Category Archives: NASA

Surrender in Space?

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

I know I shouldn’t take anything Mark Whittington writes seriously, but I want to write about a stupid meme that smarter people than Mark have also been bandying about–that somehow Obama’s budget proposal would surrender our leadership in space to … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA, Politics, Snark, Space Policy | 33 Comments

NASA Needs to Develop an HLV Right Now…

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

…Like it needs a hole in the head. I was going to write a blog post on this earlier, but Jeff Greason beat me to the punch in comments over on SpacePolitics.com (emphasis mine): Both the Phase I and Phase … Continue reading →

Posted in Launch Vehicles, NASA | 16 Comments

More Lunar One-Way-To-Stay (For-a-While) Thoughts

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

I’ve had a few more ideas on the Lunar One-Way-To-Stay concept that I figured it would be worth posting now before I forget them.  I still think this is pretty much the only way that there will be a human … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA | 17 Comments

Random Thoughts: Game-Changing HLV/Propulsion Technologies

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

One of the reasons I haven’t blogged much about my reactions to the President’s NASA budget proposal is because I’ve been doing a lot of commenting over at NASASpaceflight.com.  I just realized that my latest post could actually serve pretty … Continue reading →

Posted in Launch Vehicles, NASA, Space Transportation, Thrust Augmented Nozzles | 25 Comments

Speechless

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

Holy Crap! Obama’s NASA Budget Proposal is Amazing! For once in my life, I think I’m actually speechless for now.

Posted in NASA | 179 Comments

More Random “Lunar One-Way-to-Stay” Thoughts: A Business Case?

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

The more I think about the Lunar One-Way-to-Stay concept, the more intriguing it is. Fundamentally, it’s one of the only ways with existing transportation systems to get the cost of early lunar experimentation anywhere near low-enough to be useful and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, International Space Collaboration, International Space Competition, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, Space Development, Space Transportation | 26 Comments

Test Flights Rumor

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Jonathan Goff

One of the more disconcerting rumors mentioned in Florida Today’s article about Obama’s plans for NASA, is the idea of “annual test flights” at KSC, to retain workforce skills.  These tests were compared to Ares I-X, and made it sound … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA | 35 Comments

Why Not Just Fund the Program of Record?

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Amid all the recent discussion of the Augustine Committee’s results, Mark Whittington asks a question that a lot of people in Congress seem to be asking: “Why not just pay for the current program since any new program is going … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, International Space Collaboration, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, NASA, NEOs, Politics, Space Development, Space Policy | 31 Comments

Good News for Centennial Challenges?

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

Dave pointed out to me earlier today that it looks like Centennial Challenges is finally going to get more funding this year (see http://docs.house.gov/rules/omni2010/hr3288cr_divb_jes.pdf on page 182 about 3/4 of the way to the bottom). The new amount is the … Continue reading →

Posted in NASA | 6 Comments

Comment on Brett Alexander’s Congressional Testimony

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

I didn’t have a chance to watch either of the House subcommittee hearings today, so I’m grateful that Clark linked to the testimonies of the various witnesses.  I really enjoyed reading Brett’s testimony, and thought one of his points in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigelow Aerospace, Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, NASA, SpaceX | 13 Comments