America's technological edge through much of the 20th century owed a lot to its manned space program. The future of America's presence in space is now in doubt:
The torch will soon pass to rising powers in the BRIC bloc:
Spacefaring nations demonstrate confidence in their own futures. The end of the American empire is lost among daily news items like this. Such is the sweep of history. I keep tabs on the defense industry for just this reason. Many defense contractors - Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, L3, and others - derive a healthy chunk of their revenues from NASA and DOD space spending. Constellation in particular is supposed to be a big winner for LMT. Perhaps I should say it "was" supposed to be a winner, until Uncle Sam spent himself into a corner.
See what happens when you blow a stimulus package on union shop overtime and fences to nowhere? Now I'll have to look for some good Indian aerospace companies to review.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi is long one put against LMT as a hedge against a decline in defense and space spending by the U.S. government.
When the White House releases his budget proposal Monday, there will be no money for the Constellation program that was supposed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The troubled and expensive Ares I rocket that was to replace the space shuttle to ferry humans to space will be gone, along with money for its bigger brother, the Ares V cargo rocket that was to launch the fuel and supplies needed to take humans back to the moon.
There will be no lunar landers, no moon bases, no Constellation program at all.
The torch will soon pass to rising powers in the BRIC bloc:
India will launch its first manned space mission in 2016 in a bid to match space pioneers such as Russia and the United States, a top official said Wednesday.
The government had already approved plans for a human space flight project by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and last year gave the go-ahead for funding of around 2.8 billion dollars.
Spacefaring nations demonstrate confidence in their own futures. The end of the American empire is lost among daily news items like this. Such is the sweep of history. I keep tabs on the defense industry for just this reason. Many defense contractors - Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, L3, and others - derive a healthy chunk of their revenues from NASA and DOD space spending. Constellation in particular is supposed to be a big winner for LMT. Perhaps I should say it "was" supposed to be a winner, until Uncle Sam spent himself into a corner.
See what happens when you blow a stimulus package on union shop overtime and fences to nowhere? Now I'll have to look for some good Indian aerospace companies to review.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi is long one put against LMT as a hedge against a decline in defense and space spending by the U.S. government.
