Against Human space exploration

It is true that science can be done in the space station. But science can also be done dressed in a clown suit atop a large Ferris wheel. The argument ought to be over where is the best place for it. Performing experiments in microgravity does not require a $100B platform. Moreover, much of the work that can genuinely be done only on the station is justified through another magnificently circular leap of logic. Research into the effects of microgravity on human health and the growth of soybeans, for instance, is useful only in the context of a manned mission to Mars.

It doesn’t pay to lift humans out of earth’s gravity well. Billions each year could instead be spent on research and development for cheaper transport options, spurring the advent of a commercial space industry.
2006-10-24: Our Non-Expeditions to the Moon and Mars

President Bush is right. The space shuttle and the space station deserve termination. The true heart of his proposal is the elimination of these programs, and the substitution of robotic exploration.

2007-01-28: Space for Survival

Space exploration is fundamentally about the survival of the species, about ensuring better odds for our survival through the promulgation of the human species. But as we do it, we will also ensure the prosperity of our species in the economic sense, in a 1000 ways.

NASA is starting to take extinction events seriously and arguing for space missions as a hedge. About time.
2007-06-06: Future of NASA

Reducing the cost of space access is now being addressed by the private sector. NASA is now acting as a responsible potential customer of commercial launch services (COTS). The government has a poor record competing with the private sector in the arena of cost effectiveness. NASA spent many years and billions of dollars in pursuit of next generation launch technologies, with limited success. NASA has now wisely chosen to provide a market with exploration programs and to permit private enterprise to have a crack at making that affordable. In the meantime NASA is developing the Ares family of launch vehicles to provide the capabilities it requires to initiate the human exploration program until the market is able to offer cheaper alternatives. As for the International Space Station (ISS), it is essential that we learn how to truly live and work in space – not just pay visits. ISS is a vital international laboratory for learning how to build, live aboard, maintain, and operate a complex vehicle in space. The same is true for a lunar base that enables us to use the resources of space and assists our education in how to reach Mars. As for favored contractors, the COTS program and the market established by exploration will open new venues for many companies and communities around the world to participate.

nasa’s reply to allegations of suckiness by wired et al
2010-05-15: The New Space Frontier

Today, the President will articulate an ambitious and exciting new plan that will alter our destiny as a species. I believe this address could be as important as President Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice University. For the first time since Apollo, our country will have a plan for space exploration that inspires and excites all who look to the stars. Even more important, it will work.

NASA finally creates a real space industry. You know, with competition and stuff.
2012-03-03: Space exploration future .Beyond on a related note, getting into AMNH early without all the crowds makes it twice as awesome.

2012-05-27: Mars Drive

The reference mission design of the MarsDrive Consortium is discussed, which has been created to facilitate exploration of the red planet through methods that are both realizable and cost-sustainable with existing technology. This mission plan—known as Mars for Less—is predicated on the use of existing medium-lift launch vehicles. In this architecture, 25-ton propulsion stages are placed individually in low-Earth orbit, where they are mated to Mars-bound payloads and ignited at successive perigees to execute trans-Mars injection. Spacecraft follow conjunction-class trajectories to the red planet and utilize aerodynamic methods for orbital capture and descent. Return vehicles are fueled with methane/oxygen bipropellant synthesized primarily from Martian resources. Dispatching expeditions from orbit with individual, high energy stages—rather than directly from the Earth’s surface—allows for the division of mission mass into more manageable components, which can be launched by vehicles that exist today. This plan does not require the development of heavy-lift launch technology: an effective yet costly proposition that may otherwise hinder current space exploration initiatives. Without the need for heavy-lift boosters, piloted missions to Mars may be undertaken presently, and within the capabilities of private initiatives. It is argued that the mission design herein represents a more viable method of conducting early human Mars exploration than proposals which require heavy-lift launch vehicles—an alternative method by which the red planet can be opened to humanity.

Between the safety fetish and cover your ass problems with government funded spaceflight, private companies have a 100x cost advantage. What flag will they plant in the regolith?

Here is one such proposal
2013-02-27: Going to Mars in 2018? This will be the most awe-inspiring and profound event this quarter-century.

Inspiration Mars Foundation believes in the exploration of space as a catalyst for growth, national prosperity, knowledge and global leadership. History has shown that strong nations reap these benefits when they boldly follow a path rooted in curiosity and guided by technological innovation. In 2018, the planets will literally align, offering a unique orbit opportunity to travel to Mars and back to Earth in only 501 days. Inspiration Mars is committed to sending a 2-person American crew – a man and a woman – on an historic journey to fly within 160 km around the Red Planet and return to Earth safely.

2013-03-12: Mars Research Station. I salute this effort. Very often, things look silly to our eyes that become crucial for humanity later on.

In the vast open spaces of southern Utah, Reuters photographer Jim Urquhart recently paid a visit to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS). Built and operated by a space advocacy group called the Mars Society, the research facility is investigating the feasibility of human exploration of Mars, using the Utah desert’s Mars-like terrain to simulate working conditions on the red planet. Since 2000, more than 100 small crews have served 2-week rotations in the MDRS, conducting research in an on-site greenhouse, observatory, engineering area, and living space. Urquhart was able to accompany members of the Crew 125 EuroMoonMars B mission inside the MDRS facility, and on a simulated trip to collect Martian geological samples.

2014-02-18: Indian Mars Exploration. India’s Mars mission is 9x cheaper than a similar NASA one. I hope they succeed and put another nail into the coffin of bloated military-industrial complex projects.

While India’s recent launch of a spacecraft to Mars was a remarkable feat in its own right, it is the $75m mission’s thrifty approach to time, money and materials that is getting attention.

2014-10-31: Exploration is sacrifice, and we’d best re-learn that lesson.

I would like to share my deepest personal thoughts on today’s Virgin Galactic Accident. As you know, this is deeply meaningful to me, my family and friends.

Today, most importantly, my heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones, and the many at Virgin Galactic, Scaled Composites, the Virgin Group and the Mojave Spaceport who this accident deeply affects.

I urge all of us to keep something in mind. We are on the verge of opening the space frontier, one of the greatest endeavors of our species.

Many Americans forget that 500 years ago 1000s of European gave their lives to open the Americas, and 200 years ago, the early American’s risked their lives to open the west. This is what exploring is all about. We risk our lives for what we believe in. This is the American way, the explorer’s way.

I for one, am proud to be a Virgin Galactic client. I believe in the company, and know, without a doubt, that they will succeed, and I will fully trust them with my safety when my turn to fly materializes.

2014-12-15: No More Space Race

A far cry from the fierce Cold War Space Race between the US and the Soviet Union, exploration in the 21st century is likely to be a far more globally collaborative project. This spirit of trans-border ownership and investment seems set to continue. One key part of this is the Global Exploration Roadmap, an effort between space agencies like NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, among many others, that is intended to aid joint projects from the International Space Station to expeditions to the Moon and near-Earth asteroids—and to reach Mars. On a recent trip to India’s space agency, Stofan recounted to me, she met with many Indian engineers who were just as excited as the Americans to get scientists up there, not only to explore, but also to begin nailing down the question of whether there was ever life on the red planet. It’s also clear that the next stage of space exploration will not only be more global, but will equally involve greater private and public partnerships. Companies like Space X are increasingly involved in NASA’s day-to-day operations

2015-02-03: The caveman in space

At 61, Dr Stone appreciates the limits of human exploration. 23 of his friends lost their lives on expeditions and he has personally recovered 7 bodies. Now Stone Aerospace is developing a team of robots to hunt for microbial life on Europa. The discovery of Europan life would, Dr Stone reckons, be “a pretty good contender” for one of the most momentous events in human history. That might satisfy most explorers, but not Dr Stone. He has founded the Shackleton Energy Company to process water on the Moon into oxygen and hydrogen for rocket fuel.

2018-03-27: NEO Manned missions

The possibility of applying the Space-X Falcon-Heavy booster to human exploration of the inner solar system is discussed. A human-rated Dragon command module and an inflatable habitat module would house and support the 2-4 person crew during a ~1 year interplanetary venture. To minimize effects of galactic cosmic rays, older astronauts should conduct the mission during Solar Maximum. Crew life support is discussed as is application of a ~1-km square solar photon sail. The sail would be applied to rendezvous with the destination Near Earth Object (NEO) and to accelerate the spacecraft on its return to Earth. An on-line NASA trajectory browser has been used to examine optimized trajectories and destinations during 2025-2026. A suitable destination with well established solar-orbital parameters is Asteroid 2009 HC.