Steve Whitfield

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• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  From Chris Kraft’s article: “Let’s be innovative; let’s wake up the sleeping giant and have at returning to the Moon right now.” It’s a great idea.  All that’s missing is an explanation of how NASA, or anyone else, is supposed...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Tinker, I rarely disagree with you, so it seems a shame to do so on Christmas day.  But... While I approve of the architecture elements you’ve proposed, I strongly encourage you to reconsider the all-American and non-NASA aspects of your...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  Time and time again, NASA has either undertaken of its own volition or been assigned tasks that simply don’t make sense in the overall scheme of things — if we assume that NASA’s existence is for the purpose of conducting...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  noofcsq, I agree with your assessment and I think I can state it a little more simply: the old folks in Congress are still living in the Cold War world!  They are either incapable of accepting that the Cold War...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  Bryan, I think your point is well made, but at the same time, it’s hard for any one to get any work done until they know for certain what it is they are supposed to be creating.  I think a...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  “It is hard to believe Congress is really serious about human space flight.” CadetOne, There’s something I’ve been trying not to say for a long while now, but your comment hits the spot.  When you consider everything that Congress has...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Marcel, To be fair, I don’t think you can treat SLS and Iraq as an “either” situation.  It’s not like they could simply pick the one that they feel like.  Iraq is a bloody mess and it’s unbelievably expensive, but...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  Just for fun, I did Google! it and you get the exact same article printed in a lot of different places, and you do not get multiple contributors or any corroboration. I am certainly not an expert of this or...

• Commented on Russian Soyuz-2.1b Launch Failure

  I suspect that Slowcooker and TitanLakes have expressed what a lot of us are thinking. If Soyuz HSF LVs are forced to stand down, or if nobody any longer is willing to trust them, then nobody is going to/from ISS. ...

• Commented on NASA's Sprawling Web Presence

  Keith, I certainly don’t dispute your description of the situation, but I do have to say that, given the extent of the disorganization and redundancy, the size of the overall problem, I can’t image how one would begin to correct...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Spacelab1, I agree completely with your post, and I think you have a good part of the answer in your question. “Most people either want to make money or solve problems on this planet before going on to other planets.”...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Bryan, Again, I certainly don’t disagree with NASA developing plans, but there’s still the question of opportunity, basically being invited to say your piece.  Candidate debates do not include a place on the stage for NASA (or any other non-candidate...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Bryan, I don’t disagree with you on any of your examples.  In each case, NASA did provide the answer.  The difference is, if I’m not mistaken, that in the examples you cite, the President (or VP) first asked NASA what...

• Commented on SLS Industry Day Charts Online

  Just an observation: the chart is a full-color, 76 page document, when the useful information could have been given in probably 15 to 20 pages (of grown-up sized text, instead of the usual kindergarten style), and it has the nerve...

• Commented on News Embargo Inconsistencies

  CadetOne, I may be misinterpreting your questions, but: Do we actually have the means for getting spectral lines from extrasolar planets?  The stars are one matter, but the planets are a lot tougher.  Do we have the instruments, and with...

• Commented on News Embargo Inconsistencies

  “I simply do not understand why NASA rushes to put out half-baked news and then misses a chance to fully promote and explain astonishing gems such as this news.” Keith, I have subscribed to NASA’s news releases for many years,...

• Commented on OIG Report on Real Property Master Planning

  When I look back over the various reports involving OIG, I get the clear impression that there is no “One OIG” anymore than there is a “One NASA.”  OIG seems to be looking into all kinds of different things, but...

• Commented on John Grunsfeld is the new SMD Associate Administrator

  Although generalizations usually lead to trouble, I’m going to make one here anyhow.  In general, astronauts have two different decision-making modes.  The first is the slow, methodical mode, where time is available and the decision can be optimized.  The second...

• Commented on Exploration Roadmap Materials Online

  CadetOne, If we can get someone to write us a really potent PowerPoint virus, then hack Microsoft and have them AutoUpdate everybody’s Microsoft Office, maybe we can save NASA.  But I suspect not.  I’d have to say, in each case,...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  “launching from the top of Everest using a catapult which flings the stack off the mountain just prior to ignition” Steve, Your description reminds me of Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold the Moon, where they launched for the Moon using...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  I guess it’s easier for you to sneer at other people’s ideas when you insert your own assumptions.  Are you always so confrontational, or just when you’re logged into NASA Watch?...

• Commented on Exploration Roadmap Materials Online

  I keep hoping that the next Road Map, or any other names it has had, will be different and actually include workable plans, instead of just another list of things they’d like to do.  Unfortunately, this one looks like just...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  Steve, Re loss of payload on launch failure: If the booster and payload integration people are up to the task, then if your booster doesn’t burn, you blow the payload free of the booster (pyro bolts in the interstage) and...

• Commented on Mike Griffin's Lukewarm Support for Stratolaunch

  DS2, I’ve never met Griffin, but I always got the same feeling hearing him talk to the media, employees, even Congress.  His idea is the right one, and he’s not really interested in anybody else’s opinion.  There was nothing nasty...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  DTARS, A couple of more things to keep in mind when you’re considering possibilities: 1. There is no beneficial way (currently) to use things like ramjets and scramjets to help put things into orbit.  Remember we said that the problem...

• Commented on NASA Uses Flexible Approach Toward Commercial Crew

  So far, it’s just an announcement.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that NASA will be allowed to go the SAA route.  As I recall, they were already forced to switch from SAA back to FAR once this year.  I’m very much...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  Tinker, I hate to disagree with you, but point-to-point rocket travel on the Earth’s surface, whether ballistic or powered, is not going to happen.  Quite aside from the facilities requirements, the cost is too much.  Nobody is going to pay...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  Good day Spaceace, First, a quick note: sometimes it’s very difficult to try to respond to your posts because you put so much into one post, and often jump around from one topic to the next.  This is not intended...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  People, this thing is great news, in several different ways, and yet within the first hour and a half of Keith posting the story, already we’ve got a pile of negative, totally unproductive comments.  I’m sorry, but I find that...

• Commented on Whiplash: Mike Griffin's Ever Changing Commercial Space Stance

  DS2, One simple explanation may be the fact that, even though he is not overly popular in many circles, Griffin is well connected.  So, they might use him as a foot in the door to get access to certain people,...