From the talks Mr Griffin the new NASA chief has
had so far it looks like all the planning and
program goals that NASA had started under
the former administrator Sean O'Keefe have
been dumped in the ocean. I'm not sure
if I should jump up and down with joy now or
just hold my breath until Mr Griffin has made
the final cuts in the programs still in doubt.
Things like the nuclear rocket motor needed
to be removed from the new project list as over
$30 Billion has been wasted on that idea
in the past forty years. (PeeWee, KIWI, etc)
Nuclear motors unlike nuclear power supplies
seem to be easy and logical to do, but the
reverse is the real truth. Nuclear power units
are easy and not very dangerous, but a motor
has never yet done what it needs to do safely.
I don't think a nuclear motor could ever pass
the new NASA safety rules, and the idea that
the EPA would allow a new test range for the
motor is a joke.
If the nuclear motor is not to be built, then can
a one-off Manned Mars Mission be done without
the motor, and if it can't why is the 1-off 3M still
alive? Mr Griffin and some of the members
of Congress were talking as if, the planning for
Manned Mars will go on, and the new crew
exploration craft (CEV) will have Manned Mars
ability.
By keeping alive the hope of Manned Mars and
building that ability into the new crew explorer,
NASA and Mr Griffin run the risk of overbuilding
and ruining the new CEV. If the nuclear rocket
is dead let's drop the Manned Mars Mission
before it ruines any chance for a permanent
Lunar base. For once, I hope an administrator
at NASA has the guts to tell the Mars boys,
"it's too far, too expensive, and too dangerous
to try for Mars any time soon, and planning for
Mars may well ruin the programs we can do."
irsouth2