LOX and HOX. So they went through the junkyards that this gear was scrapped in, and bought back the pumps.

Why NASA doesn't find a warehouse somewhere and Mothball all this hardware, I don't know. It's a damned waste.