Slashdot Mirror
NASA Admin Says Shuttle and ISS are Mistakes
Teancum writes "NASA Administrator Michael Griffin was recently interviewed by the USA Today Editorial Board regarding the current direction of the U.S. Space Program, and in the interview he suggested that the past three decades have been a huge mistake and a waste of resources. As a total cost for both programs that has exceeded $250 Billion, you have to wonder what other useful things could have been developed using the same resources. Griffin quoted in the interview regarding if the shuttle had been a mistake "My opinion is that it was... It was a design which was extremely aggressive and just barely possible." Regarding the ISS: "Had the decision been mine, we would not have built the space station we're building in the orbit we're building it in.""
the Space ship One team had 250 billion. What they could have accomplished. Bureaucracy and the status quo seem to have limited their functionality. However, building space vehicles is going to require breaking a few eggs. Hindsight is always better than foresight, just ask George Bush (1 & 2)
$250 Billion, you have to wonder what other useful things could have been developed using the same resources. Griffin
... say... defense companies to make a killing from.
Yes... Other things indeed. A... war... perhaps. Say... a war for oil and
Or . . . welfare...
Or.. even... rebuilding a flooded city that could have been fortified for $20bn ahead of time.
Or hell, even paying off a whole 5% of the debt!
Bringing people freedom while preserving national security is certainly not a waste of money in my book.
I think there's faeces on your book.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
When do we get it?
I think we've been robbed.
When was the last time you were attacked in the U.S.? If we did nothing there would be nothing standing in the way of truck bombs, hijacked planes, and any other series of terrorist acts. Just because you don't SEE something doesn't mean something wasn't stopped from being seen. Imagine if we had stopped the hijackers of 9/11. If it never happened nobody would think catching 11 guys with knives was a big deal....
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
Using a disposable fuel tank, like the shuttle, isn't a bad idea. NOT using one you have is.
I recall hearing a critic ask "why didn't you send each fuel tank into orbit? There could have been a huge array of 120+ tanks used as a base for a mega-space-station."
Considering it would only take a small ammount of energy to go that extra step, that thousands of engineers didn't think of it, or worse were not listened to, is a disgrace.
Robo-Blogs of the world: UNITE!
He's been a part of those bad decisions he's criticized. He doesn't have a way out.
President George W. Bush is extremely well "qualified" to run the country. He's educated at Yale, Harvard Business School. Former governor of Texas, son of a former 12-year vice/president, brother of a multiterm Florida governor. And he's a colossal moron, a psychopath who's run this country into ruin with every step. Qualifications don't make a man, skills and leadership do. This guy is blaming others for the policies he's been part of.
So fuck you, Bush worshipper. Boil down your post, and all you've got is a long "he's smart, I like him, I don't like you". And a few uncalled-for insults. I bet you've got some kind of impressive credential to back up your worthless bullshit. Because you certainly don't have any actual argument. Stupid cunt.
--
make install -not war
It doesn't matter. This is exactly what the Bush administration needs to close the space program altogether. I imagine there are enough soundbites from the interview to make it sound like he's totally against space exploration.
Actually, why not just say he's AGAINST all science and FOR Bible Study in schools (mandatory, of course).
step 1: announce a new era in space exploration (far far in the future of course)
step 2: have the NASA chief speak on the space program failures
step 3: close the space program next year
step 4:.... (give the money to Haliburton in no-bid contracts)
step 5: Profit!
Come on, give me a break. First off, this guy is a moron. Second, does anyone in here (or in that press meeting for that matter) actually have any clue about the inner workings of NASA or space research?
For starters, the claimed 250-billion was not entirely spent on 1 thing that failed. If they spent 250-billion to make a bolt, there might be a point to this hashing, but they didn't. Of that 250, how much was lost due to setbacks, and how much was used simply because that is what it costs to do the work? Huh?
Even if the end result (the ISS and the Shuttle) could be considered failures (which I think is too blunt a comment), the technology, research, experiences, and developments that came out of this whole ordeal are not to be played-down as worthless. So you think the ISS is a failure, but what about all the parts and work that went into it? It's a literal gold-mine of new technolog and knowledge.
In short, the 250-billion was not a total waste. I'd even venture enough to say that 80-percent of that 250-billion was well spent.
People need to realize that it is not the idea of space exploration that is the problem. The high costs can be attributed (most often) to blunders and idiocies caused by the people managing the projects. What people should really be arguing about is "why things went wrong" not "space is stupid." Anyone who thinks there is no benifit from space exploration, really doesn't know what they're talking about.
I expect you're one of the various Anonymous yammering Cowards I've reduced to tears. With exactly those terms, like "zombie", "yapping", and the old "you're a program" standby. When I call you out with them, it's funny (if humiliating to you). When you parrot them back, you illustrate exactly what you're made of: nothing.
Your obsession with my dick is harder to explain, but you probably called someone a fag, and can't get your mind off your own gayness. Good luck living with that stick up your ass.
--
make install -not war
Bush is entirely appropriate to denounce along with one of his bullshitting appointees. Because Bush is the king of the fake credentials, the incompetent leader lying about being an "outsider", a "reformer". You're the one trying to keep Bush out of that entirely appropriate context, because you're afraid of how fragile Bush is exposed to any light at all. Anonymous crybaby Coward.
BTW, little wet one, what is the "ideology" you're referring to? Just hatred of your own obvious neocon obedience? That must really piss you off, especially when your ideology is collapsing everywhere around you, and hasn't nearly made you the rich Republican you wished for when you cashed in your rotten soul.
--
make install -not war
"Oh, but the Iraq war and Katrina debacles, along with Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, have already cost fantastic sums of money. This makes them directly related to anything else that needs money, like oh say, NASA."
And so have Medicare, and Social Security, (FAR FAR more than the war, by the way) but you don't trot out those examples every time this subject comes up, do you?
Why not? Right, it's because you're just like all the other stupid partisan windbags on both sides. Ignore your own issues, and yell louder than the other guy.
Do us all a favor, shut up and listen for a while, at least until you've managed to overcome your inability to consider both sides of an argument.