What Next Mr. Obama?? $100 Billion at RISK !

Well Mr. Obama, NASA has a problem, due in large part to your administration's lack of vision, or a lack of planning for the what "IF" factor.  What happens to the "ISS" and our astronauts and the Russians cosmonauts. "IF" the Progress ROCKET that the United States has access to,  just decides to "BLOW UP" one lazy afternoon, what you are going to hear at first from the Russians is Bot AebMO  translated to (oh shit). Yes sir, that is what you would hear from me. Leaving the ISS should not be an issue, because the Russians have a couple of Soyuz capsules docked on station as escape vehicles for emergencies from the ISS in case of an emergency. 

What does the USA have? Absolutely nothing, we have to rely on our Russian friends to get us home safely. To depend on someone else to get our astronauts home is A first for for NASA. We have never depended on anyone but the United States. I am embarrassed, to say that our great nation has to depend on another country to get our men and women home. It is just not right.  

However, if we are going to leave the ISS, the astronauts and cosmonauts need to leave sometime in November because of the cold Russian winters. In addition to the weather, the Soyuz space capsules have a shelf life of 210 days, and that also comes into play.

I would say we have a problem. Partially due to the retirement of our Shuttle fleets. I will also place some blame on the Obama for being too quick to make cuts in the program with absolutely no planning for the "WHAT IF'S". To me it would not be to difficult to plan for "a what if the Russian rocket blows up." That would have been one of the first what "IF'S"  that should have been thought of as well. 

Well the "what if" happened, the unmanned Russian Progress M-12M cargo ship was blown to "smithereens" on 24 August 2011, 325 seconds after blasting off with 2.5 tons of oxygen, food,and fuel for the six astronauts and cosmonauts on station at the ISS.  Apparently it was the third stage that caused the failure. The problem IS, since it was decided to retire the Space Shuttle, we (USA) have to depend on the Russian's for delivery of supplies and for bringing our astronauts and cosmonauts back to earth. Now the Russians, for safety issues must shut down the rocket and find out what caused the explosion. The Russian Space engineers are good at what they do, and I am confident they, along with NASA, will find out what happened to the Progress rocket.

Shame on NASA....Houston Has a Problem..

Since the beginning of the space program, Houston and the Johnson Space center have been involved in the progression and growth of NASA. However when the Shuttles are retired, Houston is not given a Shuttle for display. The decision makers felt they were better served giving one to L.A.  I just can not believe NASA would disrespect and snub the families of the astronauts who were killed in the two shuttle accidents, but they did. It is apparent that NASA caved in to political pressure, and that is disgusting. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, Houston, Texas has been the backbone of the space program. Remember the phrase that is etched into all of our minds. "HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM". Not Washington we have a problem, not California we have a problem, but HOUSTON, we have a problem.  It was Houston and the men and women who played a major role in getting our Apollo "13" astronauts back from their failed trip to the moon. I do not know what the decision makers were smoking when they made their decision on who would receive one of the "3" remaining shuttles, but it sure altered their thinking. In my opinion, The Shuttles should have gone to,

1. Houston Space Center - Atlantis
2. The Smithsonian - Discovery
3.Dayton, Ohio - Enterprise
4.The Cape - Endeavor

Houston was not the only snub, what about the birth place of flight? A shuttle should have been place at Dayton Ohio the home the National Museum of the United States Air Force, which happens to be 5 miles from Kitty Hawk, humm, but that makes sense.  What was NASA thinking..I have no idea, whatever it is they need to clear their minds, and have a DO-OVER. Below is a the consolation prize that awaits Houston, as reported by Eric Berger.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7519059.html

NASA also announced Tuesday the locations that will receive various shuttle simulators and trainers, and Space Center Houston was not among them. The city's consolation prize will be, instead, pilot and commanders' shuttle seats that have flown on orbit. Space Center Houston officials expressed hope that they may still be able to claim remnants of the Columbia orbiter, which disintegrated above Texas in 2003 during its return to Earth. Those pieces, in a large warehouse, could provide a fitting tribute to NASA's astronauts.
It's a plan supported by several family members of the Columbia and Challenger tragedies who wanted one of the retiring orbiters displayed in Houston. "We are heartbroken to learn of the decision that the space shuttle will not be allowed to return home to Houston," said Evelyn Husband Thompson, Jonathan Clark, Sandy Anderson, Lorna Onizuka and Cheryl McNair, in a joint statement. "Home is where the heart is, and Houston has served as the heart of the space shuttle program since its inception nearly four decades ago. All the astronauts lost were Houston residents. We again share a collective loss as a result of the political decision to send the space shuttle elsewhere."
Washington Bureau reporter Stewart Powell contributed to this report.

As a Texan, I have made countless trips to the Johnson space City, and have had a couple of behind the scene tours. It is a wonderful place to visit with countless historical items to visit with so many ties to the shuttle program. one of the shuttles belong here, not in L.A., not in Washington, but here in Houston, Texas. It is not a decision of dollars, but of respect to the families and the employees that made the shuttle program work. Without Houston, you have no shuttle program.  There was no doubt in my mind that Houston was going to receive on of the 3 remaining shuttles or at the least "Endeavor" the first prototype. I had no doubt what so-ever.  So, thank you NASA for thanking the City of Houston, the men and women of the Space program that have dedicated their lives to the space program and most of all, thank you for all of the respect you gave to the families of the deceased Astronauts of the Challenger and Columbia, it is apparent that they must have been on your mind when the decision was made to award the shuttles. If I had a say in all of this, I would say the following....................."Hitch up a trailer to your truck and come pick up all of your stuff that has anything to do with your space program...You have kicked us in the butt for the last time.


Until the next time....May God Bless You and God Bless America...

"Shady"