Selected Articles from the
November 2001 Odyssey

Editor: Terry Hancock

• Mars Odyssey Infrared Images, NASA
• First Observation of Black Hole Energy Extraction, NASA
• The Surf Report, Diane Rhodes

The Surf Report

By Diane Rhodes

Can We Afford the Future? or
"Buddy, Can You Spare a Million?"

The recent tragic events of two months ago in New York City and Washington, DC are still raw to most of us. Unfortunately, the economic effects of that terrible day will probably live on after the memories have faded.

The spate of layoffs and economic hesitancy are being felt everywhere in the American and the global economy. Stock markets are sluggish and large sectors of the airline and travel industries are suffering large layoffs of personnel. Other economic areas, such as the High Tech sector, are showing signs of fiscal strain. What usually tends to happen at times like these is that companies try to cut back on ``nonessentials'' like research and development. Investors also tend to play it safe. This could have serious impact on the struggles of young, start up companies in private commercial aerospace.

Some companies have been working on small budgets with development plans tailored to the amount of R & D capital they have been able to raise. A lack of investors can be fatal for small startups, like Rotary Rocket, which failed in the past year.

There are a few companies which are working on hardware right now, such as Microcosm, which has had several launches and is currently working toward the next step up in their development plan.

Kistler Aerospace is another private aerospace company needing to attract investors to maintain their development schedule.

A new startup, called XCOR Aerospace is taking the ``off the shelf, with modifications'' approach, using a plane ``kit'' (the EZ Rocket), to keep development costs down. An article on a recent launch attempt was printed in the L.A. Times.

Other nations are also developing launch systems and testing new rocket engines. The University of Queensland in Australia had a launch in October of their scramjet, called the HyShot.

NASA, and governmental space programs in general, are also prone to changes in the budgetary wind. The recent ``war against terrorism'' effort is reputedly costing the US upwards of a billion dollars a day. This money is coming from somewhere; the space agency has long been seen as a place to cut back when things were getting tight. Add this to the reported new NASA pledge for a code of secrecy for launch schedules, and the public might not even notice just how much things are scaled back.

All these companies and programs could be at risk due to a lack of capital when times get tougher. Such lack of foresight is folly: The future should not take a back burner to transitory budget concerns.

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