Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Great-Grandmother died when I was in grade school.  By then I had already gotten a bookish reputation, so she made sure I inherited two books from her library.  The first was a religious book, ‘The Manliness of Christ’ published … Continue reading →

Watching the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope, the control team took a couple of days to just monitor how the new space vehicle was performing.  That the spacecraft was operating a tad different than pre-mission predictions is not … Continue reading →

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  – Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV I read a lot.  Technical journals (AIAA, ASME, ISSF), Aviation Week … Continue reading →

It has been twenty years since the flight of STS-108 also known as ISS Utilization Flight (UF)-1.  In retrospect, 108 seems just another routine, hum drum, typical ISS resupply/crew change/ assembly mission; there were so many of them on the … Continue reading →

Terror.  Trembling fear and anxiety.  My buddies decided we should each jump off the high diving board at the community pool the summer I turned eleven.  That diving board was not over 8 feet – possibly less – but at … Continue reading →

Recent unconfirmed media rumors about engine controller issues brought a long-ago memory to the surface. About 1991, the Chief of the Flight Director office decided that it would be good to have an exchange program between the Flight Directors and … Continue reading →

stove·pipe  /ˈstōvpīp/  noun noun: stovepipe; plural noun: stovepipes; noun: stove-pipe; plural noun: stove-pipes the pipe taking the smoke and gases from a stove up through a roof or to a chimney. an information conduit that traverses vertical levels efficiently but … Continue reading →

These days I take a lot of delight in my grandchildren.  I have some pictures here . . . .  Well, maybe not now.  I also greatly enjoy my children – grown to adulthood; we have great conversations and they … Continue reading →

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 →