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July again
6 years ago
General
There was a big blow out at the Johnson Space Center last Saturday (20th) in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing, which was nice but ... I didn't go. I did listen to the fireworks that night. They were like any other fireworks.
Tuesday the 23rd the Houston Chronic reported the death of Chris Kraft, NASA's first flight director the previous day. He lived just long enough to see a half century pass and watch all that he and his associates had done evaporate like a drop of water on the hot skillet of national indifference. Then he died.
President Eisenhower had a definite scientific interest in space, aside from the mandatory sense of competition with those darn Russkies. His successors, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, being fu'ball junkies, turned what had been a scientific program in The Big Game that we had to WIN. None of them had the slightest idea, or interest, in what came after the first moon landing. We won! What more do you want?
During the Great Race to the moon, NASA absorbed 4.5% of the national budget; since then, it has gone down to 0.1% and there are those who think that's too much.
NASA's gone through too many bosses who did not seem to really want to see the US in space. One special case was Sean O'Hare, under whose administration it was common for a project to reach 90, 94, 95, 98% completion and be almost ready to go online, only for the project to be cancelled, the drawings shredded, the machinery scrapped and the personnel laid off or transferred to some other project. This may help in figuring out why, when the space shuttle was shut down, we had nothing to replace it with.
I dunno, I don't think it's because I'm never going into space myself, I never had any idea of doing it anyhow, but I am seriously doubtful about humanity being able to do so.
Tuesday the 23rd the Houston Chronic reported the death of Chris Kraft, NASA's first flight director the previous day. He lived just long enough to see a half century pass and watch all that he and his associates had done evaporate like a drop of water on the hot skillet of national indifference. Then he died.
President Eisenhower had a definite scientific interest in space, aside from the mandatory sense of competition with those darn Russkies. His successors, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, being fu'ball junkies, turned what had been a scientific program in The Big Game that we had to WIN. None of them had the slightest idea, or interest, in what came after the first moon landing. We won! What more do you want?
During the Great Race to the moon, NASA absorbed 4.5% of the national budget; since then, it has gone down to 0.1% and there are those who think that's too much.
NASA's gone through too many bosses who did not seem to really want to see the US in space. One special case was Sean O'Hare, under whose administration it was common for a project to reach 90, 94, 95, 98% completion and be almost ready to go online, only for the project to be cancelled, the drawings shredded, the machinery scrapped and the personnel laid off or transferred to some other project. This may help in figuring out why, when the space shuttle was shut down, we had nothing to replace it with.
I dunno, I don't think it's because I'm never going into space myself, I never had any idea of doing it anyhow, but I am seriously doubtful about humanity being able to do so.
Karno
~karno
Yeah, let's just say Humanity's expansion into space will not be led by short-sighted politicians. But where else is there to go?
