tCheapest way to deliver a payload is also central for science missions. More money is then available for the payload. Transportation costs are part of the mission budget. Also, with cheaper transportation, more mass can be carried as more science payload or cheaper spacecraft construction.
None
spacenews.com
Then you should have a problem with the current administration which is cutting a lot of funding to University level research.
Remember, the current administration considers (or claims to consider*) the entire topic of climate change** to be fraud and waste. And DOGE's accuracy on claimed discovery of fraud and waste has been shown to be out by up to 1,000 times the actual value involved.
It will be difficult to prevent DOGE from becoming some kind of inquisition, it is the law of the pendulum. I hope, for the sake of freedom, that the constitutional mechanisms established in the US will act as a buffer against any excesses, although they have not proven capable of doing so during the previous administration.
A friend of mine is involved in one of the deep space missions, I think you'd be surprised at how few people can be involved, and that part time.
Once again, the myth of the free Athenian citizens and the wooden wall of the sibyl. The rowers were Athenian "patriots" who were paid for their work with the money embezzled from the Delian League, until it ran out... that was a world of slaves.
Anything a government decides is politics?
nasawatch.com
You can't eat soil but you need to have soil to grow crops that you can eat.Sadly--we have folks that think no tax dollars should go to science:
This worthy who calls himself Nate at Space News uttered the sunburst:
"Science will never justify the enormous outlays you desire. Ever. Want to see more science? It has to come second to commerce."
Space launch executives warn U.S. infrastructure unprepared for coming launch surge
Industry leaders from Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA call for modernization of launch facilities to increase capacity
That mindset is pure cancer.
War is the failure of politicians and when they insist on manipulating wars, they become endless. The classic solution to the excesses and ineptitudes of politicians is usually a military coup, but that is not the only solution. When a democratic system is corrupt, the solution can only come from outside it, through merchants, technicians and engineers tired of paying taxes for non-productive purposes for the very society that pays them with effort. Those guys who come from outside the system have a knife between their teeth, they don't come to negotiate or share the business with those who are already inside.
He is clueless
There is a guy on there that is worse.
Maybe this could be an argument for more money seeing the current US administration...
That is so wrong. We are doing more. Booster/First stages are being recovered and reused.
So what? Building, flying and throwing away a rocket larger than Saturn V is easy. Trying to make it reusable from the beginning is harder. The booster is already recoverable. It would be easy to put a Starship in orbit vs trying to have it reenter and brake onto the ocean surface. They are already trying to make it larger than earlier versions and maybe some structural/fluid resonance have arisen. Easy fixes if configurations don't change between launches. SpaceX maybe have to step back from "improvements", first get a configuration to complete a whole mission cleanly and then move onto bigger and better.
Nazis did no such thing.
Pffft! Another meaningless post. It still was the first liquid propulsion system.
And you know that how exactly?
History has shown it and the fact you like him
wrong. they wouldn't have had to lengthen Starship from the flight 6 configuration, which was successful.
And what is that suppose to mean? I worked more than 2x more Atlas V launches than Delta II.
spacenews.com
www.nasa.gov
arstechnica.com
Apr 6, 2025
The release of the Artemis II mission crew patch is another event symbolizing the coming launch, but will imagery like the recent SLS Core Stage to Booster mate or the patch change plans for the future of Artemis?
A few days before the patch was made public, another news story added weight to the rumors that President Trump and Elon Musk are looking at terminating SLS, freeing Musk from his Artemis lunar lander obligations, and pivoting to Musk's long-time goal of Mars. NASA Administrator nominee Jared Isaacman was said to be onboard with Trump and Musk's plans; he'll get a chance to speak to that in his confirmation hearing that was scheduled for April 9.
I'll go over that, the arrival of the Gateway HALO module in the U.S., and more Artemis II information that Exploration Ground Systems provided to the media at an event in San Diego after their landing and recovery training exercise.
Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted.
Links to social media posts:
Bluesky
bsky.app
Links to stories referenced:
00:00 Intro
01:46 WSJ story adds weight to rumors that Trump/Musk want to cancel SLS or all or Artemis
03:39 Jared Isaacman's NASA Administrator nomination hearing is scheduled for April 9th
04:34 Artemis II astronauts unveil their mission patch
06:03 URT-12 media event held in San Diego after EGS landing and recovery certification
14:13 Gateway HALO module frame arrives in Phoenix from Turin for outfitting to become a spacecraft
16:29 Thanks for watching!
