Jared Isaacman to be NASA Administrator

[David Wang 54]

One of Trump's decisions I actually like and support. This guy loves space. He conducted a private spacewalk a few months ago with Polaris Dawn and was the commander of the earlier Inspiration4 mission. It's also very hard to imagine a commercial astronaut like him being a climate change denier. I'm a bit excited to see how he might better integrate private space industry technologies (with spaceX leading) into existing NASA missions. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/science/jared-isaacman-trump-nasa.html

[SethInMI 174]

I am hopeful too. I don't know much about his aims, but likely he will be on the "kill the SLS" bandwagon, which I support. There isn't a reason for it anymore, except to funnel money to the old guard space industry. Love or hate Elon, SpaceX is on the way to far surpassing it.

[tkhayes 348]

one more billionaire to the list of billionaires who supposedly know what's best for the average american worker.....

Let me know how that all works out

[Phil1111 1,149]

14 hours ago, David Wang said:

... I'm a bit excited to see how he might better integrate private space industry technologies (with spaceX leading) into existing NASA missions. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/science/jared-isaacman-trump-nasa.html

Agree

10 hours ago, SethInMI said:

I am hopeful too. I don't know much about his aims, but likely he will be on the "kill the SLS" bandwagon, which I support. There isn't a reason for it anymore, except to funnel money to the old guard space industry. Love or hate Elon, SpaceX is on the way to far surpassing it.

Agree with a caveat about the dangerous power of creating a monopoly.

33 minutes ago, tkhayes said:

one more billionaire to the list of billionaires who supposedly know what's best for the average american worker.....

Let me know how that all works out

Not all billionaires are bad. But killing other private competition to create a SpaceX monopoly like Google would not be good. SpaceX is certainly showing NASA, Boeing, Blue Origin, Russia, China and the ESA how its done.

[wmw999 2,442]

This used to be my bailiwick. While I thoroughly agree with the inclusion of private industry in the space business, I do think there's a place for government, too. Because they have different drivers. Private industry is mainly driven by eventual profit; even if they're doing something unprofitable in the short run, they're looking at money. The government is currently more driven by risk aversion in the short run, but they're not as concerned with the most cost-effective way. Which means that their imaginations are unfettered in a different direction.

To me, the competing interests drive different approaches, and with a new technology, with goals that aren't necessarily possible yet (mission to Mars?), and which may not be financially possible, different approaches is a good thing to have. 

Each has constraints; all have money, time, and the current limits of technology as constraints, but they have different reactions to those constraints. With Elon at the head of SpaceX (and I'm by no means against SpaceX -- they're truly impressive), I can see it being weaponized because of his whims. It's not publicly traded. While he doesn't have sole control, he does have a huge amount of control, and I do think that needs to be fettered in some ways. Right now, the other space companies can't do that -- they're way more market-driven (i.e. "what's in it for me today) than SpaceX. If there's a vibrant multi-faceted space industry, great. But just as the drug companies and the technology companies now answer to the stockholders way more than to innovation (i.e. they're aiming at specific sales points, rather than just exploring what's possible -- remember Bell Labs and the like?), so will the space companies.

Wendy P.

[SethInMI 174]

1 hour ago, wmw999 said:

so will the space companies

Agreed. SpaceX is fascinating. Highly motivated people, unique mission, innovative culture, building revolutionary things. Is this sustainable? No. It is great to see Blue Origin as a serious alternative.

IMHO Manned spaceflight has always been more about entertainment value than adding to our science knowledge. I see little value to society in putting and keeping people in space or on other planets. Robots are far more suited to space exploration, and colonizing planets is dumb, so if Isaacman works to leaves that to Musk, great (I have no idea if that is his plan; the man on the moon mission is already too far to stop)

Having said that, I don't really think most people are aware of the size of Elon's plan for Mars.  He wants 1 million people on Mars by 2050, which would have been laughed at 5-10 years ago, but now, he has shown he can build the parts required, massively sized launch vehicles that can be made in large quantities and be reused for low cost launches.  I won't say he can't do it, the question is can he find 1 million people willing to go. For me, it's like the old tourist saying "I like to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there"

 

[Phil1111 1,149]

2 hours ago, SethInMI said:

Agreed. SpaceX is fascinating. Highly motivated people, unique mission, innovative culture, building revolutionary things. Is this sustainable? No. It is great to see Blue Origin as a serious alternative.

IMHO Manned spaceflight has always been more about entertainment value than adding to our science knowledge. I see little value to society in putting and keeping people in space or on other planets. Robots are far more suited to space exploration, and colonizing planets is dumb, so if Isaacman works to leaves that to Musk, great (I have no idea if that is his plan; the man on the moon mission is already too far to stop)

Having said that, I don't really think most people are aware of the size of Elon's plan for Mars.  He wants 1 million people on Mars by 2050, which would have been laughed at 5-10 years ago, but now, he has shown he can build the parts required, massively sized launch vehicles that can be made in large quantities and be reused for low cost launches.  I won't say he can't do it, the question is can he find 1 million people willing to go. For me, it's like the old tourist saying "I like to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there"

 

Agree although 9 months there and the same back to visit a place thats the same as the moon seems a stretch.

Edited December 5, 2024 by Phil1111

[billvon 2,990]

6 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

Agree although 9 months there and the same back to visit a place thats the same as the moon seems a stretch.

Slightly better than the moon.  Less radiation, protection from meteorites and atmosphere to use for oxygen and more gravity (important for health.)

[kallend 2,026]

46 minutes ago, billvon said:

Slightly better than the moon.  Less radiation, protection from meteorites and atmosphere to use for oxygen and more gravity (important for health.)

Lots of radiation on the journey there, though.

[billvon 2,990]

25 minutes ago, kallend said:

Lots of radiation on the journey there, though.

Yep.  The bigger the vessel, the less of a problem this is.

Any serious plan for Mars colonization needs a cycler - a vehicle that never lands but keeps cycling between Earth and Mars orbit.  They are typically much larger than landers and use much more efficient engines (NERVA or ion engines) that would not work on a lander.  They also have the room/payload to carry more shielding.

But the first colonists will see a lot of rads.

[tkhayes 348]

8 hours ago, wmw999 said:

Private industry is mainly driven by eventual profit; even if they're doing something unprofitable in the short run, they're looking at money.

 

I think in Musks case, he is interested in milking as much money as humanly possible from the coffers of the USA in order to further his own goals and fund his own projects, and we are absolutely going to let him do that.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

5 hours ago, SethInMI said:

I won't say he can't do it, the question is can he find 1 million people willing to go. For me, it's like the old tourist saying "I like to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there"

Under what regime? Musk's dictatorship? MMGA?