It appears I'm in the minority.
Maybe not, a lot of people agree with you, at least in part.
But I'm willing to bet the shuttles will live on past their due date.
Many people (including Buzz Aldrin) are pushing to keep the shuttles flying for at least a few more flights, but as it stands now the last flight will be in September.
Does Obama really think all testing can be done on earth?
Kel...when the time comes to test and man-rate a Martian lander where would be the best place? Do you honestly think environmentalists are going to permit one be tested in Canadas north?
I don't know what Obama believes, but I know the only place to accurately test a Mars lander is on Mars. The Moon has essentially no atmosphere and lower gravity than Mars, so testing the flight characteristics of a Mars lander on the Moon is not accurate at all. You can use the Martian atmosphere to slow the vehicle down with parachutes or wings, and that is something you can't take advantage of on the Moon.
Earth, on the other hand, has a thicker atmosphere and stronger gravity, so testing the lander here isn't entirely accurate either. The final tests of a Mars lander have to be done at Mars, just like the final tests of the Apollo lander had to be done at the Moon.
Mars habitats can be tested on Earth (and already have been) because we have an atmosphere. Testing the habitats in a vacuum like on the Moon isn't helpful. The habitats have to be designed to survive strong wind storms, for example. They also don't need to be designed for the same kind of extreme heating/cooling and radiation conditions found on the Moon. Also, because the Martian day is only a little bit longer than Earth's, the "astronauts" testing the habitat can simulate the same work schedules they would experience on Mars.
One thing I'm not clear about....Does Obama want to build a heavy lift rocket or a bunch of smaller payload rockets?
He talked about building a heavy lift rocket and flying it in 2015, two years earlier than the Ares heavy lift design.
One thing I feel for sure is that we'll be in low earth orbit for some time to come.
That is unavoidable because the shuttle's replacement wasn't in the works until much later than it should have been. But we would have had a long wait even with the Constellation plan, so this is not much worse. But there is a goal beyond low Earth orbit... to asteroids and to Mars.
And if that isn't repeating whats already been done than I've completely misunderstood the man.
We may not fully understand what Obama has in mind for NASA yet, but I honestly believe he has good intentions. He talked about doing more with NASA, and doing it the right way. We'll just have to wait and see if his plan really is "the right way".
