As much as watching NASA, the ESA and other usual suspects flail about can be depressing, take heart!


http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/ ... 65477.aspx


This guy, and the companies he ends up working with, will make NASA, ESA, Russians, all of the government agencies eat his stardust. Government had it's chance, it's failed since Apollo, now the Jeff Bezos' of the world are going to take it on.

I could go on and on about my love for free markets, but I won't likely win any converts, but I'll just say the link is a good read, inspiring, and a vision as to how manned space flight in the 21st century will look.

This " regolith " thing is quiet interesting, really creative thinking

As if to underscore NASA's continued loss of leadership, director Mike Griffin today (or was it yesterday?) formally announced what has been suspected; the failure of Congress to properly fund it, with a shortage of $545M this year versus what was promised, has pushed back the schedule for Orion from 2014 to 2015.

Rinse and repeat a few times, and next thing we know it'll be 2017 or 2018 with a just-finished Orion, an expanding Biggellow space station, and construction planning or actual assembly started of Biggellow's moon base in a Lagrange point. Meanwhile, NASA's just finally rejoining the Russians and Chinese in manned space flight after an absence of 7 or 8 years.

Again, not that I've lost faith in space travel, the banner is just being handed off from government to corporations chasing profit.