Michael D. Griffin, Author at SpaceNews

Transferring the International Space Station into the future

Jean-Jacques Dordain and Michael D. Griffin — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

When it's time to retire the International Space Station, it should be moved to higher orbit, so that it may one day be made useful again, rather than incinerated.

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Commentary | Propellant Depots Instead of Heavy Lift?

Michael D. Griffin and Scott Pace — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Considerable recent attention has been devoted to the possible use of orbiting fuel depots for human exploration beyond Earth orbit. In this concept, large propellant tanks are placed in a suitable low Earth orbit (LEO), to be filled by multiple launches of medium-payload-class vehicles, i.e., a few tens rather than a hundred or more metric tons of payload capacity. These depots are then used to refuel upper stages, which arrive empty in LEO after launch from Earth, after which they are launched outward to the Moon or beyond.

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Let the Games Begin

Michael D. Griffin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:00:00 +0000

When presidential candidate Barack Obama first mentioned his stance on space policy, he spoke of the NASA budget as a perfect offset for additional education spending. Later, when he realized that he had to win Florida, he changed his tune. But it came as little surprise to those of us watching this issue that the first NASA budget he submitted to Congress effectively dismantled the nation’s human spaceflight program. And it should come as no surprise to us now that, despite his signature on the NASA Authorization Act of 2011 and subsequent appropriations legislation to provide funding for the nation’s next steps in space, the administration continues to flaunt congressional intent and law, refusing to move forward on any sequel to the space shuttle.

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International Cooperation in the Next Great Era of Space Exploration

Michael D. Griffin — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 09:00:00 +0000

O ne day in the not too distant future people around the world will be able to look up at the night sky and see the glimmering lights of a research station on the Moon. At this research station, pioneering astronauts from many nations will be learning how to extract useful resources such as oxygen from the lunar soil. Also, we look forward to teams operating for the first time on the back side of the M oon, deploying small antennae to form the largest radio telescope ever built, free of radio noise from Earth.

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