re: Apollo 8 assembly, NASA is incredible

F35 is basically a money laundering scheme, which is why it's taking so long. And there's likely some advances in enemy technology that we aren't being told about. All the extra widgets from the F35 will survive but after they finally admit the plane fails at its core missions, they'll have to create another. Rinse repeat, profit. It's ripe for a RICO prosecution.

They'd throw bananas into a small vat of liquid nitrogen(in a controlled lab, of course!) where they would freeze instantly, fish them out and smash them with hammers and watch the bananas explode into pieces!!
Engineer humor.

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It has been 40 years since NASA developed a manned spacecraft - that is unacceptable for an Agency that is supposed to be research and development.

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This is currently happening with Orion and SLS.

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I was able to go behind the scenes of NASA between 2003-2005 and it is unbelievable.
A kid in a candy store best describes what I saw,

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I am currently a NASA contractor. In my position, I have been fortunate enough to travel to every NASA center except for one, and in my capacity, have been able to go with my camera into places most folks cannot go and take pictures.

This includes hot fire tests at Stennis... vacuum tests at Plum Brook... Super Guppy touch-and-gos at Wallops... multiple Shuttle launches at Kennedy... main control room rover communications at JPL... booster segment fuel pours and full booster test firings at ATK... turbopump spin tests at Rocketdyne... friction stir welding of paper thin tanks at MAF and Marshall... etc etc etc. One of my most valued experiences was a launch pad tour of the Atlantis orbiter at KSC three days before the very last shuttle launch.

NASA is indeed doing some incredible things. Many people see things that NASA is doing and wonder "Why are we doing THAT?" When the real reason is that the THAT is not that important at all... but the journey of knowledge learned along the way to get there is extremely invaluable. The amount of technology transferred to the public over the years that NASA has developed has been immense. It might be easily argued that NASA has been one of the most cost effective government agencies of all time.

Yet... it is of course still a government agency. It does experience inefficiencies due to artificial mandates, executive direction, and lack of stable focus through multiple administrations and congressional funding whims. And many departments have become so risk-adverse that there is paralysis of action. All in all though, a great place to work.

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NASA's budget isn't real healthy but much of it is wasted in duplicative programs, sites, Centers, etc.

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The average American feels the same way about taxation and government spending, generally. Most Americans like government - even conservative Americans like the necessary functions of government - most wouldn't resent taxation and spending if it wasn't rife with political corruption and raw waste. If it was efficient and effective, few would complain.

Was the Space Shuttle Doomed from the Beginning?

This was a good video I saw the other day about the Space Shuttle development vs the older Saturn V and newer Space X Falcon rockets.

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What could we have done that we can't still do?

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Much of NASA's expertise was developed at a time when no one was thinking about documentation and knowledge management. NASA discovered in the 90s and 2000s that some of the people that retired, died, moved on, or were pushed out were the only institutional memory that remained. Much of that knowledge simply wasn't properly captured. That ushered in an era where young hotshots weren't converting measurements and crashing millions of dollars of equipment into Mars.

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NASA's budget isn't real healthy but much of it is wasted in duplicative programs, sites, Centers, etc.



The average American feels the same way about taxation and government spending, generally. Most Americans like government - even conservative Americans like the necessary functions of government - most wouldn't resent taxation and spending if it wasn't rife with political corruption and raw waste. If it was efficient and effective, few would complain.

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This is true... but honestly, is reflective of the political necessity for funding. In reality, NASA funding is an incredibly small slice of the federal budget - the ENTIRE NASA budget of appx $19B spread through all centers (listed below) is less than 1/3rd the DoD budget spent at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville alone, and RSA is FAR from being considered a large military installation.

Furthermore, NASA is an executive branch agency. That is - the goals, direction, and tasks are determined by the president. Period. However, none of this can be accomplished without funding - Congress must APPROPRIATE the funds to accomplish the executive level decisions. This can and has often created some conflicts, and most certainly in the past has fueled many negative perceptions among the public who do not understand the process.

In reality, NASA centers have very specific missions. That is not to say there could not be some improvements in efficiencies, of course there could be. But all in all, each center has fairly unique capabilities for testing and research, and in their core mission focus.

Major Centers:
* Marshall (AL) - propulsion, payload, SLS project office
* Kennedy (FL) - large launch facility
* Johnson (TX) - communications, astronaut and life sciences. Some vacuum testing.
* Goddard (MD) - atmospheric sciences, weather
* Stennis (MS) - closely aligned with MSFC. Propulsion testing.
* Langley (VA) - aviation research, various testing, many vacuum and wind tunnel flow testing
* Glenn (OH) - aeronautic and aviation research
* Ames (CA) - aviation research and NASA's computational center
* Dryden (CA) - aviation and aeronautical testing
* Jet Propulsion Laboratories (CA) - contractor facility run by CalTech. Responsible for non-lunar or non-terrestrial mission control (Mars rover, probes, etc)


Smaller centers:

* Michaud (LA) - closely aligned with MSFC. Contractor facility for large tank assemblies.
* White Sands (NM) - closely aligned with Johnson. Various testing and pressure vessel research. Some pyro testing.
* Plum Brook (OH) closely aligned with Glenn. Vacuum testing.
* Wallops Island (VA) - Clsoely aligned with Goddard. NASA's 'other' launch facility for atmospheric research and sounding rockets, training facility
* Palmdale (CA) - Closely aligned with Dryden. Near Skunkworks, is the home and hanger of the SOFIA 747.

Anyway, hope this info helps.

And now we are stuck in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) wishing we could do something more..but the politicians and the safety community won't let us. So administration after administration kills successful programs and lowers the public view of NASA and its workforce...soon we'll hear the cries for privatization and more commercial ventures...the 'Space Race' will soon be on American soil between US based companies...until they believe there's no need for space exploration...and then it will fail.

It sucks. What we did in the 60s vs what we do now. It sucks.

Ace - here's a great article you might enjoy reading about upcoming possibilities on the political front.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/11/qa-key-legislator-disses-white-house-science-office