AVmail: December 15, 2014

Kraig Krumm writes: “I viewed the test flight of the Orion crew capsule with mixed emotions. I’m glad that we are finally getting our act together so that we are not relying on the Russians to get us into low Earth orbit and sad that we are now back to shooting men up in capsules and using parachutes for a water recovery. The Orion capsule is a step backward in the space program. We should be spending our efforts on building true ‘space ships,’ large non-re-entry vehicles with room for large crews to travel to Mars and the asteroids. These ships, if constructed in space, could make long duration space travel comfortable.” Click through to read the rest of this letter and other mail from AVweb readers.

Letter of the Week:
Orion a Step Backward

I viewed the test flight of the Orion crew capsule with mixed emotions. I'm glad that we are finally getting our act together so that we are not relying on the Russians to get us into low Earth orbit and sad that we are now back to shooting men up in capsules and using parachutes for a water recovery.

The Orion capsule is a step backward in the space program. We should be spending our efforts on building true "space ships," large non-re-entry vehicles with room for large crews to travel to Mars and the asteroids. These ships, if constructed in space, could make long duration space travel comfortable.

Can you even imagine being cooped up in the Orion capsule for a year on a voyage to Mars? Think about the Discovery spacecraft from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and you get my point. If humankind is to progress, we need to venture out into the solar system not as canned meat but as scientific investigators and entrepreneurs, seeking out info and the natural resources that will soon be lacking on our home planet.

NASA and our government have let the country lag behind in space while politicians spend our tax money buying votes with more and more entitlement programs. Almost every high-tech device we have today came as a direct result of our leadership in space. Some people ask, "Can we afford this?" I say we can't afford not to. If we don't, the Russians and Chinese will, and the U.S. will fall further behind them in production, technology, and innovation.

I wouldn't even rule out a cooperative effort with other counties as long as they pull their own weight and share equally in the financial burden. The U.S. footed the majority of the bill for the International Space Station, and now we pay the Russians to take us there. It's incredibly sad.

If the time ever comes when we face a threat from space - asteroid, comet, or whatever - it will be too late to start trying to find a way to stop armageddon. We need to spend the money now, so we will be ready if and when it happens.

John Kennedy had a dream to put a man on the moon in less than ten years, and we did it! The benefits from that accomplishment are in use by people from all over the world every day as they sit in front of high-definition TVs, work at their computers, drive their cars with more computing power than the Apollo guidance and navigation computer had, and talk on smart cellphones to any corner of the earth instantaneously.

What wonders would we see from a new push to the planets and into the solar system?

Kraig Krumm


I think after years of flying the shuttle to go back to rockets with capsules shows how anemic the space program really is these days. Whatever happed to actually advancing? Oh, the technology is better, but this seem to be a retreat to old methods.

A one-off mission to an asteroid or Mars might be significant, but it doesn't do much to actually build a lasting and capable infrastructure to get off the planet in any sustainable and meaningful way.

I'm glad to see any human space exploration but this is really not going to do much for most people.

Gary Caron


We Need Space

Spaceflight is the only hope for the survival of the human race. Although, ultimately, when the universe collapses, or peters out, or terminates in whatever manner, human survival is moot. But you weren't looking that far into the future, I suppose.

Mac Hayes


UAS Pilots Are Pilots

Regarding Michael Cufr's letter about UAS "operators": The operation of a UAS requires more than just operating systems on a flying machine. The UAS pilot is also responsible to operate within the national airspace system under day, night, VFR, and IFR flight rules, communicating with air traffic control and following all the rules and requirements that a pilot is responsible for.

As UASs become more prevalent within our skies and as the rules become clearer for those operating UASs within the NAS, you will see why only a pilot could be called upon for such a task as operating a UAS. For those operating a flying machine as a radio-controlled device with a camera attached without entering the NAS and without necessary communications with ATC, then yes - I agree that they should not be considered to be in the same category as the pilot and exempt from the schooling necessary to become one.

Jon Kirschbaum


Kudos from Future Pilot

I look forward to getting your emails. Even though I'm not a pilot, I'm hoping to become one. I learn so much more about current aviation news here than I can hear anywhere else. I am so excited for the supersonic passenger jet.

And I like the funny little articles every once in a while. Thanks.

Madelynn Benedict