[sarnali2]

That's like when they were developing F-22 here. I had a Hot Loop i had to treat with corrosion inhibitor once a month and test twice a month. I had to pass through the design offices to get to the access trunk and chain fall the barrels up to the mezzinine. I had to carry what was essentially a yellow Battle Lantern with a beeper and flashing light to alert everyone that I was in the area and they should cover their work untill I passed. This was in addition to an over the shoulder canvas tool bag full of tools and a small chainfall and strap, a pushcart with a 16 gal. drum of 2833 and a hose and funnel slung over my other shoulder. Talk about a PIA, I wouldn't have known what I was looking at in the first place.

The ironic thing was once I got up in the catwalks in the mezzinine I was directly over all their stuff anyway with nothing but thin ceiling panels between me and their offices....

 

[pushrod]

Boys, boys - you gotta stop trying to apply logic where it isn't welcome!

What's really scary (and somewhat back on topic) is a demonstration I saw on a recent episode of Top Gear (BBC2).

They drove a BMW 330 around their track at speed; then the car did it again, with no input from the (rather nervous) driver.

The segment ended with the driver remarking, as the car started the second lap, that the engineers had not told him how to stop the car. And it had 3/4 of a tank of fuel.

 

[seruzawa]

Yep.

I liked the movie. And they did at least pay attention to the book. It's cool how the 3 Laws have become so widely accepted. Looking at that Honda robot makes me think it may be relevant sooner than later.

Here's an interesting fun fact: Did you know that communication satellites were "invented" by Aurther C. Clarke in a Sci Fi novel? Pretty cool, huh?

And Robert Heinlein invented both the waterbed and the waldos.

Without those crazy sci-fi writers there'd have been no moonshot, no microwave oven... the list of modern devices invented by writers is endless.

 

[seruzawa]

Too much navel gazing...

Nope, I did not know that. But since we're on the topic: after I graduated from college in 1980, my first job was at Kennedy Space Center. I worked in Launch Control, configuring engineering stations in the Firing Rooms for the various contractors - Rockwell for the Orbiter, USBI for the SRBs, Mac-Dac for the ET. I worked every launch up until Challenger...at which point I moved on. What a cool project, ruined by the government. It's a damn shame we're punting on the Shuttle and going back to what amounts to Apollo capsules.

Then again, if we'd stuck with Saturn V's, we probably would be on Mars by now with the cost savings etc. What wrong with us, we've lost our zeal for space exploration. I think that program made America great in the 60's. Now we're quickly becoming an also-ran there too.

... and worrying about all the whiners' demands for entitlements. Add NASA's bureaucratic incompetence and you end up with a space progam that can't get a successful device on Mars.

Don't get me started on the stupid shuttle. The military is still launching all the stuff that NASA was supposed to carry with the shuttle. How many years of lead in space have we lost while pencil pushers play their CYA games and feather their retirements with fat contracts for worthless junk?

 

[seruzawa]

Hey!

Why I didn't know that Ken.... did you know that I was involved in testing the positioning rocket motors on the Leros 2 satellite that was featured on a recent Discovery Channel show on the Eros astroide that's supposed to pass close to the Oiyth in a few years?.....

I enjoyed the movie too, I thought it was pretty well done

I worked on the positioning motors for the WeberSat. That makes us both rocket scientists! I knew we were better than all these motorcycle losers.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

... and worrying about all the whiners' demands for entitlements. Add NASA's bureaucratic incompetence and you end up with a space progam that can't get a successful device on Mars.

Don't get me started on the stupid shuttle. The military is still launching all the stuff that NASA was supposed to carry with the shuttle. How many years of lead in space have we lost while pencil pushers play their CYA games and feather their retirements with fat contracts for worthless junk?

I left for two reasons: I was disgusted that NASA management ignored their own engineers who told them not to fly because Ronnie wanted to metion the "Teacher in Space" program on his State O' The Union speech that night (he did get to mention it, but not like he'd hoped) and because easily 80% of the work was done by 20% of the people. Thousands of lazy ass dorks sitting around doing nothing soaking up paychecks, and getting in the way of those of us who really wanted to learn and do stuff. Outfrikinrageous. Still the same, from what I hear.

 

[seruzawa]

Yeah,

I left for two reasons: I was disgusted that NASA management ignored their own engineers who told them not to fly because Ronnie wanted to metion the "Teacher in Space" program on his State O' The Union speech that night (he did get to mention it, but not like he'd hoped) and because easily 80% of the work was done by 20% of the people. Thousands of lazy ass dorks sitting around doing nothing soaking up paychecks, and getting in the way of those of us who really wanted to learn and do stuff. Outfrikinrageous. Still the same, from what I hear.

I'm sure that Reagan pressured them to fly knowing full well the risk. (eyes rolling.) Those bureaucrats were entirely responsible. I knew an engineer who was there . He'd driven home because he "knew" that they couldn't launch and was appalled when he heard of the disaster on his car radio on the way home. He couldn't believe that the bureaucrats had launched anyhow. He told me the whole sordid story. And as usual with the govt not one of the people really responsible for the disaster ever got one bit of punishment.

No, Ken, I can tell you it hasn't changed. The Fed govt is still the same in every agency. Most of the employees are lazy dorks soaking up paychecks while getting in the way of the few who are trying to get some work done. The laziest and stupidest get the promotions into management. At NASA not one of those worthless incompetent backstabbing "yes" men had the guts to say, "No, we can't launch." That's how they got in those "decision making" positions... by telling their bosses what they want to hear and then blaming their own failures on the lower level employees who followed their stupid orders.

 

[sarnali2]

Surely you learned the Holy Trinity in the Navy:

Pass the Buck
Take the Credit
Place the Blame

The game is the same in gov'ment work, military whatever

 

[sarnali2]

thread bump in 3...2...1