Customer Reviews

Space: The Next Business Frontier

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Why has it taken so long for industrialized nations to get back into space in any meaningful way? Dobbs and Newquist tackle this question and hit the nail on the head with this book--pointing fingers when necessary and giving credit where it is due. This is a quick read that makes me think we have a shot at serious space business in the coming years. Excellent.

My excitement at a major new rally to space by a high-profile journalist turned largely to chagrin upon reading this effort, which reads more like a transcript of a spoken-word broadcast than a book, with enough five-second sound bytes to make any CNN anchor envious. Steel yourself to go beyond thickets of breathless hyperbole into really careless errors, such as alternately referring to "Lockheed Titans" (correctly of course) and "Boeing Titans" (say what?) This is more than embarrassing; to see such glaring errors where I know a little about what he's talking about causes me to doubt all the seemingly useful information in areas unfamiliar to me. I can't escape knowing that the book's facts are sloppily researched and undependable. (It also gives me one more reason to wonder about the sentience behind CNN's financial reporting, of which Dobbs was apparently the architect - I'll stick to the Economist magazine.) The book's flaws extend further, with analysis as flawed as the facts. The predictions of developing technology are about as authoritative as if someone read Michio Kaku's "Visions" last summer and is now trying to summarize it to you after a handful of martinis. Think I'm exaggerating? See page 204, for this steeltrap analysis of mining asteroids: "While the robot miners themselves would have to be durable and sturdy, the relative lack of gravity on asteroids might make the actual removal and transport of heavy metals a relatively easy process." Might be relatively easy? He couldn't say something like, it would be a tremendously difficult and complex feat of engineering, but would have the great advantage of a miniscule escape speed? If you're still not sure, see page 212 for this stunningly unintelligent hot air: "Although a vehicle that can essentially use air as a form of propellant would seem to be the ultimate spacecraft, it does have its limitations, most notably in space where there is no air." FEEL THE BURN!!! All he's talking about there is air-breathing combustion engines, as space-age as a Ford Model T, which of course are the ultimately WRONG engines to use in the vacuum of space - but he phrases it as if that is a small technical detail. This would feel dumb even relative to the average letter to the editor of "Popular Science." I can only give Dobbs the benefit of the doubt that he handed off a bunch of half-organized notes to the small-print-listed career shadow writer to assemble into what was supposed to be a coherent book form, and by the time Dobbs saw the finished product, it had already gone to press. So why was I generous enough to give two stars? There is still some interesting information in here, even assuming it is reliable and even if it must be weedled out from among the fluff, which is painful enough to read like AOL Time Warner is experimenting with content-writing software in place of awkward, more expensive human writers. The history of Rene Anselmo's PanAmSat as a renegade startup that now earns a billion dollars a year on GM's behalf is a great example of the tasty tidbits of actual information on space business. Most of the book, though, is a regurgitation of speculations on the future of space business, as if someone decided the world needed a cliff's notes of Gerard O'Neill. Just about all the book's material is covered elsewhere with much more clarity and understanding - the majority is covered with a thousand times more intelligent analysis in the first few chapters of Robert Zubrin's "Entering Space: Creating a Space-Faring Civilization." In fact, the book co-opts so much previous material in such a dead-on rehash, with so little source documentation, that the book at least borders on plagiarism. (You know when a source does happen to be documented by the humorously dramatic appearance of the word "Source" in parentheses; apparently looking up a standard reference convention in MLA or the Chicago Manual of Style were also beyond the scope of this book, as is any kind of index. Of the sources that are given, most are merely to web sites, another telling testament to the book's research ethic.) Still, hopefully Dobbs' huge mug on the cover - even grainy and slightly out-of-focus as it is - will draw a new cross-section of society into the dialogue on the human future in space. And fleeting through the first half or so of this book is a rational projection of the economic potential of space and an indictment of the bureaucratic domination of the aerospace industry that has stifled progress in the past few decades. I sincerely hope a more responsible commentater takes up the task in the next year or two of releasing the book this should have been. Until then, unless you feel the subject matter here is so compelling to overlook this book's many flaws, you will find your time and money far more rewarded by skipping this slacker's cream puff in favor of Robert Zubrin's "Entering Space."

Math is not among the strong suits in this otherwise readable and informative narrative. For instance, the "Plunkett Research" group is quoted for this astounding nugget: World commercial space market is guess-timated to be worth $100 billion per year where "three quarters" (sic.) is in the US (more like three-fifths at $60 billion per year).

I'd like to see the source documentation and methodology used to come up with those figures. The Plunkett organization must have added revenues from launch booster sales, range fees, telemetry up- and down-link rentals, long-haul communication links & microchip manufacturing & research costs (for the entire commercial and military space sectors) to arrive at a figure that high.

Further, whle a new volume cannot keep up with "breaking news" at the speed of a CNN or <space.com> entity, I would like to nominate a start-up business #101 for Mr. Dobbs' next edition: X-COR Aerospace of Mojave, California -- whose Chief Test Pilot for multiple test flights before and after showing the vehicle at the EAA Oshkosh, Wisconsin event is famed aviator Dick Rutan, of the highly successful "Voyager" non-stop, unrefueled record flight some years ago.

Lou Dobbs has given his countless loyal fans and readers, however, a highly readable tome -- worthy of seasonal holiday gift purchases or for your own personal or professonal libraries.

"SPACE: The Next Business Frotnier" fills a needed void in the current literature -- which can drive any concerned or interested porfessional up-the-wall -- attempting to keep track of minute developments which pop-up on multiple web sites.

Further, I wish the US Space Foundation (of Colorado Springs, CO)_ would revisit its 'policy' of not issuing "Press Releases" during events such as their "International Space Symposium" in Washington, DC (October 29 - 31, 2001) where Mr. Dobbs was a panel chair on commercial space issues!

Certain the US Space FOundation could not have found a person better informed nor qualified to fill that key chair at that prestigious gathering than Mr. Dobbs himself!

The timing couldn't be better on this book. Three things made me pick it up this week: the success of the Mars Observer and the resignation of the head of NASA along with the sale of GM's satellite division to Echostar. Big news stories, every one.

Though I'm sure that Mr. Dobbs (you can almost hear him reading this book in that CNN voice) and Mr. Newquist didn't write this book specifically with those events in mind, they do manage to be in the right place at the right time. They nail NASA for being a bloated bureaucracy but still praise its past achievements. And they dig pretty far down into the space industry (explaining, for instance, the strange relationship between Lockheed and Boeing--another recent headline).

Dobbs' knowledge of business serves him well here, and I can't think of any other space book that has really looked at space as a place where hopefully we'll all be doing business some day.

I am a big Lou Dobbs fan. I have read all his books, and if you like reporters that speak up for the Middle Class, than Lou is your man. He tells it like he sees it, and he pulls no punches. He's a true patriot who attacks Democrats and Republicans alike. If he believes a public official is up to no good, than he will say so, and it doesn't matter who.

Lou Dobbs is a well known American through CNN. I read the book more because of who he is as opposed to his knowledge of space science. The book, after all, is entitled: Space - The Next Business Frontier. For a 2001 publication date, the book was and remains insightful. American space industry still faces the International Traffic in Arms Regulation of the U.S. State Department that he seeks to provide commentary. The Congress has yet to adopt a Zero Gravity Zero Tax regime so desperately needed to foster the commercial space business. After reading this book some time ago, I still cite it now and then because of the business personality author and because of his correct insights to make space commerce more viable even in 2007. It is a contribution to enlisting non-space business niche people to understand the sector's problems. It would be great if he updated and republished.

As an interested observer since the early 1960s, I found this to be well-thought out and insightful. There have been plenty of problems in space in recent years, but this book shows that with the proper business acumen, we could make "near-space" business a reality. They're already doing "business" on the space station--there's no reason to believe that private enterprise couldn't do it as well. Especially companies like Boeing and Lockheed, which (according to this book) have a huge stake in making space work.

And there's nary a word in here about Space.com or CNN, so there's no self-aggrandizing on the part of Dobbs (or Newquist). Good for them that they've kept the focus on space as an industry and not personal projects.

With Dan Goldin stepping down from NASA, now is the time to really rework that most bloated of agencies. In this book, Dobbs shows that he understands exactly what is wrong with NASA and its culture of complacency. Point after point is made about what can be done--effectively--to get space on the front burner again. Maybe Dobbs is the guy to take over for Goldin. His writing shows that he knows how to talk the talk (and he walks the walk on CNN), so let's give him a shot.

This book contains a few errors that affect its credibility (e.g. John Glenn was 77, not 65, when he returned to space in '98). The errors don't ruin the positions that the authors take, but they do undermine an arrogant stance that they choose to adopt in places, often directed at NASA; the authors criticize others for such sloppiness and hypocrisy, ironically. Let's raise the bar for everyone involved in the pursuit of space, including the prominent authors of this book. Most readers do want the book to succeed, for space's sake. Have a quick read and provide constructive feedback for the 2nd edition. It needs an index, a bibliography, a more positive balance in places, and some general polish to rid the feeling that the book was rushed to press. It does have interesting content: a look at companies and technologies and trends in the space industry. Download the first chapter for free from Dobb's space.com and go from there ...

dobbs put his reputation where his mouth was/is and this is a good introduction to the space business.