(Xenia Dragon) wrote in message . com...
(Kevin Brooks) wrote in message . com...

Running a space program based upon GAO findings would be like asking
your local brain surgeon to remove a tumor using a procedure planned
by your auto mechanic. As to Rutan, you were closer to the mark with
your initial comments--he is apparently clueless is he really thinks
NASA or the US government has placed a "stranglehold" on space
operations (I have to wonder if the initial poster was not waaaay off
base with his recollection of Rutan's remarks, as I would have thought
he is a bit brighter than that...).

Brooks

I don't have a transcript at hand but Rutan was clearly
agitated during the segment while discussing NASA vs private
initiatives. He thinks NASA propagates a mythology about
space flight being best left to an elite corps of astronauts
arguing that much of the danger has been eliminated by automated
control systems, and that the first decades of space
exploration have been
so much safer for pilots than conventional air flight was.
He was scathing in his condemnation of NASA forcing Russia
to abandon selling seats on flights to the ISS, as it
had done with California businessman Dennis Tito.

Gee, since we footed the majority of Russia's original planned bill
for the ISS, is it any wonder that we would veto then turning it into
a glorified vacation destination?

With respect to Tito, how often have you heard him snidely
described as a "space tourist" ? Tito earned a B.S. in
astronautics and areonautics as well as an M.S. in
Engineering Science. He is also an ex-NASA employee.
If that is the calibre of "tourist" going up ... let me
carry his luggage to the pad.

Incidental qualifications. His sigle biggest qualification was that he
forked up the money for the trip. You do recall how close that singer
came to getting a similar shot?


I don't know that the GAO report on the Orbiter factors
in so tightly to what Rutan is saying.

I might share one more thought. My impression is that
most of the posters to this group are well educated males
between the ages of 40 - 60. If you take care of your
health you may all live to witness just ONE MORE generation of
spacecraft to replace the Shuttle orbiter, and ONE MORE
generation of "front line" combat aircraft in the US national
inventory. Burt Rutan is saying that the only guarantee
for spaceflight to become a commonplace for mankind
is simply to put more PEOPLE up, not just aged astronauts.
(Yes he did say the average age of a NASA pilot is 60 years.)
That fixation doesn't make him a crank, and it doesn't make
him un-American.

Nor does it make him right.

Brooks


Xenia