This should be the headline, one day soon, in a world where these decisions are primarily technical and think long term. At no extra cost, while we wait for lunar landers, Artemis II uncrewed and Artemis III as the first flight of SLS/Orion with crew, would close out all non-lander risk. Artemis IV, with the … Continue reading “Artemis II will launch without crew, and Artemis IV will be the crewed lunar landing”
Tag: space
Fighting fires, Orion, and what are they thinking?
This will sound suspiciously improbable, a story that changed hands too many times, becoming colorful Kennedy Space Center folklore. Unlikely, and untrue. Not so, as my story here today comes first-hand. I was there. Once, at Kennedy Space Center, I was fighting a raging fire. This was a real fire, a blazing two-story fire at … Continue reading Fighting fires, Orion, and what are they thinking?
Checking the balance in your NASA account
If NASA were your bank account, investments, or 401K, after seeing the headlines, would you check your balance more often or less? Our very human “negativity bias” says we might check more often, an overreaction to possible danger. It’s what got us here. You and me. We are the children of creatures that spooked more … Continue reading Checking the balance in your NASA account
“Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion…”
Time. Implacable time. Florida. Relentlessly hot and humid August weather, and when not. Twenty years ago this month, a sense of change also hanging thick in the air, a thought this time will be different. Cooler days ahead. The work was over, minus the last of the endless word-smithing for the adrenaline-fueled study to end … Continue reading “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion…”
NASA, beyond “the churn”
For anyone who has seen the Sci-Fi TV series “The Expanse,” it is tempting in these times to take a cue from Amos about “the churn.” If unfamiliar with the story, it’s the oft-used trope of (seemingly) ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. Finding yourself acting “above your pay grade” is still a thing, … Continue reading NASA, beyond “the churn”
Physics, budgets, and Scotty
I published this piece over at LinkedIn as an "article". Re-posting here. “I canna’ change the laws of physics, Captain!” -Scotty, Chief Engineer in Star Trek You have all seen it, the news about NASA. The layoffs, the plans for budget cuts to science, technology and R&D, and to cancel the SLS and Orion projects … Continue reading Physics, budgets, and Scotty
Skinny cows and skinny budgets
“Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. The skinny cows ate the fat ones. But you couldn’t tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. At once, I woke up.” –Genesis 41: 19-21 On … Continue reading Skinny cows and skinny budgets
Though much is taken, much abides (Transitions Part III).
As an app, the first NASA plan to return astronauts to the Moon, twenty years ago, would have been labeled version 0.3.2.6. A year earlier, the Space Shuttle Columbia and all seven crew were lost during her return to Earth. The days of low Earth orbit as a sole destination were to draw to a … Continue reading Though much is taken, much abides (Transitions Part III).
An engineer’s journey in NASA
Space technology and policy on the final frontier It was time. I have published my prior writing in a more unified format as a book – “An engineer’s journey in NASA: Space technology and policy on the final frontier.” It’s difficult to describe the process of looking back and making sense of my years of … Continue reading An engineer’s journey in NASA
Zapata Talks NASA 