Being a good embalmer is a thankless job. And its now up to Norm to pickle the former Emperor's aborted creation.
But before that will happen, the clothless wonder took time Friday night to tone down his commentary from the after-life. After a subtle yet testy repartee with Miles O'Brien over just how the campaign to sell him to a Democratic President came to pass ("honest, I had nothing to do with Doc's campaign...and who can control their own wife anyway."), the poor RNASA audience had to endure a monotonous 20 minute speech that seemed to drone on for the 50 years since NASA was born.
The theme of the speech followed closely on the heels of the Weldon/Lampson piece in the Washington Times last weekend. Starting and stopping a project is not healthy. The executive branch should not tell the technical branch how to formulate their programs. And it was on these notes that it became clear how Norm's programmatic autopsy will be defended against.
The naysayers are barking up the wrong tree, somewhat, technically speaking. There is no reason why ARES-1 and ARES-V, Orion, and Altair can not be made to work...eventually and for a price. That is the answer and the deception in one package.
Unfortunately, two more questions have not been asked and answered simultaneously. How much will it really cost to really solve these very real technical issues? How long will it take to reliably solve the very same issues? Do we have the compunction, time, and the resources required to cover the resulting gap?
That is the problem. And now its Norm's job to decide if the answers are acceptable.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Miscellaneous
Norm Augustine handed helm of Blue Ribbon Panel to assess current state of non-space-faring affairs - Born in 1935. Reviewed Bush 41 plans to go to the moon and Mars. Fostered the creation of the Office of Exploration which later was led to failure by the young Emperor-in-training. He gets picked to settle NASA's future direction, but no Administrator available to support Agency positions. Coincidence? We think not. We also can't wait to see the innovation and youthful creativity flow out of this panel's review. Note to graduating seniors: Aim for grad school, change of major optional, but recommended.
Chris Scolesce says ARES-1 delayed because of Hubble Repair Mission dual pad needs -Ahhh, if ARES-1 was at all ready to fly, rationale was being developed to skip the dual pad configuration and hand one of the pads over to ARES. Of course, it is nowhere near ready to fly before the end of the year, so back to two pads we go. Note to Chris: the taxpayers are curious why you are continuing to spend their money if the program is going to change. There wouldn't be any need for any Blue Ribbon Panel if everything was obviously healthy and moving forward, now would there?
Scolesce also says Constellation is moving toward IOC in 2015 - Fails to mention IOC 2015 has a zero per cent confidence associated with it. Note to Norm: always watch out for positive statements qualified by confidence ratios. Second note to Norm: go take a class from Penn and Teller on misdirection and distraction. You will be experiencing a lot of that shortly. Third note to Norm: Lots of caffeine.
Steve Kohler resigns from Space Florida - Nobody said it would be easy. Nobody said it would be fair. Note to Steve: Try following next time.
Former Emperor in Houston Friday - More whining about staffers keeping him from leading the minions expected as he receives his RNASA award. Also expected to attend a media gathering at Space Center Houston on Saturday, as Sen. Cornyn and Rep. Olsen demonstrate their ignorance of current events and praise him further. Obama watches from afar and interprets event as a show of support from JSC, further cementing his plan to cut center program funding after 2012. Note to Cornyn and Olsen: Never mind.
Charlie Bolden in and out - He says he doesn't want THE job to all that ask. Fails to tell Sen. StickMan, so his name stays in the hat. Gen. Lyles does the respectable thing and publically bows out. Note to Charlie: What are you really holding out for?
Chris Scolesce says ARES-1 delayed because of Hubble Repair Mission dual pad needs -Ahhh, if ARES-1 was at all ready to fly, rationale was being developed to skip the dual pad configuration and hand one of the pads over to ARES. Of course, it is nowhere near ready to fly before the end of the year, so back to two pads we go. Note to Chris: the taxpayers are curious why you are continuing to spend their money if the program is going to change. There wouldn't be any need for any Blue Ribbon Panel if everything was obviously healthy and moving forward, now would there?
Scolesce also says Constellation is moving toward IOC in 2015 - Fails to mention IOC 2015 has a zero per cent confidence associated with it. Note to Norm: always watch out for positive statements qualified by confidence ratios. Second note to Norm: go take a class from Penn and Teller on misdirection and distraction. You will be experiencing a lot of that shortly. Third note to Norm: Lots of caffeine.
Steve Kohler resigns from Space Florida - Nobody said it would be easy. Nobody said it would be fair. Note to Steve: Try following next time.
Former Emperor in Houston Friday - More whining about staffers keeping him from leading the minions expected as he receives his RNASA award. Also expected to attend a media gathering at Space Center Houston on Saturday, as Sen. Cornyn and Rep. Olsen demonstrate their ignorance of current events and praise him further. Obama watches from afar and interprets event as a show of support from JSC, further cementing his plan to cut center program funding after 2012. Note to Cornyn and Olsen: Never mind.
Charlie Bolden in and out - He says he doesn't want THE job to all that ask. Fails to tell Sen. StickMan, so his name stays in the hat. Gen. Lyles does the respectable thing and publically bows out. Note to Charlie: What are you really holding out for?
Monday, May 4, 2009
Ares Idol or Idle?
Yo, dog, check this out. The Ares-1X "movie" posters are starting to get bottom heavy now. Stick-on labels moving the launch date forward are extending into the third dimension. April 2009 is the latest date to get covered up. Perhaps the next sticker should just read "???"
If you take a look at the program's status chart, reviewed regularly by the Italian Waiter, a.k.a. von Braun II, you will only observe a sea of red with dashes of yellow sprinkled in for good measure. For a program supposedly so close to launch you would expect to see at least some green in the field of view. Maybe it's not so close to launch after all? Maybe the chart maker is color blind? Or maybe they just manage things differently inside the house that Shelby protects?
This situation, of course, raises a couple of other questions. For instance, will the Waiter press for a launch before its time to influence Mr. Holdren's panel of administration judges? If, by some bit of luck the sham (four segment SRB, old grain, inert solid upper stage, inert Orion, along with many other non-flight systems) test succeeds in getting off the pad and down range, will the panel take the time to review what was actually (or not) accomplished by this test of the blockhouse? Paula Abdul might be impressed. If Ares-1X cartwheels off the pad, does that seal Constellation's fate as well? Simon Cowell, what did you think of that performance?
In typical fashion, bad rationale is allowing taxpayer dollars to continue to be spent bailing-out this program. Sunk costs appear to be the only justification offered for not holding up the test right now. Perhaps the panel of judges will see the light of day and call time. For a rocket that is pitchy and out of key, it may finally be time to move off the stage.
If you take a look at the program's status chart, reviewed regularly by the Italian Waiter, a.k.a. von Braun II, you will only observe a sea of red with dashes of yellow sprinkled in for good measure. For a program supposedly so close to launch you would expect to see at least some green in the field of view. Maybe it's not so close to launch after all? Maybe the chart maker is color blind? Or maybe they just manage things differently inside the house that Shelby protects?
This situation, of course, raises a couple of other questions. For instance, will the Waiter press for a launch before its time to influence Mr. Holdren's panel of administration judges? If, by some bit of luck the sham (four segment SRB, old grain, inert solid upper stage, inert Orion, along with many other non-flight systems) test succeeds in getting off the pad and down range, will the panel take the time to review what was actually (or not) accomplished by this test of the blockhouse? Paula Abdul might be impressed. If Ares-1X cartwheels off the pad, does that seal Constellation's fate as well? Simon Cowell, what did you think of that performance?
In typical fashion, bad rationale is allowing taxpayer dollars to continue to be spent bailing-out this program. Sunk costs appear to be the only justification offered for not holding up the test right now. Perhaps the panel of judges will see the light of day and call time. For a rocket that is pitchy and out of key, it may finally be time to move off the stage.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dying Program
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. - Rocket scientists at New Mexico's Spaceport are trying to figure out what went wrong on Saturday, when a rocket carrying experiments from students failed to reach outer space. Instead the rocket crashed in the desert.
Student experiments weren't the only objects onboard. The flight also carried the ashes of over a dozen dead people. Like Taurus 6 and Falcon 1 before it, the SpaceLoft XL failed to reach it's goal.
Maybe even dead people don't care about space anymore either?
Student experiments weren't the only objects onboard. The flight also carried the ashes of over a dozen dead people. Like Taurus 6 and Falcon 1 before it, the SpaceLoft XL failed to reach it's goal.
Maybe even dead people don't care about space anymore either?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Over the Line
So just how important was it to lay off 160 people yesterday, instead of waiting until 2:09pm on May 11th? Do we really think the budget savings will enable the Theater on E Street to continue to produce plays until 2010 and beyond as a result? Or did the new proprietor, Viceroy Gerst, punch with a low blow in his continuing desperation to produce an uproar in Congress outside of Florida?
Taking advantage of the limelight being afforded the Hubble Repair Mission to pursue an agenda that was declared dead back in 2004 is not a demonstration of "leadership in action." No, playing with morale a week before a launch is yet another example of how we got here in the first place.
Taking advantage of the limelight being afforded the Hubble Repair Mission to pursue an agenda that was declared dead back in 2004 is not a demonstration of "leadership in action." No, playing with morale a week before a launch is yet another example of how we got here in the first place.
Happy Space Day - Belatedly
Did you miss Space Day yesterday? The 12th annual Space Day, even. For those of you out of the know, the theme for this year's event was "Celebrating Human Space Flight: Past, Present and Future." Didn't get much attention, did it?
Upon reflection, it's obvious why you probably didn't hear about it on Fox News last night. The constrained theme left out the one spaceflight hero for our times. The one that didn't stand on two legs. Please pause with us for a moment of silence for the excluded. All hail, Spacebat!
Upon reflection, it's obvious why you probably didn't hear about it on Fox News last night. The constrained theme left out the one spaceflight hero for our times. The one that didn't stand on two legs. Please pause with us for a moment of silence for the excluded. All hail, Spacebat!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Scorpio and the Love Dragon
As we pass through mid-Spring, the constellation Orion is now falling towards the horizon, chasing the setting sun (or should we say Apollo?) as it goes. We know from mythology that Orion was blinded by his father and fell prey to Scorpio before ascending to his place in the winter night sky. How more fitting a fate for Viceroy Hanley's ill-fated project of the same name?
But, alas, where and in what form will Scorpio appear? How will the dagger be thrust to finish off our protagonist? For this we must now turn to the Tarot.
Surrounding the Skeleton in the Death trump of the Thoth Tarot deck are the three forms of Scorpio: the scorpion, the serpent, and the Dragon. Like the Son of the Tetragrammaton, the Dragon is the product and the union of the natures of both its parents, the feminine Eagle and the masculine Serpent. Thus is the Dragon the new and complete symbol of Kerubic Scorpio in the Aeon of Horus.
Didn't follow that? Refer to Frater Osiris for a more involved discussion. For the benefit of our discussion consider the union of the Eagle (as in Apollo capsule) and the Serpent (do you sense a musky smell nearby?)...and a Dragon takes the position of Scorpio going in for the kill. Or so sayeth the Tarot.
And so sayeth the budgeteers. As the diminished Viceroy recounted this week, his $400M windfall stimulus package, originally meant to keep Orion on life-support, has now been reduced by $150M which will be diverted to the faltering COTS-D. Coupled with the suddenly reduced size of the initial purchase installment of Soyuz seats, you, too, may begin to smell the musky serpent Dragon nearby. And perhaps a stinky Barron from the northeast country as well. Malodorous indeed.
The Viceroy did try to put a good face on the situation, declaring to the minions that such help could only benefit their undertaking. In the near future, when we know he will have a lot more time on his hands, we suggest a course in classy civ might be a good way to pass the time.
But, why, you ask, besides being insufficiently resourced, is COTS-D doomed? Now we know. It's in the CARDs.
But, alas, where and in what form will Scorpio appear? How will the dagger be thrust to finish off our protagonist? For this we must now turn to the Tarot.
Surrounding the Skeleton in the Death trump of the Thoth Tarot deck are the three forms of Scorpio: the scorpion, the serpent, and the Dragon. Like the Son of the Tetragrammaton, the Dragon is the product and the union of the natures of both its parents, the feminine Eagle and the masculine Serpent. Thus is the Dragon the new and complete symbol of Kerubic Scorpio in the Aeon of Horus.
Didn't follow that? Refer to Frater Osiris for a more involved discussion. For the benefit of our discussion consider the union of the Eagle (as in Apollo capsule) and the Serpent (do you sense a musky smell nearby?)...and a Dragon takes the position of Scorpio going in for the kill. Or so sayeth the Tarot.
And so sayeth the budgeteers. As the diminished Viceroy recounted this week, his $400M windfall stimulus package, originally meant to keep Orion on life-support, has now been reduced by $150M which will be diverted to the faltering COTS-D. Coupled with the suddenly reduced size of the initial purchase installment of Soyuz seats, you, too, may begin to smell the musky serpent Dragon nearby. And perhaps a stinky Barron from the northeast country as well. Malodorous indeed.
The Viceroy did try to put a good face on the situation, declaring to the minions that such help could only benefit their undertaking. In the near future, when we know he will have a lot more time on his hands, we suggest a course in classy civ might be a good way to pass the time.
But, why, you ask, besides being insufficiently resourced, is COTS-D doomed? Now we know. It's in the CARDs.
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