On 5/26/2012 6:01 PM, Wes wrote:
wrote:

Been watching this all day. Woo Hoo!
Saturday morning NASA TV will have coverage of the hatch opening.

I am now "officially" upgrading this from a Big Deal to a Huge Deal.
The future is upon us, folks.

It put a smile on my face!

I've worried that Putin would say, sorry, no more Soyuz flights, you Americans have
abandoned the ISS. It is ours now. Maybe that is a bit paranoid but you never know with
the soviets.

When will SpaceX have a man rated rocket? When that happens I'll be doing the fist pump
big time.


Wes

Wes,

Who is going to rate that rocket as man rated?

NASA?

Or SpaceX?


In the end, of course, it's the insurance companies.


But if NASA, as a government entity, is allowed to do the rating,
what standards would they use?

NASA's?
NASA went broke running to NASA standards.

And NASA is not in the manned space business - at the moment.



Back on topic,

Let them run cargo for a while.
Hone the new technology to a fine edge.
To the point where they feel confident that they feel like they CAN
loft a man and get him back.