Monthly Archives: June 2013

Risky Business: ISRU and the Critical Path to Mars

When one examines the plans that NASA devises for human missions beyond low Earth orbit, ISRU (in situ resource utilization) experiments or demonstrations are sometimes included but never incorporated into the imperative of the mission sequence, what engineers call “the … Continue reading

Posted in Lunar development, space policy, space technology, Space transportation | 75 Comments

China in Space: A Threat or Not?

Readers would be hard pressed to find a more blasé attitude towards China’s space program than the current “nothing-to-be-alarmed-about-here-folks” op-ed column by John Kelly recently published in Florida Today.  In his piece, Kelly dismisses any possible concern that China’s development … Continue reading

Posted in Lunar development, space policy, space technology, Space transportation | 28 Comments

Human spaceflight: Why and How?

There is an on-going study effort at the National Academy on the “value proposition” for human spaceflight.  This study was requested by the Congress in its last Authorization Act for NASA.  The committee has requested input from the public on … Continue reading

Posted in Lunar development, space policy, space technology, Space transportation | 43 Comments

Some Myths of Shuttle History

History is a set of lies agreed upon. – Napoleon Bonaparte Now that the Space Shuttle’s been retired, we’ve witnessed nearly universal agreement within the space commentariat on its legacy:  Failure.  Take your pick of descriptors – a mistake, a … Continue reading

Posted in space policy, space technology, Space transportation | 54 Comments