Posted: Apr 16, 2010 02:57 am EDT
(By Tina Sjogren) The day was glorious but the mood was somber in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. As usual, generals and space execs rushed between talks and the main exhibitor hall, this day sadly reminiscent of a dinosaur museum with relics on display of what used to be the American Moon and Mars program.

There a model of Ares, there various Orion parts. "I don't care what happens right now," one representative told ExplorersWeb.
"Well that depends on tomorrow?" we offered, referring to President Obama's speech.
"Not even after tomorrow," replied the man, with a smile.
"Oh, so you are the deer in headlights the NASA woman mentioned yesterday?" we winked.
"Deer in headlights, ha-ha," he laughed.

Feet away, an engineer stood by a model of a moon-vehicle. Debating weight and human support for a while, soon enough we turned to politics. "So what will you do with it now?" we asked.
The man lowered his voice and looked around. "Um, actually I don't know."
"Well, we just came from the Chinese speech," we said, "you might be able to sell it to them," we joked.
"Oh, they'll take it anyway," we then remembered.

In the middle of the hall, like a gorilla in the room, stood a life-size model of Dragon, Elon Musk's planned capsule for human transportation to the space station. The plastic cone had a ladder raised to the opening, inside; a crammed empty space with two small windows mounted opposite each other.
"Looks like the Soyuz, don't you think" an ExWebber said. "I think this one is a little bigger," another replied.

A young Lieutenant climbed up behind us, after which the capsule was abandoned.

The new NASA

In the international hall the previous day, a panel of NASA folks had told us that the new budget is great, simply because the old one was bad. "We are absolutely for Space exploration" Lori Garver, NASA's second in command, assured us with her seemingly never-ending smile but without offering a single example - except for to keep going to the Space Station. "Going to ISS is human space exploration" she explained.

Bush's stuff simply didn't work the panel - including Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and appointed to the NASA advisory last year - agreed: the constellation wasn't due to be ready until 2028 by when it would have run out of money anyway, they said.

Only Scott Pace, deputy chief of staff to former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe, disagreed, "we suffer a lack of clarity" he said. "No shuttle, no Ares, people will fall out of the line."

So how do we maintain our work force? "They need to keep their hands dirty like the folks at JPL; not just with research but with development. No hands-on projects result in skills mismatches," Scott warned.

Boeing

"Our mission is changing," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "We face new threats, new economic pressures, and new emerging technologies."

And with 50% of the skilled workforce about to retire in the next decade; another real threat is competition for talent, "even from the gaming (!) Industry," Dennis said.

He tried to keep a positive outlook. "We could be entering a new golden age of space, beyond security and communications," Muilenburg said. But for it to happen, the right decisions are needed now, he stressed.

China

In the midst of all the confusion, a speech made clear that at least one nation knows exactly where it's going, and how. Wang Wenbao mounted the podium and greeted us in Chinese.

In and out in 20 minutes, the director of the Chinese Manned Space Engineering Office wasted no time. Wang read his speech flawlessly; only the Chinese translator glanced nervously after each passage at the Chinese delegation in front row.

Wang counted up the goals and timelines for the Shenzou missions - docking, labs, manned flights and finally the moon - with the precision of a Japanese sushi knife.

"With that kind of aim, planning and hands-on preps - if this guy was going to the North Pole or for a K2 winter climb - I'd give him 90%," a veteran ExWebber noted.

Yet the Chinese are still miles behind us - for now. Wang ended his speech by inviting all space agencies to mutual collaboration, "to benefit all human kind."

The Big speech

Meanwhile, people debated what Obama would reveal the next day. It was going to be "big" his proponents promised somewhat secretively.

"He'll probably say we'll go to Mars, all other presidents have," a doubter guessed. "It will probably stretch far into the future, so he can't be held to it," another chimed in.

Thursday, the speech was delivered. We'll go to the asteroids and Mars orbit. When? In mid 2030s. How? A decision for a heavy lifter will be made in 2015, the last year of Obama's presidency should he be re-elected. To that, more funds to private commercial projects and new jobs to Florida.

The real Wright brothers

The space industry has remained quiet while the private folks obviously are thrilled such as Elon Musk, who already received a huge chunk of government money to Tesla and major funding for SpaceX.

Wright brothers? Not exactly, although it's hard not to root for the private guys who often like to compare themselves to these pioneers, credited with inventing and building the world's first airplane.

Herein lies the problem though: NASA and the Russians already invented the rockets; SpaceX, Blue Origin and their likes were supposed to try and build - only cheaper - simpler versions of what was already there.

Checking statements from the various players, one gets the feeling that the debate is not about Space at all - but another sign of the deep wedge between political ideas in what has become almost a presidential reality show, with feeds altered pending viewer responses and focus groups.

In our own community, we all know the one who never goes anywhere because he simply never stops preparing. Or the one never summiting, because he never decides to. We all know the one who gets the multi million sponsorship for yet another guided expedition to Everest. And we know all too well the extravagant showman with the right connections hailed by media as the greatest explorer in the world. We know, because out there, on the ice and in the howling wind, we can't be fooled.

Speaking of the Wright brothers, the first and the last Astronauts to actually have stood on the moon are un-impressed. In an open letter, yesterday Neil Armstrong, James Lovell and Eugene Cernan urged President Obama to reconsider what they warn would be "devastating" new policies for the future of NASA.

According to them, in the end it comes down to a simple thing: "America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space."

The National Space Symposium is the premier gathering of the global space community, organized by
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Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is a leader in space awareness activities, educational programs that bring space into the classroom, and major industry events, all in support of its mission "to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable, and propel humanity."

An expert in all aspects of the global space industry, the Space Foundation publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity and provides three indices that track daily performance of the space industry. Through its Space Certification and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, the Space Foundation recognizes space-based technologies and innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth.

Headquartered in Colorado Springs, the Space Foundation conducts research and analysis and government affairs activities from its Washington, D.C., office and has field representatives in Houston, Texas, and Cape Canaveral, Fla. For more information, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org and read about the latest space news and Space Foundation activities in Space Watch.




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