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Rocky, how many BILLIONS of dollars has NASA spent to not get back to the moon??
dreher
Member Posts: 8,882 ✭✭✭✭
I remember when the whole nation looked up to NASA, we were amazed by NASA's exploits! All of us seventy somethings could count backward better than we could count correctly. It seemed like NASA was writing science fiction but it wasn't fiction, it was reality.
So when did NASA lose its way??
Since I believe that the private sector is always WAY more efficient than government I am still blown away that the private sector can accomplish feats of this magnitude using far less money.
Try and imagine our local, State and Federal governments running this efficiently. Wow, talk about an incredible fantasy!
Your comments, because of your insider knowledge, would be most interesting.
Comments
I could say that NASA lost its way when I left, but that's just my ego.
I can't point to a date when it all began to decay, but it was probably sometime between the last Apollo launch and the start of the Shuttle era. When NASA actually ran the show, the contractors toed the line and performed miracles. But somewhere along the line, NASA turned into "clipboard holders" who bowed to the wishes of the contractors. Most of those wishes were for longer timelines and massively more money.
NASA went from "failure is not an option" to "fear of failure" and the result was the road to success turned into a mud pit. The Challenger accident was not only the result but the reason why nothing since has improved. NASA once threw brainpower at problems; now they just throw money.
NASA's Artemis program is a disgrace. It uses 1960s technology and is so hogtied by testing and retesting the previous testing that a single launch takes years to prepare for and costs as much as $10 BILLION each.
Danny, this line: "Since I believe that the private sector is always WAY more efficient than government I am still blown away that the private sector can accomplish feats of this magnitude using far less money." in your quote above is exactly why I am against government health care. I have had a lot of health issues since I was 23 and totally F-d my back. I could imagine if healthcare was ran like the DMV and I was sitting in the waiting room for 7 hours and still may not get seen.
Rocky, I completely agree. When anything moves from one of innovation to one being afraid to fail, then resting on their laurels and coasting is all that happens. Along with NASA, the US auto industry fell into that same pitfall.
The government motto is "we'll have a meeting about it to discuss the last and next meeting". And, the definition of a meeting is where minutes are taken and hours are wasted.
As luck would have it, I have a private tour of the new Orion capsule here in about 2 weeks.
I think the most fundamentally misunderstood thing about NASA is that today, they don’t build a darn thing.
They are an organization of “program managers” and engineers who create requirements but don’t have to actually build the requirements they create.
It’s a bit ironic, Rocky is pointing the finger at contractors for NASA’s problems today, but it does make the point, NASA doesn’t have the firepower to design or build anything.
Even back in the Shuttle days, it was Rockwell that entirely controlled everything.
I routinely gave press tours of all the shuttle areas and hardware. I was the official tour guide, but there was always at least one Rockwell worker nearby watching. Reporters and VIPs were allowed to occasionally touch flight hardware, but as a badged NASA guy, I was absolutely and utterly forbidden to do so. (Still managed to, at times.)
Except for the Artemis boondoggle, NASA can't launch anything. Nothing. They have not a single rocket and only one launch pad. Any satellite or crew they want in space gets carried up by a private company like ULA or SpaceX.
There are a lot of very exciting and important things being done by NASA in research, aerodynamics, medicine, and more. But no launches.
News did say that a Nasa backup communications system tied to the side of the lander saved the day for the landing. (a feather in Nasa cap)
On Earth AT&T plus others cell phone services was down (yesterday morning) and several 911 calls could not be completed due to no 911 backup land lines to the final destination. (oh my panic due to no computer's spitting out error codes for troubleshooting the issue, therefore having to use a human brain as a backup and systems too complicated for the human brain, need a computer to do the troubleshooting)
I would not have know that cellular service was down if I had not see mention of such on the BREAKING NEWS. (because I leave my cell phone turned completely off, not depending on such for survival and I can survive daily life without being attached to a cell phone)
Bring back the rotary dial land line phones as a cellular backup for 911. (but nerds now days would need to download a users manual for the rotary phones)
Modern times.
Surprised space x did not try it
Wait for it...
"engineers who create requirements but don’t have to actually build the requirements they create"
Sounds like some of the architects I used to have to work with!
oakie743, if yesterday was mostly an inconvenience just wait until someone takes down our power grid or cell service.
Just a matter of time about the power grid takedown, not if but when.
(and no rotary land line phones for communications)
and no way of getting the news on TV.
Panic time.