« I’ve got a bad feeling about this | Main | Question of the Day »

Whats The NASA Budget Again?

Every time I see what the boys in Mojave are up to, I always find myself asking "why we are paying NASA to do what it does"?. Heres two pictures that help illustrate my dilemma.

This is Scaled Composites' Proteus aircraft, with Chuck Coleman at the helm, carrying tSpace's 23 percent-scale spaceship mock-up. Proteus is a fully reusable expandable flexible mission aircraft, the center fuselage section is replaced with different modules depending on the mission. The aircraft is also capable of being flown as a UAV/Drone. In this case the ceter section has been replaced with a "drop" module.

Photo: Courtesy of Transformational Space Corporation

TSC is developing its own version of the Space Shuttle. TSC and Scaled are private companies.

This is Scaled Composites 'White Knight' carrying the NASA X-37 for 'drop tests' yesterday in Mojave.

Photo: Courtesy of Mojave Books. Please visit their site often...

NASA had been using a B-52 for drop tests for the X-37, but for the cost of a single drop test on the B-52, NASA could buy 10 drops from "White Knight". Thankfully, NASA was able to overcome its natural "Not Invented Here" sense of things and contracted out to Scaled Composites for the work, saving both money and time.

More pictures of the tspace private shuttle effort can be found here at Wired.

Posted @ June 18, 2005 11:09 AM | Aviation