Astronomy / Space Nasa Assembles Ares test rocket.

[Steve O B Have]

The next step in space exploration from Nasa?

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8204921.stm

The US space agency has completed the assembly of its Ares I-X rocket ahead of a test flight scheduled for October.

The Ares I rocket is a key component of Nasa's next-generation space transportation system.

The agency will use Ares I to launch the Orion capsule - the spacecraft to be used for human space missions after the space shuttle retires.

 

[Stefan Mars]

Nothing is going to come from that The early reports from the Human Space Flight Plans Committee in the US seems to be that there is no place for it under current budget constraints. Since I don't see anyone spending a lot of more money on space exploration in the current climate I feel that we will see the Ares text-flight in late October and then that program will end up being cancelled. Sad, but the space program has always been an area of wasted resources because so few people consider space exploration important (at the best they want the side-effects).

 

[Steve O B Have]

Wow, that's really unfortunate news - I guess it really will boil down to private enterprise then. Still it does seem that it is the private sector that has the real innovation these days. Sad...

 

[Steve O B Have]

And thus the downward spiral begins...

This makes me a bit sad. I understand the need for spending in the right places and that the reality of the money involved is that it could be helping a great many people but I would be disappointed to see the NASA space program come to a halt.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8245409.stm

Nasa needs its annual $18bn budget boosted by $3bn if astronauts are to conduct meaningful missions like trips to the Moon and beyond, a panel warns.

The panel, convened by the White House to review human spaceflight plans, has delivered its summary findings.

It says the spaceship and rocket programmes being developed to replace the shuttle are not presently viable.

The group has given President Barack Obama a series of options to help him shape the US space agency's future.

But the panel, led by retired aerospace executive Norm Augustine, says only a funding increase can truly get Nasa back on track.

"The committee finds that no plan compatible with the [Financial Year] 2010 budget profile permits human exploration to continue in any meaningful way," it said.

"The committee further finds that it is possible to conduct a viable exploration program with a budget rising to about $3bn annually above the FY 2010 budget profile."

 

[Stefan Mars]

Additional info for anyone interested: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0909/09augustine/

 

[Steve O B Have]

So not all bad news - The 'flexible path' idea has some pretty cool steps involved including manned missions to Mars... this is what I'm hoping for within my lifetime. I like the idea of one major event per year...

Option No. 5, the one the Augustine panel seems to favor, represents a so-called "flexible path" architecture that would explore the inner solar system with long-duration flights to a variety of targets, ranging from lunar orbit to the moons of Mars. The long-range goals could include lunar landings and eventual flights to Mars itself.

There are three variants to option No. 5, differing only in which heavy lift rocket is used: Ares V (Lite), an evolved expendable launch vehicle, or EELV, or a shuttle-derived rocket.

"All variants of Option 5 begin exploration along the flexible path in the early 2020s, with lunar fly-bys, visits to Lagrange points and near-Earth objects and Mars fly-bys occurring at a rate of about one major event per year, and possible rendezvous with Mars' moons or human lunar return by the mid to late 2020s," the panel wrote.