Category Archives: Uncategorized

You cannot step twice into the same river – Heraclitus 540-480 B.C. Heraclitus says that we can’t ever step in the river twice; between footsteps the river changes – banks are washed away, new sandbars are formed, now more and … Continue reading →

I was recently contacted by some folks who were interested in – of all things – comments I made in a shuttle press conference some 8 or 10 years ago.  These folks were concerned that I and the shuttle team … Continue reading →

“I can steal more money with a pencil than ten men with guns” – attributed to Al Capone’s bookkeeper Whenever I did a press conference around a Space Shuttle event, there would always be one super hard question that made … Continue reading →

I guess I’m getting to be an old curmudgeon (Hey Kids – get off my lawn!) but there are some irritants in life that just seem to capture my attention, no matter how trivial they may be.  So, if this … Continue reading →

Thanks to Iron Flight for reminding me of this obscure situation.  And for Holly who wants to understand. This mostly true story is about the Space Shuttle payload bay doors and what to do if they won’t shut properly.  And … Continue reading →

I just finished reading ‘Origins of 21st Century Space Travel’ SP-2019-4415 from the NASA history office.  A fascinating book recounting the development of the Vision for Space Exploration in the Bush administration leading up to 2004.  Most of the action … Continue reading →

Recently I have been involved in discussions about public risk resulting from commercial space flight.  It is interesting to think back to the shuttle days and how those calculations were made. If you ever were invited to a shuttle launch … Continue reading →

I was born before Sputnik.  Yep, that old. I grew up with the space age – the X planes, the Original 7, JPL sending Ranger to photo-bomb the Moon, JFK and LBJ, the whole enchilada. I was crushed with Mariner … Continue reading →

Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyze, so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the … Continue reading →

The ultimate controversy at the STS-121 Flight Readiness Review was the potential of fatal damage to the space shuttle during launch from foam loss from the External Tank.  The possibility of a replay of the loss of Columbia was the … Continue reading →