Spaceships, too!

Some criticism of NASA's lack of vision, here. I couldn't agree with it more- NASA, to me has been stuck in the doldrums of low earth orbit for way to long. The shuttle is sexy and all and it's wonderful we can re-use it and all, but it keeps us locked into the orbit of Earth. The International Space Station too, is a wonderful thing- but it too is pretty much just a floating tin can we do science experiments in.

NASA needs to get serious about a vision- and it also needs to get serious about privatizing the space industry. There have been some good initial steps with this- the X Prize, Burt Rutan's Space Ship One and Richard Branson's plans for Virgin Galactic. But NASA's hands are tied by the fact that its budget is controlled by the government. But this is what I think:

1. Privatization: Keep it coming. If there are companies that want to break into outer space, let 'em.

2. Think BIG! The criticisms that the new rocket NASA's working on is huge and the vibration problems with the new Ares crew vehicle are valid. It's just Saturn V redux and it overlooks the obvious problem. The huge costs of getting people off the ground and into space comes from the fact that it takes a huge amount of thrust to get out of Earth's gravity. So- why not build a ship up there? Make the ISS do something other than science experiments. Sure, it's be expensive to get a construction site up there, but in the long term, it'd save you money- plus, you get the re-usable vehicle parked in orbit.

3. Space Elevators. That's another sexy option. It seems crazy- an idea totally out of science fiction, and the technology is a long ways off, but it's being developed. Put some money in and push it a long a little.

4. Have Some Balls: Get a vision up here in this thing! Go to Mars, the moon, get bases, colonies. Make science fiction, science fact already! I'm tired of NASA dickin' around in orbit. Get the heck outta here!