Space Forum / Space Policy / February 2004

It just occured to me that canceling the hubble sm4 is having the
effect of stimulating congress to pump additional money into NASA.  If
one were generous, one could imagine that this was a sly plan to get
additional earmark funds from congress.

Assuming that a final servicing mission to Hubble is approved, it would
make some sense to use this as an opportunity to attach the equipment
necessary to de-orbit the telescope when it becomes necessary?  If so, some
idle questions:

Suppose that rocket A pushes a lunar lander from Earth orbit to lunar orbit
and then separates from the lander and crashes.
Suppose that rocket B pushes a lunar lander from Earth orbit to lunar orbit
and returns without the lander.

Bring back Steve Sqyres; that lot today are really
boring scientists. Now I know why I wasnt interested
in geology in high school :-)
The good thing about Steve Sqyres is that he'll share

While I am totally onside with the idea of exploring
mars and the rest of our solar system; I am starting
to wonder whether we have been sold a pup with
these MER rovers.

Lets just say for arguments sake he gets re-elected, and Congress
gives him the trillion dollar green light for the Moon, Mars program.
When would things start to show that things were seriously moving in
that direction?   I mean NASA or whoever is going to be running the

It was interesting to see the Spirit lander was photographed from Mars
orbit.
Does anyone know if the Vikings were ever observed from orbit?
Steve

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1033640.htm
Above is more evidence that Mars did in fact once harbour
microscopic life. This raises serious questions about the
science payload on the MER rovers. These tell tale

Possible Last Words Spoken on the Columbia:
-"Dont be silly.  If this was really the ships "Self-Destruct Button",
    do you think theyd leave it lying around where anyone could press it?"
-"Hmmm...the sign on the door says, "AIRLOCK".  I wonder whats inside."

... and I don't think that Spirit is going to wake up again.  I told you
that NASA was nothing more than a ponderous bureaucracy intended to create
jobs at taxpayer expense.  They couldn't care less about good science or
good engineering work.  These guys had better clean up ...

Would it be legal to use 802.11 network gear for LEO to earth
comms?
Obviously slightly larger than normal antennas would be needed, and
perhaps some firmware tweaks.

like the Title Does Exploration initiative enable A Trans habitation
module for the ISS?
IT has always made sense To use inflatable modules in space Especially
on longer duration missions, They offer far more space than any CAN-type

JPL justed posted this picture that Spirit sent back today, showing the arm
contacting Adirondack, as seen by the front hazcam.
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040128a/sol25-flhaz.jpg
Way to go!

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=485142
Wow, I'm sure that'll be a real serious investigation, headed up by
the Beagle project director.
"We have found that the fault was not with the lander, but with