Alliance_Pilot

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• Commented on Why is NASA Langley Wasting Time on Cold Fusion Research?

  Finally! Something to power the flying saucer antigravity engines....

• Commented on NASA Study: Why SpaceX Can Build A Rocket Cheaper Than NASA

  The SpaceX engine turbomachinery is built by a subcontractor. Musk does not conjure up his vehicles out of thin air by virtue of his Mighty Entrepreneurial Mojo....

• Commented on Blue Origin Suffers Major Accident (Update)

  What in the world does mounting the engines above the CG have to do with roll control? (If you are using the commonly accepted convention of roll being around the vehicle's longitudinal (x) axis.)...

• Commented on A Fading NASA, Afraid Of Its Own Shadow

  "showing dissenters the door" led to the two fatal shuttle accidents. It's a fine line....

• Commented on Bolden's Evolvable SLS

  "Some of the more detailed NASA links seem to have gone away - my favorite were the video simulations of RTLS aborts - which became possible - no one believed that RTLS with RSRB's was anything more than committing suicide...

• Commented on Restoring Confidence in Soyuz

  Most unfortunate that SpaceX didn't meet their schedule commitments. Neither Did NASA's Ares 1 program. Hmm ... which program put something into orbit and recovered it - sooner - and cheaper - and can now accelerate its scheduled to dock...

• Commented on Choir Practice With Bullhorns at NASA

  "And, to date, I’d have to say that nobody has managed to turn many people on to “space” using science fiction. " That's an interesting statement, and if true, is another sign of a generational difference. Many Cold War era...

• Commented on SpaceX Plans To Berth Dragon With ISS on Next Flight

  You guys do know that SpaceX gets their engine turbomachinery from a subcontractor, right? They don't go mine their own bauxite and refine their own aluminum, either. Don't fool yourselves that they are completely independent of a supply chain....

• Commented on More Layoffs

  I have to laugh at the idea that any aerospace engineer would expect "lifetime employment" (I assume you mean in a single position). My parents didn't want me to enter the field because of the frequent layoffs. Any shuttle worker...

• Commented on Boeing Announces Commercial Crew Rocket Selection

  Your naivete about the realities of vehicle design, and/or your worship of SpaceX, is breath-taking. If you knew anything about what it takes to man-rate a vehicle, you would not use the words 'bare minimum' in that sentence....

• Commented on Establishing a "JSC Acceleration Center"

  Building 35 holds one of the fixed-base simulators making up the Shuttle Mission Simulator complex. This simulator has not been scheduled for use since April 17th....

• Commented on Official NASA Shuttle Talking Points

  It should never be forgotten that both shuttle accidents were completely preventable and were failures of program management. Implementing new vehicles will, in itself, not solve this problem....

• Commented on Details of Proposed House 2012 Budget For NASA

  Interesting, the document says that the ban on RIFing NASA civil servants will be revoked. That is a hopeful sign indeed....

• Commented on Houston You Have a Cheese Problem

  Slow news day?...

• Commented on Final Launch Successful - Flight Shuttle Flight Underway

  The jets play no role in steering during ascent. Some nose jets fire at SRB sep to help protect the windshield, but the relatively tiny jet forces could do nothing against the SSME/SRB forces and moments. All ascent steering is...

• Commented on Where You Stand Depends On Where You Sit

  JSC MOD director Paul Hill gave a similar mea culpa speech in the last MOD All Hands, apologizing for NASA management's failure to protect the MOD contractor workforce (his words, not mine). Nice to hear, I guess, but it changes...

• Commented on NASA to Top up USA Pension Fund with $547.9 Million

  How's your pension looking aerowerks? Sometimes it all depends on whose ox is gored....

• Commented on J-2X Ready For Testing

  Going back a bit in the thread, to answer Tinker's question, ISTR the SSME exit plane pressure matches ambient at around 175,000 feet. It is a large nozzle indeed....

• Commented on Paolo's Space Pix Found!

  Tinker - It's not at all a gas pistol. It's more like a cut-down version of the MMU. Still has 6 axis control. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Aid_for_EVA_Rescue...

• Commented on Paolo's Space Pix Found!

  It takes too long to post them. They don't take long enough to review them. I don't like the angles. Jeez guys, no fan of PAO, but is there any scenario in which you would have actually liked the pictures?...

• Commented on Big Brush Fire at KSC (Update)

  Still looking for that editor, I see. Don't you mean 'Not an everyday _sight_..."?...

• Commented on First Family at STS-134

  Wonder how many seats in the VIP section the Secret Service will clear around of the royal party, making them unavailable for others?...

• Commented on Endeavour to LA, Atlantis to KSC, Discovery to DC, Enterprise to New York

  Did you check the attendance numbers for Space Center Houston? I never heard of 'Houston Space Center' or 'Houston Science Center'....

• Commented on Photo of a Photo On-orbit

  I certainly hope this picture did not violate any rules against astronauts promoting non-governmental activities! Editor's note: this event was co-sponsored by the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization with a Space Act Agreement with...

• Commented on NASA: "Shuttle Commander Mark Kelley Not Available for Media Interviews"

  When the news interviews are the news...there is definitely not enough going on....

• Commented on Moon Rock Thief Doesn't Seem To Be Sorry

  Priceless how he even admits that it doesn't matter whether his ridiculous physics theory is wrong or right. "The most important thing about it is the connection!" Piffle....

• Commented on STS-133 Launch Slips to 3 December

  Spacester, the rumor here is that if 133 or 134 slip too much 135 will get canned and everyone will be laid off earlier. Now that's a great conspiracy! Plus your ignorance of shuttle history is vast if you think...

• Commented on Webb, The Giant Money Sponge

  Surely they can come up with four or five hundred bucks :)...

• Commented on USA Terminates All of its Defined Benefit Plans

  You cannot fault USA's eye on the bottom line. They have cut the benefits package for the shuttle employees who are remaining to work out the last flights, cynically counting on their devotion to the program to keep them around....

• Commented on Justice Department Ignorance of NASA Security

  There's basically one NASA badge now that gets you through the gate at most places (this is the HSPD-12 badge). As many have said, that does not mean squat for getting close to flight hardware or secured facilities. There are...