Kunowledge

Rocket launched by Elon Musk's private space transport company, SpaceX.

Though, it sounded exciting, NASA’s Constellation Program, which planned to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2020, relied on outdated technology and was an unsustainable path for space exploration. Finally, NASA is moving past its role as “space station trucker” and Moon-traveling glory-story teller. President Obama announced today that rocket technology will be privatized and NASA will pursue a more flexible path into other more exciting parts of space (ig. nearby asteroids, a lunar moon, or a lunar orbit). According to the Washington Post:

Besides redirecting money to new technologies, NASA is getting an extra $6 billion over five years to encourage companies to build private spaceships that NASA could rent. Many of those companies are run by Internet pioneers. The companies included in the pilot project include Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Another firm already building private rockets is run by PayPal founder Elon Musk.

This is exactly what should be happening at exactly the right time. Elon Musk is the not only the brains behind PayPal, but also the all electric car company Tesla Motors and the private space transport company SpaceX, which already won NASA contracts in 2006 (during Bush’s administration) to demonstrate that it could deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). In 2008, SpaceX won a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, which guarantees NASA missions worth $1.6 billion for resupplying the ISS.

Astronaut McCandless II "free-flying" 320 feet away from the orbiter.

Over the next couple months, you will read complaints and praises of this decision. The complaints are going to come from Congressmen from Alabama, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center, and Houston, home of Space Center Houston. Many government employees are going to lose their jobs in these places. With any major change, there will be casualties. With all due respect, these potential benefits of this change far outweigh the lost jobs.

Yes, Obama is shutting down the Constellation Program – the Bush administration’s NASA plan to return to the Moon by 2020. However, NASA administrator Charles Bolden and White House science adviser John Holdren agree that the new path is the best. Instead of landing on the moon in 10 years, we’ll be orbiting it with faster, cheaper, more efficient rockets in 8 years. Kudos Obama.

Here’s a quick video from RussiaToday with a decent explanation by “space entrepreneur Jeff Manbar.” Please excuse the reporter:

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