Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Coming Axe

The wheels are now in motion for a flush of greater impact than that of the recently repaired toilet on ISS. The back story is coming together. The timing is almost at hand. The minute hand on the clock is approaching midnight.

For, you see, The Emperor is getting ready to make his last bid at saving his neck while throwing the rest of the minions, who have done his bidding without resistance, under the bus.

And we can now tell you how it will go down.

Sometime in the not too distant future, many of the technical issues surfacing from the liberal use of steroids in the Constellation architecture will start to become unavoidable and clearly unsolvable. Viceroy Hanley's not too swift comments from last week are already echoing around E Street as a distant cry in the night for change. So, just before the election, we will see an overhaul of the program management from top to bottom, with a declaration from the Emperor that the team had done a great job, but was fatigued and needed relief. The new team will, of course, "fix" all of the misfortunes.

The man who avoids Men's Wearhouse will then point out how "unreasonable" it would be to throw the new team out, just as it is getting traction, when the next administration comes in. He will plead his case that new leadership will only result in a further lengthening of "the gap." He will hope this case, and continued safe stewardship of the space shuttle, will be enough to keep him off the unemployment line with the others he just sent packing.

That case might just float for a bit with the Democrats, because they will be overwhelmed with filling other job slots before they get to worrying the Emperor's domain. But if the Republicans grab the keys, we can only hope the following words ring true for the man who has so thoroughly bankrupted our spacefaring future...

"Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

*checks watch* Major program management reorg and reshuffle - right on time.

Will anything change other than the names on the doors on mahogany row? Very unlikely.

Anonymous said...

Being the new program management
team is probably even worse then
being the old team.

The clock is heavily run out for
getting Ares flying, and the technical problems
are insane.

The coming democratic administration and congress
will have little stomach to support this Bush Boondoggle and will most likely
striate the program.

Anyone who takes on leadership in this era
will find themselves out the door within 18 months.

Anonymous said...

Michael Griffin seems to be as singularly unaware of reality and his legacy of failure as his boss Bush. How can people like that exist? Clearly Broomhilda is afflicted as well. It appears that their brains are seriously miswired. Can any qualified psychologists comment on this phenomenon, where serious screwups have no idea how much of a screwup they really are, indeed, aren't even aware that there is a screwup.

Dave G said...

Griffin is suffering from "Management Blindness", where his underlings live in such fear that they don't tell the truth for fear of repercussions. The same thing happened with Saddam and his WMDs (with slightly less beheadings).

But anyone who thinks Obama will win the presidency has been smoking too much crack. And morons that think the Bush administration has failed have only forgotten how badly the Clinton administration failed this country.

I agree that the time to recover the gap is gone. The only question now is: How can we keep it to a minimum? Keep flying the shuttle? Only if you let the Russians provide "LON" capability, with a couple of spare Soyuz in case of a contingency, and quit trying to have a shuttle ready in time.

Anonymous said...

But anyone who thinks Obama will win the presidency has been smoking too much crack. And morons that think the Bush administration has failed have only forgotten how badly the Clinton administration failed this country.

Please point out to us where Mr. Clinton proposed building an insane rocket that essentially takes rocketry back 50 years, and where he executed a war which can't be won, can't be paid for, and he didn't raise taxes to pay for it.

You are suffering from a phenomenon that I am intimately familiar with:

http://www.apa.org/journals/snip

Let's see, you seem to like that phrase 'smoking crack'. Now where have I heard that before? Your usage of an idiotic phrase narrows it down considerably, I could take a wild guess and probably be right as to who you are exactly, Dave.

I agree that the time to recover the gap is gone.

The gap is no longer the problem here, we're long past that. The problem now is idiots like you, and how we can salvage something from the mess you have made. The problem is the idiotic rocket, not the gap.

I'm voting for McCain. The end is coming anyways, why prolong the agony, better to hurry it up.

Enjoy your economic meltdown :

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

You voted for it, you bought it, you signed the credit card reciept, now all you have to do is figure out what you're gonna do when the merchandise fails to show up in the mail, and you finally realize that you've been screwed, indeed, you are nothing but a serious screwup.

Anonymous said...

Whoa there kt...

Please point out to us where Mr. Clinton proposed building an insane rocket that essentially takes rocketry back 50 years, and where he executed a war which can't be won, can't be paid for, and he didn't raise taxes to pay for it.

I know, as much as you are enamored with the current solution, Bush never proposed it (as you are insinuating with your previous post). It has been built by the minions in hope to meet the "vision" of returning to the moon.

As for the war and taxes...I'm not going to argue with you there.

Take a deep breath and keep the ego in check. Make sure you are making accurate comparisons.

Anonymous said...

I know, as much as you are enamored with the current solution, Bush never proposed it (as you are insinuating with your previous post). It has been built by the minions in hope to meet the "vision" of returning to the moon.

Anything but the truth. VSE was implemented by executive order, George W. Bush is the president. His second in command in the area was Michael Griffin, it's his baby.

I have never seen people more eager to shift the blame from themselves more than the Bush Administration, their cronies and employees, and the idiotic people who voted it into office, twice as I recall.

I blame you. It's your baby, you're stuck with it. Rational people will be leaving the country again in 2009, if John McCain wins this election. It doesn't matter, anywhere but the US. That will include many people who became very rich off the Bush administration.

Consider yourself LUCKY that I even bothered to return the the US these last few years to take an interest in your PATHETIC AFFAIRS OF STATE.

Do enjoy your economic meltdown.

Here is my final statement :

http://webpages.charter.net/tsiolkovsky/

The STICK ain't gonna fly.

Get used to it.

Anonymous said...

I'm no rocket scientist. I'm not even a political scientist. That said, I greatly enjoy this blog and its content. I'd like to thank Rocket Man, whoever he is, for this good insight into a very opaque process..
That said...

"Consider yourself LUCKY that I even bothered to return the the US these last few years to take an interest in your PATHETIC AFFAIRS OF STATE."

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel very lucky. I haven't seen you contribute much here except abuse.
"you are nothing but a serious screwup."
"You are suffering from a phenomenon that I am intimately familiar with: (difficulty in recognizing one's own incompetence)"
"I blame you. It's your baby, you're stuck with it."

I know I would appreciate it if you would take the advice of another poster and "Take a deep breath and keep the ego in check." Heck, I'd be happy if I could find your "final statement" on the Stick, but all I found at your link was a directory listing showing a Pink Floyd Mp3 and a writeup for an SSTO concept.
Perhaps you should put your own house in order before you rage about everyone else's incompetence.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel very lucky

You aren't very lucky indeed :

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Plus, you are the proud new owner of a 'BIG STICK', which you haven't yet received, but you have paid for dearly, in lost loves and lives.

Your new as yet unpaid for and unreceived rocket epitomizes your incompetence. My rocket flies to the ISS several times a year and launches high value satellites routinely, from both coasts.

I haven't seen you contribute much here except abuse.

Indeed, anyone who stands by idly while the treasury is drained and who's national technological pride is embodied by a 'BIG STICK' does certainly deserve more abuse than the paltry sum I have bestowed upon you, much much more. I've got time.

Three years of this shit ain't much time at all, I dare say you haven't heard the last of me, I'm gonna be riding your sorry ass right into a smoking hole in the ground, as you flame out like no nation has flamed out before you. This is GREAT!

Perhaps you should put your own house in order before you rage about everyone else's incompetence.

My house is in order, my conscience is clear, I'm good to go here.

Trust me, you are the one with the HUGE problem, not I. I can think of any number of rockets and solutions to help solve your self inflicted problems. The trick is to get you to 1) use them 2) build them.

So sorry you can't see the light.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/IRRADIANCE/snip

Enjoy your soon to be radically changed planet, you deserve it.

Anonymous said...

To kt:
Indeed, anyone who stands by idly while the treasury is drained and who's national technological pride is embodied by a 'BIG STICK' does certainly deserve more abuse than the paltry sum I have bestowed upon you, much much more. I've got time.

And your solution is to bash anyone who happens to share an opinion that's slightly different than yours?

Oh, wait...You're not standing by idly...You're standing by idly yelling at people. Nice. Why not direct your "excitement" at the people who will be making the decisions in the future and influence them (think congressmen, senators).

Anonymous said...

And your solution is to bash anyone who happens to share an opinion that's slightly different than yours?

No, my RESPONSE to the STICK is to BASH the United States government and everyone who voted these idiots into office, until they see the folly of their ways. That's presumably you.

You're standing by idly yelling at people.

Well, I did write a COTS proposal, after my group performed our own two year ESAS. What have you done? Did you even bother to read it?

It was called NASA JSC-COTS-2.

Why not direct your "excitement" at the people who will be making the decisions in the future and influence them (think congressmen, senators).

Because congressmen and senators are utterly incapable of thinking, apparently. They are the people who are vapidly continuing to enable this fraudulent and obviously dysfunctional administration to pursue their nefarious and ill conceived wars and rockets.

(Think ATK and NASA)

Anonymous said...

No, my RESPONSE to the STICK is to BASH the United States government and everyone who voted these idiots into office, until they see the folly of their ways. That's presumably you.

Your assumptions make an ass out of you and me. I voted for no one. And no one could have predicted the current state we are today. People make decisions to the best of their knowledge...and NO one can see into the future, no matter how hard you try.

Well, I did write a COTS proposal, after my group performed our own two year ESAS. What have you done? Did you even bother to read it?

You're assuming again that I am directory involved with NASA, the contractor, or the minions. I am not. I am just an interested party who had an opportunity to join the contractor, but turned it down seeing the political havoc and upheaval within the program.

Because congressmen and senators are utterly incapable of thinking, apparently. They are the people who are vapidly continuing to enable this fraudulent and obviously dysfunctional administration to pursue their nefarious and ill conceived wars and rockets.

Not arguing with you there...But also realize that those in the political arena are there because they chose to pursue that path in life. They are not engineers...They have no idea that f=ma. They need people, such as yourself, to educate them.

Anonymous said...

They have no idea that f=ma. They need people, such as yourself, to educate them.

There are F=ma simulators little kids can fly on any computer.

They don't need me. Let me tell you a little story about that NASA COTS proposal. There are two 5 by 5s I deal with every single day in high performance liquid propulsion and launch research, one is, of course, mass, but the other, I was very clever in deleting it from the proposal, an entire paragraph of describing it, in the hopes that one of the reviewers might actually read the whole proposal and catch it. It was a test they failed.

The other 5 by 5 is, of course, acceleration. We want to advance rocketry by 50 years, not set it back by 50 years. That takes work.

So it is in the world of modern rockets. Large segmented solid rocket boosters do not belong in that world, certainly not in the geometry of the inline Ares I.

This is fundamental rocketry.

The US has failed here.

Dramatically.

We need to wrap this entire program up in six months, and start over. They need to start winding it down now, it ain't gonna work and no amount of engineering hoodoo is gonna make it work, and we have far more pressing and important basic questions to ask and propulsion to develop in the world of rocketry.

If the United States government intends to continue developing this useless and psychotic rocket, I won't be around to watch it fail, my contract is up January 20, 2009.

The rhetoric is gonna be ramped up sequentially until then. I directly equate the Ares I/V etc. with war.

I'm on a mission from God.

And God is pissed.

Deal with it.

Anonymous said...


I'm on a mission from God.

And God is pissed.

Deal with it.


Point taken...<kindly steps aside>

Anonymous said...

kt and Thomas Lee Elifritz please go away.