tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post8923239605962595285..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: NASA's (and Our) Worst Week in Spaceflight - An Annual RepostSiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-77697253146170352222023-02-04T00:23:31.279-05:002023-02-04T00:23:31.279-05:00Yep. 'Green' foam that wasn't, and wa...Yep. 'Green' foam that wasn't, and was heavier and less strong than the previous stuff. If they stuck to the old old foam formula, they could have painted over said foam and still been under the weight of the 'green' foam and the paint would have served as a protective outer shell and helped hold the foam on.<br /><br />Not to mention, the tank gained weight with the green foam on it from humidity, which the old foam didn't have nearly that problem. And add liquid H2 and O2 and all that water in the foam freezes and expands and breaks the foam.<br /><br />Absolutely brilliant.<br /><br />As to weather at Vandenberg, lived there from 68-70, previously at Santa Maria from 66-68, so I am quite aware that the weather, especially next to the ocean, was and is quite under 40 degrees during winter, with lots of fog and humidity, which froze/freezes onto everything. <br /><br />And the first winter in Florida, in Satellite Beach just south of the Cape, I experienced snow for the first time on Christmas morn in 1973. And often rode to school in winter passing frozen-over yards.<br /><br />Someones, bunches of someones, screwed the pooch big time on those solid rocket boosters. And should have gone to Federal not-nice prison for life for what they did, along with the NASA eggheads and fatheads who were assigned the task of making sure that the manufacturer was actually providing a product as promised.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-24354108914106160732023-02-03T18:00:47.652-05:002023-02-03T18:00:47.652-05:00NASA is asshoe.
They are the purest example of th...NASA is asshoe.<br /><br />They are the purest example of the difference between pilot error, and programmed catastrophic failure.<br />If, in any instance, the astronauts themselves hid risen up and slain the entire senior management, they should have been given medals for saving lives and doing justice.<br /><br />Turns out "government-run space program" works out about as well as "government-run" <i>anything</i>.<br /><br />I'd like to take the opportunity to list all the NASA officials charged and convicted of criminal negligence in the deaths of all our fallen astronauts, since ever:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Kinda looks like the list of .gov pedophiles to whom Epstein and Maxwell pandered children.<br />Funny old world, i'n'it?Aesophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07834464741531503378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-59786651392566173962023-02-03T14:46:31.526-05:002023-02-03T14:46:31.526-05:00(You forgot the AMEN at the end...)(You forgot the AMEN at the end...)Igorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02332079520095379932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-63836434778054502612023-02-03T07:23:28.016-05:002023-02-03T07:23:28.016-05:00At the Challenger Flight Readiness Review, NASA ma...At the Challenger Flight Readiness Review, NASA management specifically asked the booster contractor management if their product was safe for the mission. There was a contractual requirement to be able to launch from Vandenberg, which routinely has worse weather than what KSC was experiencing. The booster contractor insured them it was safe. Do note that a booster test under similar conditions in Utah had previously been scheduled and then cancelled due to problems with SSME development, which required the money that had been planned for that solids test.<br /><br />As far as Columbia, NASA had changed the foam for the external tank to "green" to appease the enviro crowd. They insist that did not cause the foam separation, but you have seen the "science" regarding "green" over the past several years.Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-63091302736142253762023-02-03T01:42:10.547-05:002023-02-03T01:42:10.547-05:00What's sad about the whole O-ring thing is the...What's sad about the whole O-ring thing is the Cape regularly experiences below 40 degree weather during winter. So does Vandenberg, which was supposed to be another launch site. So some engineers and management decided to ignore normal weather conditions to begin with.<br /><br />Still amazes me to this day as much as it did when I found out about the O-ring problem.<br /><br />Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-52681551639298179172023-02-03T00:13:49.530-05:002023-02-03T00:13:49.530-05:00I worked in a far different field, but when the MB...I worked in a far different field, but when the MBAs replaced the engineers, within a year or so cost went up and profits went down. So it was and shall be ever after.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-64369514279719235522023-02-02T22:56:01.349-05:002023-02-02T22:56:01.349-05:00It boiled down to: piss-poor management. Didn'...It boiled down to: piss-poor management. Didn't it? It usually/almost always does. People who's butts <b>aren't</b> on the line, and have no idea the enormous consequences of their decisions... kinda like the Fed Administrators of various Gubmint agencies, eh?<br /><br />Anyway, SpaceX makes mistakes, "it" happens, and there's a big consequence of being wrong/sloppy. But they have these bad examples to kinda poke 'em in the eye - <b>if</b> they have the wit to pay attention to the lesson to be learned. Musk is a helluva engineer and knows some good management (although getting Shotwell to manage things was a genius move!) and lets the Engineers be engineers! This is one of the reasons Boeing is having so may problems now - the MBAs are running the asylum now. Here's hoping things don't get that way for many, many moons.<br /><br />Other smaller companies (Rocket Labs) are also following the experiences from history - or so it seems. More power to them. Pity Jeff Bezos can't take the hint, but it'll shake out in the rinse cycle. I hope.Igorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02332079520095379932noreply@blogger.com