Would You REALLY Want to Travel Into Space Via Virgin Galactic's 'Space Ship Two'?

Personnel examine pieces of 'SpaceShip Two' in the Mojave Desert.

The news that Richard Branson's pet space ship  ('Space Ship Two')- to which over 500 celebs have already signed up - has crashed in a test run, ought to surprise no one. As I glimpsed the wreckage of  Virgin Galactic's downed craft on the nightly news I realized again how these relatively small entrepreneurial outfits (even backed by billionaires) are simply not up to the task of space exploration or even nominal space tourism. In Branson's case, it was to give wealthy hotshots a chance to say they'd at least been to the edge of space (to experience weightlessness) at a quarter million a pop. The total duration of each flight? Five minutes.

Must be nice to be able to burn a quarter million for a 5 minute romp just to say you've nominally been to space!

However, the crash of the Galactic craft in this test run shows it's far from ready and surely the crash scene ought to have opened the eyeballs of all those celebs dying to get aboard. Let's also remind ourselves  this outcome is even after ten years of development. I suspect the wannabe space men like Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo diCaprio may well have to wait at least another ten years and maybe even more.

Loren Thompson, an analyst at Virginia's  Lexington Institute, who's consulted for Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has put it bluntly in a recent Financial Times piece (Oct. 31):

"What we're learning is that consistent success in launching space vehicles requires a much bigger investment of time and money than most entrepreneurs are willing to make".

Duh! This has been exactly my point for the past three years, since the retirement of the Shuttle - at least for cargo shuttling purposes to the ISS.  But the entrenched optimists who run these small time commercial outfits simply refuse to accept it. Refuse to accept you ain't going to the Moon, far less Mars, or even to the space station by using relative chump change operations (maximal outlays on the order of $10m or so when the Shuttle program exceeded $300 b) and minimal resources. You need instead the resources of a whole nation and that's why the key successful space missions now are compliments of national efforts (e.g. China and India),  not private company efforts.

That so many people of even above average intelligence can't process this or accept this is simply amazing, but perhaps speaks to the overwhelming power of PR and manufactured malarkey dominating today's 24/7 news cycle.  And so, one must not be too surprised that too often PR can gut and overcome rational and analytical critical thinking faculties. We saw it already last November as the blow-dried pipsqueaks across mainstream TV tried desperately to get viewers to bite on the "Oswald dunnit" myth to explain the Kennedy assassination during the 50th anniversary of that event.

Now, they're expected to bite on the moronic canard that entrepreneurs like Richard Branson, or small scale commercial startups like Space -X  can revive the nation's dormant space program.

Meanwhile, company spokesman George Whitesides had this to blog after the crash, and the news that one of the test pilots died and the other is critically injured:

"Space is hard. Today was a tough day."

You think? .How about this? Space is indeed  hard for small entrepreneurial operations and their owner buffoons trying to fool themselves by thinking they can accomplish what it took entire national efforts to do earlier. But hell, don't take my word. Tom Bower, a biographer of Branson quoted in today's UK Guardian, said the rocket being used by Galactic was “very crude”. He claimed engineers working on the project had told him the craft was “very dangerous”.

Hubris anyone? Any of those stars lined up for a space ride still interested? Or are you like the morons signed up for the one way 'Mars  One' suicide mission? (See e.g. http://www.mars-one.com/ )

Also quoted in the Guardian is John Logsdon, retired space policy director at George Washington University, who said:

“It’s a real setback to the idea that lots of people are going to be taking joyrides into the fringes of outer space any time soon. There were a lot of people who believed that the technology to carry people is safely at hand.”

Indeed, and they were total delusionary dreamers too overtaken by corporate PR and without enough critical thought to compensate.

Russians Put Kibosh On Joint U.S. -Russian ISS Missions and Dash American Space Hopes

Well, we knew some kind of blowback was in the offing after the Obama administration hit the Russians with trade sanctions (following the legal Crimea occupation) and then - two months ago- discontinued the sharing of key ISS info with NASA's Russian counterpart, the Russian Federal Space Agency. I don't know how Obama and his Crew believed or thought the Russians would just suck this up and take it, but they evidently did.

Now, however, we have the announcement from Russian deputy premier Dmitry Rogozim that there will be no Russian cooperation with NASA on the International Space Station after 2020. (The U.S. had hoped to have it through 2024, at least until a credible U.S. manned space program could be re-established.)


This move, while it might not seem like much to those not interested in manned space operations, is a big blow and serves the Americans right for acting like they own the only leverage in town. They do not. The U.S. depends entirely on the Russians for their maintained area of the space station, and while the Russians can exist independently of the U.S. area, the converse is not true. Hence, shutting that area off is a huge outflanking of the U.S. and its belligerent warhawks at State -who've finally gotten their stupid way.

This means many science experiments now won't get done, nor will there be much advancement in manned space studies, research which both the Russians and Americans had cooperated on. Minus such research it is very difficult to imagine a manned Mars mission anytime soon. (Of course, assorted "suicide" trip are always possible - like the 'Mars ONE' foolishness.)

The other hammer ready to drop is the Russians informing the Americans there will be no more ferrying of American astronauts to the Space Station. If the U.S. wants to get those guys there, it will have to push "Space-X"  to move a bit faster on readying a manned craft. (Which in any case, as per the Russian announcement, would only be practical until 2020- when the Russians effectively close the door to the ISS. To me, it is likely the Space-X ferry won't even be ready by then).

Oh, and to add insult to injury, the same Russian announcement made it clear no more Russian NK-33 or RD-180 rocket engines will be sold to the U.S. Air Force if they are to be employed in military space operations. The Russians are damned if they are going to subsidize the U.S. military with THEIR rockets, if the same military is dispatching troops to Europe - to potentially act against the Russians. (If "troop proxies" haven't already in the guise of 'Academi' i.e. the former 'Blackwater' renegades- stirring up trouble in eastern Ukraine, as assorted reports from ORF - the Austrian Broadcasting Network-  have suggested.)

None of this bullshit ever occurred during the Cold War because both the principals understood it was in their best long term interests to cooperate in space. Now, with the Neoliberal domination of the planet, and acting as if they own it, that appears to have 'gone through the eddoes' in Bajan parlance. Because the Russians displayed the temerity to merely defend their own sphere of interest from American-NATO encroachment they've been taken to task by the primary agents of the Neoliberal Global State - the U.S.

For all of us who've followed the manned space program since Alan Shepherd's historic sub-orbital ride in a Mercury capsule on May 5, 1961, this is a real setback and mightily distressing. That it came under a Democratic President's watch - who as a candidate repeatedly called out the words "hope" and "change" - makes it even more distressing. "Hope" and "change" all right-  in the wrong direction!

We were told, at one political confab in 2008, that "we were the change we were waiting for."

Well, evidently not, and neither was Mr. Obama. (Whose administration, again emanating from State, also announced a cut in Fulbright scholarships- one of the primary props for good international relations - because they encouraged cross cultural and cross-national understanding.)

Go figure.

A Short-Sighted Decision: NASA Suspends Cooperation With Russians in Space

American astronaut Steve Swanson (left) and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skorvtsov, appear last month before their Soyuz launch to the International Space Station.

Evidently, the Russian annexation of Crimea is still eating away at Amerikkan exceptionalists and inspiring more pique and petulance. Like spoiled brats that just can't have their own way, and because  they can no longer bully another nation (which isn't prepared to tolerate their bullshit) they have to find new ways to take their toys away and run home. BWAAAAA....Them bad Russians pickin' on we!

The latest example, which I put under the category of 'supremely stupid' is demanding NASA discontinue its relationship with its Russian counterpart agency, Roscosmos.

After insisting that space relations would not be altered by earthly politics, NASA on Wednesday said it was severing ties with Russia over the Ukraine crisis, except for the International Space Station. (Of course, without the Russians and their Soyuz, we'd never be able to get our people there because like goons we mothballed our only means of transport - the Space Shuttle - cutting thousands of jobs at Cape Kennedy with it)

Can you say hypocrites?

The result of this latest pique? 

- NASA employees cannot travel to Russia or host visitors until further notice.

- They are also barred from emailing or holding teleconferences with their Russian counterparts

In other words, no further cross-fertilization regarding space issues or problems. How fuckin' dumb is this? Pretty fuckin' dumb!

All this is because of Russia's actions in Ukraine, according to a memo sent to NASA  workers. But hey- all activities related to the space station are exempt. NASA and Russia's space agency will "continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation" of the space station, NASA said in a statement released late on Wednesday.

Why? Because we can't get our own asses to the station without the assistance of the Russians! Since the  absurd early retirement of the space shuttle, NASA  has depended on Russia to hitch rides to the giant orbiting outpost, paying nearly $71m per trip for a seat on the Soyuz. A Russian rocket last week delivered three astronauts, including American Steve Swanson. The laboratory is a partnership of the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. US astronauts train in Russia before flying to the space station and the new directive was not expected to affect that.

Previously NASA had insisted US-Russia space relations were fine despite the tensions over Ukraine.  NASA administrator Charles Bolden said on 4 March:

"Right now, everything is normal in our relationship with the Russians,".

NASA reiterated the sentiment last week after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, saying:


"We do not expect the current Russia-Ukraine situation to have an impact on our longstanding civil space co-operation with Russia, which goes back decades,"

After the memo leaked on Wednesday, NASA confirmed it was suspending most contact with Russia. But it also took a swipe at Congress, noting that it wouldn't be relying on Russia to fly to the space station if funding had not been cut. The space agency said it was looking at private rocket companies to ferry astronauts in 2017. Yeah, right. If NASA thinks the private bunch will be ready by then they're really smoking some strong stuff!

Space policy experts said they were not surprised with the latest guideline because similar memos suspending Russian contact went out to other federal agencies.  Which leads me to believe it wasn't NASA's idea but it came from the Obama White House, still smarting at numerous barbs from the Likes of John McInsane and others that they aren't doing enough to thwart the Russkies.

Earlier, recall that Congress and NATO took steps to "punish Russia" for its actions in Ukraine by sending Obama a bill to provide $1bn in loan guarantees to Ukraine and add to sanctions against Russia.  These dumb maggots have a billion to piss away on Ukraine but see no problem in slicing billions from the food stamps program so OUR kids starve at night!

NATO''s  warmongering clique of foreign ministers ordered an end to civilian and military cooperation with Russia, which doubtless presaged the NASA move, or rather the WH order mandating it.
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Scott Pace, space policy director at George Washington University, said it was noteworthy that co-operation on the space station remained intact. He said:

"We and the Russians have a very deep and integrated relationship. We are reliant on them as they are on us. Divorce is not an option."

Pace said there would probably be disruptions for NASA scientists who trade data or work on experiments with Russian researchers. Again, that's why it's a stupid, self-mutilating move that could well impinge on the safety of U.S. astronauts. But do our hare-brained politicos care, so long as they can posture? Hell no!

Former Johnson Space Center Director George Abbey had this to say in a recent interview:

"It’s been very disappointing. Everyone that I’ve spoken with, my fellow colleagues – both engineers and scientists – were quite disappointed. We don’t think it’s a very wise decision and it certainly can affect the safety of operations in space. When you’re flying on an International Space Station you want to enhance cooperation and enhance communication, so when you start taking actions to lessen those communications, it’s not a very safe action and it’s not a very wise thing to do. "

Of course, for our posturing poltroons, none of that matters. So long as they can get one more petulant dig at the Russians, they will risk the lives of whatever American astronauts - devil take the hindmost. It's all about politics in the end, and if you peel back the layers enough - you will see the telltale traces of the Neoliberal imperative.