Category Archives: NASA

Top 10 Reasons Why Something ARM-like Is Worth Doing

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Jonathan Goff

[Up-front Disclaimer: My space startup is being paid under the Asteroid Redirect Mission BAA to do a study contract on one possible way to do the Option B mission. Even though we’re not dependent on follow-on work, I figured it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, International Space Collaboration, ISRU, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, NEOs, Space Development, Space Exploration | 25 Comments

Random Thought: Dragon V2 as an xGRF Platform?

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Jonathan Goff

Review: How Much Gravity Do We Need, and Why Do We Care? One of my hobby horses that I’ve blogged about a few times is the question of how much gravity do humans need to be healthy? As I’ve pointed … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, Commercial Space, NASA, Space Development, Space Settlement, Space Tethers, SpaceX, Variable Gravity | 35 Comments

Penny for NASA (Centennial Challenges)

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

I remember the first time I was exposed to the fact that NASA gets less than 1% of the federal budget, and the suggestion that we could do so much more awesome stuff if NASA just got 1% of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, NASA, Prizes, Space Policy | 16 Comments

A Modest Proposal: the COTS Approach to SLS/Orion

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

I came up with an interesting new idea based on the recent press conferences about the successful completion of NASA’s COTS program, Bigelow’s report on the study they did on commercial lunar development, and the SLS/Orion developers discussion of “Removing … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, COTS, Launch Vehicles, NASA, Politics, Space Exploration, Space Policy, Space Transportation, Technology | 22 Comments

YHABFT: RD-180 Sales Ban Rumor, A-Com, and FY11 Budget Request HLV Propulsion

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

The RD-180 Sales Ban Rumor As some of you probably saw on twitter last night, Russia Today ran a piece claiming that Russia was mulling a sales ban on the RD-180 rocket engine to the US (h/t Jeff Foust). For … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA, Space Policy, Space Transportation, YHABFT | 14 Comments

Random Thoughts: SLS Dual-Use Upper Stage as a Super-ACES

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

Friends, Americans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears. I’ve come to provide constructive suggestions to SLS, not to bury it. A couple days ago, a friend asked me what I knew about the DUUS “Dual-Use Upper Stage” for SLS, and if … Continue reading →

Posted in Launch Vehicles, NASA, Space Transportation | 11 Comments

Hobgoblins

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

I made the mistake of reading about a Senate Commerce “hearing” held today regarding NASA’s human spaceflight plans. While some of the points made I actually agree with, one of the witnesses (Steve Cook of Dynetics) made an argument that … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA | 12 Comments

Random Thoughts: A Change of Heart in NEO Size of Interest?

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

I’ve been following the various twists and turns in NASA and private interest in NEOs for a few years, ever since the Flexible Path concept was suggested by the Augustine Committee. While I’ve always been of the opinion that the … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA, NEOs | 9 Comments

Crew Safety Perspective

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Jonathan Goff

There’s been a lot of discussion over the past year or two on a few blogs (this one, Transterrestrial Musings, and also Wayne Hale’s blog, among several others) about the proper level of emphasis on crew safety for commercial crew … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, Commercial Space, COTS, NASA, Space Policy, Space Safety, Space Transportation | 28 Comments

Random Thought: Is Commercial Crew Having to be “More Catholic Than the Pope”?

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Jonathan Goff

I realized I already made several of my points about the overemphasis of “safety” for NASA’s commercial crew program back in March, but I heard a recent line that helped me better understand what may be driving this. This probably … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Crew, Commercial Space, NASA, Space Policy, Space Safety | 6 Comments