Comments on: Speaking of rhetoric…

By: Space Politics » Stumping for Griffin

Space Politics » Stumping for Griffin — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:04:16 +0000

[…] takes over and (presumably) picks a new administrator. While at least one member of the Senate is counting down the days until January 2009, there are some in official Washington who are hoping that Griffin will stay on into the next […]

By: Edward Wright

Edward Wright — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 23:16:54 +0000

> In the informal and â€œfriendlyâ€ South, there is a lot of communication that takes place among MSFC personnel,
> contractors and congressional staff. This has been used repeatedly over the years to spin-up MSFC interests,
> regardless of its overall impact to the Center and NASA. Ultimately, control of this (or lack thereof) is a Center
> Management responsibility.

In other words, you want Mike Griffin to smack down the Marshall employees, contractors, and politicians who got him what he wanted.

Is there any justification for building Orion (rather than a smaller capsule that can fit on existing boosters), except for “protecting the Shuttle workforce” at places like Marshall, Kennedy, and JSC? If so, I haven’t heard it.

If the Old Guard start fragging each other, it won’t save Orion.

He who lives by the pork shall die by the pork.

By: Fabulous

Fabulous — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:01:36 +0000

Dr. Griffin clearly doesn’t seem to be in the right state of mind!

By: Robert G. Oler

Robert G. Oler — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:29:38 +0000

Yet another thing Shelby got wrong…gee what a clown.

It is very unlikely htat whoever is the next POTUS will appoint a new administrator “right off the bat”.

GONG

Robert

By: Thomas Lee Elifritz

Thomas Lee Elifritz — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:23:55 +0000

Iâ€™m looking forward to meeting him in person at the Heinlein Centennial.

Sure Sam, you can discuss the nuances of fiction with him, while the rest of us struggle with reality.

By: Sam Dinkin

Sam Dinkin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:41:46 +0000

I like how Griffin is setting up the debate. Short of becoming a frontiersman himself, he seems to be doing well making progress while finding the political middle and finding the center of Congress. The long view is refreshing on some of his recent literature. I’m looking forward to meeting him in person at the Heinlein Centennial. Of course, I’d rather he did things my way, but that probably would have resulted in a much shorter tenure.

By: Thomas Lee Elifritz

Thomas Lee Elifritz — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:15:21 +0000

canceling DAWN was a good decision?

Wow, I’m speechless. Ok, there is no hope then.

By: We spend our money wisely

We spend our money wisely — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:54:06 +0000

This is a clear indication of what is wrong with the Federal Space Program. While I thought about this and wanted to rail against the established order because it is such a waste of taxpayer money, I canâ€™t think of a single solution to this problem. NASA will always be political. Even if we burn it down and resurrect it like a phoenix. Maybe, we just need to acknowledge that it is not NASA that needs fixing. Maybe our focus should be in congress and getting the legislation that allows private capital to flourish and guarantees the rights of these private companies in space.

Call me crazy

By: Anonymous-Prime

Anonymous-Prime — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:55:35 +0000

It is unlikely that Griffin would even consider summoning Dave King â€” to threaten that he will kill his own Number 1 priority.

I did not mean that Griffin would threaten to kill Ares I or any of his other priorities. I meant that he would wield the stick of personnel reassignment.

In the informal and “friendly” South, there is a lot of communication that takes place among MSFC personnel, contractors and congressional staff. This has been used repeatedly over the years to spin-up MSFC interests, regardless of its overall impact to the Center and NASA. Ultimately, control of this (or lack thereof) is a Center Management responsibility.

By: al Fansome

al Fansome — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:35:54 +0000

There is reason to believe that Dr. Griffin’s proposed deal with congressionals is “I will give you what you want, whatever you want, as long as you support my Ares 1/Orion/Ares 5 plans”.

The reason he proposed killing the robotic lander was to help the Ares 1/Orion.

It is unlikely that Griffin would even consider summoning Dave King — to threaten that he will kill his own Number 1 priority.

Based on how this happened — I am guessing that Shelby & Cramer yelled at Griffin weeks ago, and were ignored. I am guessing that it was not until Shelby & Cramer persuaded Sen. Mikulski and Rep. Mollohan — the respective Chairs of NASA’s appropriation subcommittee — to write the official letter that Griffin blinked.

I would blink too if this happened.

– Al