Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Presidential Watch Sunday: An Unprecedented Look At The Presidency...
Problem!?! What Problem!?! I Don't Have Any Problems!!!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Rolex Hotness: Kelly Killoren Bensimon-Super-Leggy-Model & Actress
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Rolex Coolness: Lance Armstrong To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Required
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
NASA Photo Of The Day: Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano
Monday, April 19, 2010
Rolex Studio Shot Of The Day: Pepsi Rolex GMT Master II and Levi's 501's
Rolex Diplomacy Hillary Clinton and Salam Fayad...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Rolex Outdoor Shot Of The Day: Jo Lundbo Goes Fishing with his Rolex Explorer II
Friday, April 16, 2010
Answering A Reader's Daytona Questions...
James Bond Wears Rolex The Man With The Top-Secret Job Wear A Rolex...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Neil Armstrong and 25 NASA Legends Blast President Obama's Space Plan On Open Letter to U.S. President Obama...
Scott Carpenter & Neil Armstrong
Along With 25 NASA Legends
Blast President Obama's Space Plan
Apollo 11 Team meets with President Obama on July 20, 2009 on 40th Anniversary of Lunar Landing
From Left To Right: Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, President Obama
Apollo 11 Team in 1969. From Left To Right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin
On Open Letter to U.S. President Obama
The United States entered into the challenge of space exploration under President Eisenhower's first term, however, it was the Soviet Union who excelled in those early years.
Under the bold vision of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and with the overwhelming approval of the American people, we rapidly closed the gap in the final third; of the 20th century, and became the world leader in space exploration.
America's space accomplishments earned the respect and admiration of the world. Science probes were unlocking the secrets of the cosmos; space technology was providing instantaneous worldwide communication; orbital sentinels were helping man understand the vagaries of nature.
Above all else, the people around the world were inspired by the human exploration of space and the expanding of man's frontier. It suggested that what had been thought to be impossible was now within reach. Students were inspired to prepare themselves to be a part of this new age.
World leadership in space was not achieved easily. In the first half-century of the space age, our country made a significant financial investment, thousands of Americans dedicated themselves to the effort, and some gave their lives to achieve the dream of a nation.
In the latter part of the first half century of the space age, Americans and their international partners focused primarily on exploiting the near frontiers of space with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
As a result of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, it was concluded that our space policy required a new strategic vision. Extensive studies and analysis led to this new mandate: meet our existing commitments, return to our exploration roots, return to the moon, and prepare to venture further outward to the asteroids and to Mars.
The program was named Constellation In the ensuing years, this plan was endorsed by two Presidents of different parties and approved by both Democratic and Republican congresses.
The Columbia Accident Board had given Nasa a number of recommendations fundamental to the Constellation architecture which were duly incorporated. The Ares rocket family was patterned after the Von Braun Modular concept so essential to the success of the Saturn 1B and the Saturn 5.
A number of components in the Ares 1 rocket would become the foundation of the very large heavy lift Ares V, thus reducing the total development costs substantially. After the Ares 1 becomes operational, the only major new components necessary for the Ares V would be the larger propellant tanks to support the heavy lift requirements.
The design and the production of the flight components and infrastructure to implement this vision was well underway. Detailed planning of all the major sectors of the program had begun. Enthusiasm within Nasa and throughout the country was very high.
When President Obama recently released his budget for Nasa, he proposed a slight increase in total funding, substantial research and technology development, an extension of the International Space Station operation until 2020, long range planning for a new but undefined heavy lift rocket and significant funding for the development of commercial access to low earth orbit
Although some of these proposals have merit, the accompanying decision to cancel the Constellation program, its Ares 1 and Ares V rockets, and the Orion spacecraft, is devastating.
America's only path to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station will now be subject to an agreement with Russia to purchase space on their Soyuz – at a price of over 50 million dollars per seat with significant increases expected in the near future – until we have the capacity to provide transportation for ourselves.
The availability of a commercial transport to orbit as envisioned in the President's proposal cannot be predicted with any certainty, but is likely to take substantially longer and be more expensive than we would hope.
It appears that we will have wasted our current $10-plus billion investment in Constellation and, equally importantly, we will have lost the many years required to recreate the equivalent of what we will have discarded.
For The United States, the leading space faring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature.
While the President's plan envisages humans traveling away from Earth and perhaps toward Mars at some time in the future, the lack of developed rockets and spacecraft will assure that ability will not be available for many years.
Without the skill and experience that actual spacecraft operation provides, the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity. America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space. If it does, we should institute a program which will give us the very best chance of achieving that goal.
Scott Carpenter
Mercury Astronaut
Neil Armstrong
Commander, Apollo 11
James Lovell
Commander, Apollo 13
Eugene Cernan
Commander, Apollo 17
Chris Kraft
Johnson Space Center Past Director
Jack Lousma
Skylab 3, STS 3
Vance Brand
Apollo-Soyuz, STS-5, STS-41B, STS-35
Bob Crippen
STS-1, STS-7, STS-41C, STS-41G, Kennedy Space Center Past Director
Michael D. Griffin
Past NASA Administrator
Ed Gibson
Skylab 4
Jim Kennedy
Kennedy Space Center Past Director
Alan Bean
Apollo 12, Skylab 3
Alfred M. Worden
Apollo 15
Glynn Lunney
Gemini-Apollo Flight Director
Jim McDivitt Gemini 4
Apollo 9 Apollo Spacecraft Program Manager
Gene Kranz
Gemini-Apollo Flight Director, NASA Mission Ops. Past Director
Joe Kerwin
Skylab 2
Fred Haise
Apollo 13, Shuttle Landing Tests
Gerald Carr
Skylab 4
Jake Garn
STS-51D, U.S. Senator
Charlie Duke
Apollo 16
Bruce McCandless
STS-41B, STS-31
Frank Borman
Gemini 7, Apollo 8
Paul Weitz
Skylab 2, STS-6
George Mueller
Past Associate Administrator For Manned Space Flight
Harrison Schmitt
Apollo 17, U.S. Senator
Dick Gordon
Gemini 11, Apollo 12