Okay, I promised a diary about the space economy, pt 3 - and actually, its almost set, but RL interfered.

Instead, I am going to offer a diary, on the current mess that we are in, why there needs to be a deal (and soon), and why supporters of each side need to get used to it, and accept that.

I promise space tomorrow.

Dear Senator Obama,  

It is clear, through your statements, that you have questions about what role human spaceflight can and does play on our society.  You have said that you want to have a full evaluation, and have a clear understanding about how and where we can have the most impact in our spending on space.  

Part of the problem is how we've interacted with space, and how we view it.  For a long time, space has been viewed as being beyond the reach of the average person, and that it can only provide us more scientific knowledge.  

However, there is growing evidence that this is about to change, and that properly harnessed, space can have an incredibly positive effect on society - it can help with our economy, and it can help provide us with clean, cheap energy.  

It is for this reason I have written these essays - so you can understand how human spaceflight can have a beneficial impact on society, why the time is now that it can have such a beneficial impact, and how best to capitalize on this.  

In this second essay, I talk about the economy, and suborbital space businesses.

Dear Senator Obama,  

It is clear, through your statements, that you have questions about what role human spaceflight can and does play on our society.  You have said that you want to have a full evaluation, and have a clear understanding about how and where we can have the most impact in our spending on space.  

Part of the problem is how we've interacted with space, and how we view it.  For a long time, space has been viewed as being beyond the reach of the average person, and that it can only provide us more scientific knowledge.  

However, there is growing evidence that this is about to change, and that properly harnessed, space can have an incredibly positive effect on society - it can help with our economy, and it can help provide us with clean, cheap energy.  

It is for this reason I have written these essays - so you can understand how human spaceflight can have a beneficial impact on society, why the time is now that it can have such a beneficial impact, and how best to capitalize on this.  

In this first essay, I talk about the economy, and what I call atmospheric space businesses.

As you probably know, Senator Obama was endorsed by the Houston Chronicle.  

However, in their endorsement, the Chronicle responded to a statement from Obama, and added a caveat to their endorsement.

What was the comment, and what was the subsequent caveat?  Come over the fold, and see

Time to take a break from your candidate diaries, and see something very cool (and something that will have severe ramifications)

Today, Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites revealed to the world what SpaceShipTwo will look like. (Be warned, the pictures here are big, but very cool)

And wow, is it cool.

Yesterday, Bill White did a diary announcing the push for series of panel sessions about space.  As he said, I am involved, and below the fold, you can see my thoughts, about why this is important, how our ideal setup would be, and the topics that would be included (and some that might get added).

So, those who were/are my regular readers (as well as some Obama supporters who aren't regular readers) know that I have been pushing for Senator Obama to have a space policy, after he released his educational plan around Thanksgiving.  Well, in the last few weeks, the Obama campaign has begun to rectify that.  First, on Jan 2nd, Lisa Ellman, Obama's policy director, issued the following statement,

Obama believes we should continue developing the next generation of space vehicles, and complete the international space station. While Obama would delay plans to return to moon and push on to mars, Obama would continue unmanned missions, and use NASA to monitor the forces and effects of climate change, support scientific research, and maintain surveillance to strengthen national security. Obama also believes we need to keep weapons out of space.

And on Thursday, this week, the Senator released a full policy statement.  Come over the fold, and I'll give you my thoughts

Previously, I talked about Senator Obama's education plan, and how it pulls money from Nasa's Constellation.  I am sure there are people who thought this wouldn't get wide coverage, and wouldn't cause that much discussion.  

They are wrong, and you can see the proof over at MSNBC's Cosmic Log.  Come over the fold with me

Hey,

So, SRN (Space Revolution News - since Im not weekly right now) is back.  Come over the fold, and see the problems with Constellation, be impressed with XCOR, and look on at raw power from SpaceX.

And be most impressed that I can provide you with all the knowledge about where a candidate stand on the space issue

As was blogged earlier today, Senator Obama gave a major speech on education.  One thing worth noting is how he plans to pay for them - by delaying NASA's constellation.  This has raised some troubling questions, at least for any supporter of manned spaceflight.  Come over to the other side, and you'll see what I mean.

After watching the "debates", the talking heads, the online supporters, and general discussions, I am quite disappointed/annoyed about the whole primary season.  With such a long lead time, I would hope for more of a conversation, but I haven't really seen it happening that much.  Except in 1 instance, and that instance I think can be the basis for something that could change things.  come over the fold with me.

I promised a report about X Prize Cup, and you are in for a treat.  I got some pretty good pictures, although I should be honest, and admit that I'll never be a professional photographer (although I did take a picture years ago that got best in show at a County Fair).  

Anyway, you'll get to see some very cool things on the flip side  (BTW, click any of the pictures to see larger versions)

Well, I am back.  I promised a report about the 2007 International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight, and here it is.  

That, in a nutshell, is the question that we need to ask every Democratic member on the hill.  There are some followup questions that go along with that, but first and foremost, we need that answers.

More on the other side

Hey, I am back to being weekly (minor 2 day deal, sorry).  Anyway, we've got to huge news stories, one that is really cool (at least IMHO), and one that is largely negative.  The really cool news is off course the announcement about the Google Lunar X Prize - 30 million in prize money to send a probe to the moon.  

The really bad news is the situation over at RpK has become really bad - Nasa is preparing to terminate its contract for the COTS program.  

And we cover a bunch of smaller stuff, like SpaceX getting a contract, Paul Breed finishing his Rocket up (congrads Paul).

And of course, I talk about the tag situation.  

Since your humble author got overloaded with work, and school, and RL in general, I have been forced to turn the missing SRWN into a simple Update.

I will have missed some things, but for those who want to be in the know, and see the things like SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage, the new announcment from X Prize, and the continued success from Armadillo, join me below the fold.  

What?  A diary by FerrisValyn that isn't about Space?  your kidding right?

Seriously, I have some questions that need answering, particularly from the Presidential Canadates.

Ok, well, despite being later than planned, I was able to finish this on Monday, as opposed to Tuesday.  Im improving.

IN this weeks, we learn of a MAJOR announcement from Bigelow Aerospace, read an article that is REQUIRED reading, and we hear quite a bit about Elon Musk.

We also cover the shuttle launch, get the latest from Armadillo, and say bye-bye to Delta 2

See you on the flip side