Space exploration and development – more than numbers
It is January 13, 1982, and an Air Florida 737 takes off, fighting to climb but hitting the 14th Street bridge here in Washington, DC. Snow had fallen all day, and ground crews deiced the plane, except then an hour went by, and the wings iced over again. The pilot had never flown in snow. … Continue reading Space solar power, the trolley problem, and space technology
Blogging is to writing like getting on a roller coaster is to an astronaut launching to space. In an online world full of click-bait titles like “The one weird trick…” -where the dot-dot-dot is not because the rest of the title didn’t fit, it’s easy to zone out between headlines. Twelve sentences pass for an … Continue reading Rants and reports and what they found…
Talking about technology in the same sentence as stagnation goes down two paths, the one filled with numbers to affirm or deny any problem exists, and the other, all vibe, no data, also to agree with or to downplay any concern. Look at the numbers. It’s obvious. Or, don’t get lost in the graphs. They … Continue reading Technology stagnation, NASA, numbers, and vibes
“We can be independent because we have no dog in the fight.” This time, the defense of a review team boiled down not to what it might offer but to what it lacked. There appeared to be no conflict of interest. Not that anyone could quite define what independence in a review process really meant. … Continue reading Independent reviews, being helpful, and what matters – in the end
The highlight of the sci-fi flick is the opening credits with the moody music, the point of view imagery as if floating in space, and the fly-through tour of the inside of a ship. Then it’s downhill from there. This is what usually happens. Though this may be my peculiar view. I’ve been steeped too … Continue reading The NASA cis-lunar universe: LEO to Mars+
The usual conference room is crowded, with shiny surfaces and glass saying formal and stuffy, as I break in to ask my question about the numbers that seem way too low. What about “support”? Or re-phrasing, away from the specific and toward a broad sense, “The budgets have been much higher, so why is this … Continue reading SLS and Orion costs – the third rail of cost estimating
Throughout my career at NASA, I analyzed, prioritized, modeled, simulated, facilitated discussions and teams, wrote and reported, and got my hands dirty with, and crawled around lots of space technology. Eventually, I enlisted an AI-ish algorithm of sorts when it was clear some non-human help might do what a person or a team can’t in … Continue reading Sustainability and NASA’s human spaceflight program: We need to talk.
There are the facts, and then there is more. For the International Space Station, the facts are straightforward and measured, as NASA is wont to do. It begins long ago with endless concepts for a permanent foothold in space, move finally to the first hardware placed in orbit in 1998, a Russian module (purchased by … Continue reading The ISS: For every beginning there is an end, or not?
Another day, another report by the Inspector General on NASA’s big Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS.) One day, we may see a new measure for project costs and duration of development, the number of IG, GAO, CBO, or other ABC agency reports. During a coffee break, someone in the crowd will say, “That … Continue reading NASA, space projects, and context – a missing link
“Rescue Party” is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke written in 1946, but it is also the first time I read, at age eleven, about NASA and SpaceX (or “new space,” generally.) That seems impossible, and off by about four decades, but it’s true. Metaphorically speaking. The story is about time, the different speeds … Continue reading “Rescue Party,” a short story about NASA and SpaceX – written in 1946
Context is everything. We easily commiserate with others when in similar poor straits or celebrate an achievement all the more in a backdrop of difficulties overcome. Either way, the best stories have scars in the scenery. Recently, NASA canceled another X-plane project, the electric X-57 aircraft. The usual NASA news with pictures from the James … Continue reading Canceled X-planes, context, and NASA
Recently, the NASA Inspector General published another one of their periodic reports on the NASA projects that form NASA’s effort to put people on the Moon. These IG reports are always insightful, if difficult reading. More than any other NASA organization, IG auditors have access to people and information in vast, complex NASA projects - … Continue reading A NASA IG report, a story, and a question from the audience
No one was buying it. It’s the moment after NASA’s Constellation Moon program awaited someone saying the time of death, but before the same offices circled the wagons to defend something, anything, preserving parts of the soon-to-end Shuttle program. One of our first points noted our work was officially sanctioned. Not that the Secretary wouldn’t … Continue reading NASA, Moon to Mars, and the predictably likely and unlikely
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” The Red Queen, Alice in Wonderland Taking longer than initially planned or merely advertised is a hallmark of NASA projects, but the US Congress … Continue reading The NASA Budget – running in place or getting ahead?
“Unfortunately, I’m too overextended right now to be useful.” This worked, while not being a lie, getting me out of assisting on the year’s strategic planning document. Or, as the case was – a strategy slash roadmap slash implementation slash plan slash something about technology and what NASA will do to get where it wants … Continue reading A review: “NASA’s Moon to Mars Strategy and Objectives Development”
Zapata Talks NASA 