If you had been paying attention four years ago you would know that to be exactly the case. People like you are the problem, not the solution, Nelson.

Why, pray tell, do you think Obama ordered a review of the program?

And if you, Nelson, had been in this business you’d know as much. It all started after O’Keefe left NASA…

Oh well…

No, I think that it was a political preference by people in the astronaut office and at Orbital Sciences Corporation, and its claims of safety were rationalized after the fact. I think this based on the history and personalities involved. Jeff has described the reality of Ares 1′s “safety.” You don’t get a safe vehicle by rarely flying it, regardless of its design. To claim that a paper rocket is safer than one with a real-world track record of dozens of flights without failure is ludicrous.

So you think that the Ares I design was randomly pulled out of thin air and it’s only claim to safety was a rubber stamp of approval?

Surely, you jest!

Cheers,
Nelson

I’m not sure that he knows any other way to go about it other than to describe reality. The claims made for Ares’ safety are completely specious and unfounded.

Cheers,
Nelson

What I do find comical are some of his attacks on Ares. I think that he has a valid case that he could make, but not the way that he is going about it.

It reminds me of my first wife, who was very, very overweight, and was at one point trying to start up a weight loss business. I couldn’t tactfully say anthing to her, but several months later she confided to me that the “ask me how to loose weight” button she had been sporting really wasn’t very effective…

“Hands up if you have any degree (PhD, MS, BS) in Aerospace”

Yes to both. So what?

It took a PhD in physics who had never worked anywhere in the aerospace sector to demonstrate that the o-rings in the SRBs were the cause of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.

“Actually, No, Jeff Greason’s degree was not in aeropsace engineering. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cal Tech… He never worked for NASA or any space-related governmental agency…”

So what? Mr. Greason’s company has successfully developed crewed, rocket-powered vehicles — something that NASA hasn’t done since the 1970s.

And those vehicles have operated with a perfect safety record — something that NASA hasn’t done since the 1960s.

Appeals to authority are a waste of your time and ours. Either make your argument based on facts and logic or go away.

“He was an Intel manager up in Portland, Oregon, woring on Pentium processors back in the 90s. I know because I worked in the same group…”

You do realize that criticizing someone whose credentials are the same as yours is the height of hypocrisy, right? (Actually, Mr. Greason’s experience with crewed, rocket-powered vehicles grants him much better credentials.)

If you have a grudge against Mr. Greason, then send him an email at his XCOR account and leave us alone. Old, personal vendettas have no place here.

Bleah…

He has managed and delivered hardware on NASA contracts. Ahead of schedule and within budget.

Not sure when I or any one said that. BUT note that it is NASA engineers who showed a flawed sidemount concept for crew. It is NASA that finally admitted escape was their worst issue with it. Not Greason.

Are you somehow suggesting that the panel was made of “stupid morons” when compared with NASA?

And also you are the one admitting you do not work for any form of HSF, so only you has the right to an “expert” opinion about NASA or HSF?

What kind of logic is that?