Before the week passes and I head for Shanghai for a very busy week of business (and probably no blogging), I want to point out another excellent article in the current Space Review, "Of NASA and NewSpace" by Grant Bonin, one of my co-authors on the paper I presented last week at the Mars Society. I won't summarize Grant's arguments here, but among other things, he points out the potential for single point failures (i.e., putting all your eggs in one basket) that are inherent in the NASA's approach to developing next generation spacecraft and launch vehicles. Although there is some funding planned to encourage development of alternate commercial spacecraft (COTS), it's really not very much in the scheme of things. I hope NASA succeeds with its plans, but I hope that they can also increase the funding to jump-start private space ventures that will provide more options in the future.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Of NASA and NewSpace
Before the week passes and I head for Shanghai for a very busy week of business (and probably no blogging), I want to point out another excellent article in the current Space Review, "Of NASA and NewSpace" by Grant Bonin, one of my co-authors on the paper I presented last week at the Mars Society. I won't summarize Grant's arguments here, but among other things, he points out the potential for single point failures (i.e., putting all your eggs in one basket) that are inherent in the NASA's approach to developing next generation spacecraft and launch vehicles. Although there is some funding planned to encourage development of alternate commercial spacecraft (COTS), it's really not very much in the scheme of things. I hope NASA succeeds with its plans, but I hope that they can also increase the funding to jump-start private space ventures that will provide more options in the future.
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