The Theater on E Street is beginning to publicize the Emperor's latest upcoming farce. Shown here is the mock movie poster your tax dollars created to further inflate the already bloated egos of those involved in the latest sleight of hand display. Up there in the credits are the pretender's appellations...all but one that is. Could it be that the missing non de plume is already on the way to a new job at Olive Garden?
And so the very old four segment shuttle SRB, with the 20+ year old propellant grain design that launched STS-1, with the inert fake fifth segment, and the inert fake upper stage, and the fake ORION capsule on top, and with none of the anti-bladder bashing hardware that the real vehicle will eventually need to fly Broom Hilda's galley will skeedaddle off the pad with the cameras rolling. ARES-1X will be demonstrating that, indeed, there is continuity between the launch control trailer (not even the LCC is used here) and the igniter circuits on the launch pad. And that, in a nut shell, is what this whole test is about.
Smoke and fire. Momentum. Pulling the wool over the eyes of our Congressfolk who skipped the science classes and are relying on the inmates to testify that they are making progress. That is what this test is about.
In the meantime, the IG is worried about how a rocket test stand (as if there is more than one available to do the desired tests) was selected for use at Stennis without going through all the proper paperwork.
Back on E Street, after the entrance applause dies down, you can hear the Emperor up on his stage, "Nothing up my sleeve..."
1 comment:
The poster smacks of narcissism to me. Treating the names of the administrators and managers like movie stars? Give me a break. How about giving some credit to the folks who are busting their butts in the trenches, trying to make this tragically-flawed concept work?
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