{"id":854,"date":"2001-11-09T07:20:42","date_gmt":"2001-11-09T12:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=854"},"modified":"2001-11-09T07:20:42","modified_gmt":"2001-11-09T12:20:42","slug":"shuttles_for_sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/11\/09\/shuttles_for_sa.html","title":{"rendered":"Shuttles for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only ridden into orbit once, by a little old space scientist from (JPL) Pasadena<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

NASA is considering privatising the shuttle fleet.<\/p>\n

I know a lot of folks who are very gung-ho on space science and exploration who think this would be a Really Good Thing, because they think that (call this the D.D. Harriman Scenario<\/i>, if you will) private enterprise is a much more efficient way of getting us out into space — that the federalization of space exploration during the Cold War was as much a prestige thing as a security thing. Jerry Pournelle<\/a> talks this way.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I worry. Because space travel is expensive. Even if it could be cheaper, it’s still expensive. And it’s not clear that anybody out there, save the feds, are ready to make the sort of massive capital investments, with very long-term (if ever) RoI, that space travel is likely to entail. Not that the feds are doing particularly well at it, but I’m not sure that General Motors or United Airlines is likely to, either. Micro$oft, maybe, but that’s a scenario too horrible to contemplate.<\/p>\n

Still, I did like one turn of phrase someone (might have been Pournelle) mentioned. “NASA’s job should not be to put a man on Mars. It should be to assist the National Geographic Society in putting a man on Mars.”<\/p>\n

Something to ponder.<\/p>\n

(Also via Trance Gemini<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only ridden into orbit once, by a little old space scientist from (JPL) Pasadena NASA is considering privatising the shuttle fleet. I know a lot of folks who are very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27736,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/03\/exploration-by-committee.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":0},"title":"Exploration by committee","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 3-May-12 2:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because nothing says \"Good Science\" better than legislatively-mandated space programs, right? Oh, especially while you're continuing to hack back the overall budget. Embedded Link House pares NASA's 2013 spending back to 1959 levels, may force Europa mission The US House is about to debate a budget that pares NASA back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42128,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/22\/a-very-pretty-space-exploration-map.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":1},"title":"A very pretty space exploration map","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 22-May-14 5:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"An almost-groovy infographic showing spaces missions from Earth to the various planets and satellites around the Solar System. Neat.Reshared post from +Fadia Lekouaghet54 years of space exploration, all in one stunning and recently updated visual map!SETI Institute's Franck Marchis explains: http:\/\/buff.ly\/1mVweZ6High resolution : http:\/\/goo.gl\/ioESr0\ufeff #scienceeveryday \u00a0 #space \u00a0\ufeff View this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/50-years-of-exploration.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10143,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/08\/24\/mercury_gemini.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":2},"title":"Mercury … Gemini … Apollo …","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 24-Aug-06 3:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... Orion. NASA announced Tuesday that its new crew exploration vehicle will be named Orion. Orion is the vehicle NASA\u2019s Constellation Program is developing to carry a new generation...","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Nature","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/science"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/orion-nasa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27869,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/11\/go-opportunity-go.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":3},"title":"Go, Opportunity, Go!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 11-May-12 4:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"Nice to see the remaining rover on the move again. (h\/t +Simon Skiles)Reshared post from +Science, Space & Robots Embedded Link NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Takes First Drive of 2012 NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Takes First Drive of 2012. Opportunity Greeley Haven. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40083,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/15\/well-heres-an-underreported-space-exploration-story.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":4},"title":"Well, here's an underreported space exploration story","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 15-Dec-13 10:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"How many folks (in the US, at least) know that China has landed a rover on the Moon?Reshared post from +Gary Ray RYutu Rover Rolls Onto Lunar Surface+Emily Lakdawalla\u00a0Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society has some of the best information on the historic Chinese moon rover landing.\u00a0Her post as of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27618,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/27\/gemini.html","url_meta":{"origin":854,"position":5},"title":"Gemini","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 27-Apr-12 9:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"In some ways, the Gemini program was the space program for me, growing up. Four, five, six years old, it was what I was first seeing and learning about space exploration. Sure, Apollo got all the glory later on, but those two-man black-and-white capsules (and the Agena target vehicles they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}