Frank Sietzen

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• Commented on NASA Ranked #5 in Federal Government Workplaces

  Don't you think a bit of Tough Love is in order? NASA has a great mission and a good news story, but the current state of leadership - misdirection - and Congressional refusal to face budget realities-is the worst ever...

• Commented on Rocket Motors to Nowhere?

  I don't hate solids. And I don't claim to be a rocket scientist. But I agree with Jim Muncy that these motors are expensive and limited. Here's the question: is it wise to design a future heavy lift booster that...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  Ben, then let me ask another question: If the final budget makes it into law mandating an Orion capsule-what will be the means to launch it into Earth orbit for testing? The HLV? That seems to be a bit of...

• Commented on Some People REALLY Want To Go Into Space

  So tell me what will you geniuses have to say when they launch a human and kill him? That it was to further space exploration and the "human gene pool"? You're thinking with your heart and not your head. Give...

• Commented on Chile Will Get Advice From NASA On Support for Trapped Miners

  President Obama: "I believe this nation should commit itself to the goal, before this year is out, of using space technology to rescue these miners and return them safely to the surface of the Earth. No single space project in...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  Posters, Imeant sidemount seems eliminated, in-line specified. My proofing error!...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  Mark, I meant a sidemount....

• Commented on Some People REALLY Want To Go Into Space

  No guidance system during powered flight? No escape system for the astronaut, er, victim? Please somebody stop these guys before somebody gets killed....

• Commented on Fighting For Shuttles

  I strongly support the Museum of flight getting an orbiter....

• Commented on Courtney Stadd Joins Liam Sarsfield In Pleading Guilty

  All I can say is he's a friend. I have no idea of the merits of the case against him. I know him to be a devoted husband and father, which I hope counts for something. What would all of...

• Commented on Courtney Stadd Joins Liam Sarsfield In Pleading Guilty

  I stand behind my long time friend and colleague Courtney at this sad time in his life. I hope that the judge considers his many years of faithful public service, his wife and family, when making the final decision as...

• Commented on Using Simple Tools To Reach Millions

  I have been repeatedly told that there is no money in the PAO budget to hire new people or consultants. Looks like they are stuck between "a rock and a hard place". Nothing will change until they get some fresh...

• Commented on Open Gov @ NASA = We'll Get Back to You - Maybe

  While there are many good folks at NASA PAO, there are also many who have given up and are now just going through the motions, awaiting retirement. The system beats the creativity and passion out of people, so by the...

• Commented on Plane Crash: Sean O'Keefe Was Aboard (Update)

  NASAWATCH readers should remember at this sad time that Sen. Stevens fought hard for NASA during his years in the Senate, and especially for human spaceflight programs. A true advocate for America's global space leadership....

• Commented on Plane Crash: Sean O'Keefe Was Aboard (Update)

  Let us all pray for O'Keefe, his fellow passengers and for their families....

• Commented on What is the Space Shuttle's True Legacy?

  My thanks to all posters for some detailed and thoughtful comments. Love or hate the Shuttle, it is truly an end of an era in human spaceflight....

• Commented on Send More Money - Or Cut Something Out

  This is another fateous opinion by the WP, who has, like their colleagues at the New York Times, never supported manned spaceflight. The Post likes to have it both ways-here they suggest more spending for human spaceflight, but if such...

• Commented on What is the Space Shuttle's True Legacy?

  Brian, thanks for sharing that sweet memory! Can we all imagine an alternate history wherein the Shuttle actually was as cheap to operate as was advertised; 24 flights year, etc. How different space history would have been!...

• Commented on Where Do We Go From Here?

  Getting full utilization from ISS is essential, but I wouldn't be so quick to write off the Moon just yet, based on both the House and Senate NASA budget bills. Both Democrats and Republicans seem to continue to hold out...

• Commented on Space Station Experiences Partial Cooling Shutdown

  Here's my Q: What is the cost of new ORUs as compared with the cost of refurbishment?...

• Commented on Wayne Hale's New Job

  Can anybody explain why NASA let someone like Hale leave when he is just the kind of person they need?...

• Commented on Critical ISS EVA Now Planned For Saturday

  I wonder if anyone has done a study of the cost of new ORUs VS refurbishment? And as concerns downmass, absent Shuttle it's vilch....

• Commented on The Cape Week in Review - Politics, Layoffs and Hope

  On Challenger 51F I believe it was a sensor and not the SSME that malfunctioned....

• Commented on Space Station Experiences Partial Cooling Shutdown

  Can the ISS really survive without the Shuttle or a SD HLV soon?...

• Commented on Gordon's Attempt To Shove HR 5781 Through Flops

  I say kill or modify the House bill. It cuts too deeply into commercial crew AND advanced tech demos. Senate much better and a basis for a full compromise....

• Commented on Gordon's Attempt To Shove HR 5781 Through Flops

  For America's future in space, KILL THE DAMN BILL....

• Commented on Showdown Ahead For H.R. 5781?

  This bill, if not modified on the floor of the House, will set back commercial space and extend the gap for years. If this is the best the House can do, there is but one course to follow: DEFEAT THE...

• Commented on Video: SpaceUp DC

  "NASA needs to explain to us why they need $19 billion dollars...NASA needs to educate us, because space is cool". Get this kid to a violin. He is RIGHT ON. Somebody send this to Lori Garver, for Pete's sake. At...

• Commented on Kepler Mess: We Could Certainly Use Carl Sagan Right Now

  Keith, no matter who intended to say what-where are the adults in charge? Don't any of these PIs have a management chain to report to? Can't somebody higher up (you can imagine who I mean) pick up the phone and...

• Commented on Getting Out of the Gravity Well on One Thin Dime

  Ever wonder why it seems politically untenable to expand NASA's annual budget much beyond $19B or so in change? Why there is no support for at least a 20 percent annual increase? Money is the problem because money has always...