Category Archives: Uncategorized

The last day of 2016 is appropriately dreary here with rain and a damp chill.  Just the thing to reinforce a melancholy mood or at least induce a good nap.  All around it seems every media outlet has complied their … Continue reading →

This week’s crash of a commuter train in New Jersey plus other recent events got me thinking about the lessons I have learned the hard way through several accident investigations. One of the toughest parts of investigating an accident is … Continue reading →

The NASA JSC chapter of the NASA Alumni League (the retiree’s association) has been trying to get me to be the president of the chapter for years.  I enjoy the organization but did not want to put in the time … Continue reading →

When I was a boy, world was better spot What was so was so, what was not was not Now, I am a man, world have changed a lot Some things nearly so, others nearly not There are times I … Continue reading →

  The retired aircraft that is serving as a sign for the Mojave airport deserves some notice. It was absolutely critical to the safe landing of the space shuttle. Here is why. No other aircraft put as much stress on … Continue reading →

“Do good work” – Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom This January 30 has been designated ‘Remembrance Day’ in honor of the astronauts who lost their lives in the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia accidents.   It is altogether fitting that we … Continue reading →

Messy Failure “…the messy interior of engineering practice, which after the accident investigation looks like ‘an accident waiting to happen’ is nothing more than ‘normal technology.’ Normal technology…is unruly.” – Dr. Diane Vaughn “Challenger Launch Decision” (Chapter 6: Engineering Culture) … Continue reading →

Friday was a busy day for me and I was off comm most of the day with meetings and whatnot. At the end of the day, I hustled over to the Saturn V barn at JSC to help with a … Continue reading →

Wayne Hale Speech at Von Braun Symposium October 29, 2015 First Slide – Pluto Limb from New Horizons In his 1950 book ‘Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics’, Arthur C. Clarke wrote: “the choice, as H. G. Wells once said, … Continue reading →

There has been a recent renewal of interest in a post I made five years ago “The Coming Train Wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight”   https://waynehale.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/the-coming-train-wreck-for-commercial-human-spaceflight/ If you find that interesting perhaps you should read my post on Standards from just … Continue reading →