Comments on: NASA Rocks. https://habitablezone.com/2016/07/03/nasa-rocks/ Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:17:27 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: bowser https://habitablezone.com/2016/07/03/nasa-rocks/#comment-36971 bowser Thu, 07 Jul 2016 18:03:37 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=58541#comment-36971 NASA is getting experience with heavy-lift rockets, of the sort needed for Orion. When the time comes NASA will be ready to fly whatever is needed to wherever they want it to go. That's not inconsequential. NASA is getting experience with heavy-lift rockets, of the sort needed for Orion. When the time comes NASA will be ready to fly whatever is needed to wherever they want it to go. That’s not inconsequential.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2016/07/03/nasa-rocks/#comment-36947 ER Mon, 04 Jul 2016 13:18:42 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=58541#comment-36947 ...or has the Russian Federation cut back on its space exploration program since the fall of the Soviet Union? Sure, they've maintained their manned activities and their support of the space station, and they have continued their military and surveillance/navigation/communications programs. But are they still heavily involved in science missions like the old USSR? Remember those Moon, Mars and Venus probes? Or are they just in it now for the money? I really don't know for sure, but it seems to me we've been hearing a lot less about Russian astronomy and solar system exploration activity than we used to in the last century. Perhaps the Putin regime is a lot less interested in pure science for science's sake than the old comrades were. …or has the Russian Federation cut back on its space exploration program since the fall of the Soviet Union? Sure, they’ve maintained their manned activities and their support of the space station, and they have continued their military and surveillance/navigation/communications programs. But are they still heavily involved in science missions like the old USSR? Remember those Moon, Mars and Venus probes? Or are they just in it now for the money?

I really don’t know for sure, but it seems to me we’ve been hearing a lot less about Russian astronomy and solar system exploration activity than we used to in the last century. Perhaps the Putin regime is a lot less interested in pure science for science’s sake than the old comrades were.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2016/07/03/nasa-rocks/#comment-36946 ER Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:59:58 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=58541#comment-36946 ...when we were getting a steady diet of how NASA was just another big, bad government bureaucracy that couldn't get anything right, that it was bloated, too expensive, incompetent, and otherwise needed to be abolished or replaced, or at least privatized. NASA is doing exactly what it should be doing, providing R&D, infrastructure support for the commercial space effort, and conducting purely scientific missions the private sector is unwilling or unable to get involved in. I have my fingers crossed for JUNO, it looks like an incredibly well planned and thought-out mission with enormous potential and promise. Let's hope Murphy and his infamous Law take a little vacation. …when we were getting a steady diet of how NASA was just another big, bad government bureaucracy that couldn’t get anything right, that it was bloated, too expensive, incompetent, and otherwise needed to be abolished or replaced, or at least privatized.

NASA is doing exactly what it should be doing, providing R&D, infrastructure support for the commercial space effort, and conducting purely scientific missions the private sector is unwilling or unable to get involved in.

I have my fingers crossed for JUNO, it looks like an incredibly well planned and thought-out mission with enormous potential and promise. Let’s hope Murphy and his infamous Law take a little vacation.

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2016/07/03/nasa-rocks/#comment-36945 mcfly Mon, 04 Jul 2016 02:29:15 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=58541#comment-36945 I certainly agree. Unmanned American missions have been straight-up spectacular. Indeed, I'd extend that note of congratulations to space agencies the world over. The ROI we get from robotics is off-the-charts. I certainly agree. Unmanned American missions have been straight-up spectacular. Indeed, I’d extend that note of congratulations to space agencies the world over. The ROI we get from robotics is off-the-charts.

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