Slashdot Mirror
New NASA Admin Griffin Cleans House
Doug Dante writes "Michael D. Griffin, the new NASA Administrator, has given 20 senior NASA officials their walking papers, in a first purge that can see as many as 50 loose their positions, reports the Washington Post. Included are Associate Administrator for Space Operations William F. Readdy, and his deputy Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael C. Kostelnik (retired)."
How about you get thru the current Mars & Cassini missions and GET THE SHUTTLE BACK UP before you sack the leaders of those three programs - two of which are very big loud & public successes (in NASA-land anyway) and the third had better be or else you'll be looking at barely enough authorization funds to make with two large-ish slingshots.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
It really doesn't matter what school they graduated from. As long as their background is in engineering, rather than political pandering, then things will improve at NASA. Real engineers practicing real engineering will prevent probes from being lost on a routine basis, and space shuttles from blowing up every so often.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I wouldn't say that it is a matter of efficiency. When you get to the level of NASA Headquarters, politics becomes extremely important. You aren't a practicing scientist or engineer, you are an upper-level manager, concerned about funding and budgets in an environment where everyone is fighting over a limited and shrinking pot of money. Not only that, but you have to defend and sell your programs to the executive branch and Congress. It's not like someone hands you a check and says "Design, launch and operate a spacecraft that does X".
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I wonder what Griffin, as a genuine no nonsense space scientist would make of the rants that appear on slashdot from time to time among space enthusiasts. If any of the folks who run slashdot can score an interview with him, I have a ton of questions I would like the head of NASA to address. Hey, it's possible right? As a public official, public relations are an integral part of his job. I believe he would have to regard a high profile mob like slashdot as a sort of "constituency" he needs to take seriously.
Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
Ironic, ain't it.
The CIA and the FBI are presently undergoing purges of anyone that is not politically inline with the republican administration. These purges happening at NASA smacks of the same thing.
Really, I'm not completely sure better is even a problem per se. I'm not working on the shuttle project or anything, but I don't really thing that the things aren't getting brought to the attention of people in charge.
Really, I say, swap out for better decision makers and let loose anyone that can't be deprogrammed from the don't tell the king bad news, it pisses him off mentality.
If you could take an objective non-engineer and graft them physically to a stone cold righteous logic wielding geek in the know, I think it would all work out in the end. Any engineer in a management position for a succifient period of time will eventually slip down the dark side of bureaucracy .
Make NASA more military-centric? Most of the people being canned are ex-military generals. The stated plan of Griffin is to make NASA more engineering and science driven. If anything, it sounds the opposite.
Mod parent up!
Leaving - Sean O'Keefe: Former Secretary of the Navy.
Adm (Ret.) Craig Steidle.
Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Michael Kostelnik.
Most of the military folks O'K brought in are being swept out by Griffin.
"Fifty million Americans can't be wrong," said Rep. Billy Tauzin. Gore - 50,999,897 Bush - 50,456,002
I don't know specifically about their affiliations, but if you trust the article, page 2 says:
In principle, this sounds like a very good thing. Apparently, he's kicking out people whom he believes were hired more for their political affiliations than their competance. Before taking this as it's written, however, can anyone comment on any political affiliations of Griffin himself? For all we know, and as I think you're implying, his definition of competance might be synonymous with republican.
To those who correct spelling an grammar on the net, you are the unorthodox ones. The language of the net is broken english and your dictionary does not apply beyond your border.
Read Mike Griffin's "internal memo" to NASA posted on spaceref.com or nasawatch.com. He (rightly so) believes that private industry does not have the resources or drive to implement the kinds of multigenerational missions that space exploration requires. Getting to Mars will take decades (not the trip itself, but the planning, building the vehicles, and implementation). When was the last time you saw any corporation plan more than 10 years out? How about 20 or 30? Now, take all profit motivation out of that equation and how many of them are left... purely scientific and research oriented undertakings by a corporation that took decades to bring to fruition. A government organization is the only kind of organization that will be able to span that timeframe without breaking apart.
it's customary for a new director to request the resignations of senior managers. It doesn't mean that he accepts them (or accepts all of them), but it's customary to submit them.
What the hell, is that like some kind of neo-feudal way of pledging allegiance to the new King? Like acknowledging that he does in fact have the power to fire you at any time?