This is unintentionally hilarious:
Kerrick also spoke about the current status of the NASA Space Shuttle Program and its official retirement on Aug. 31. The media has caused a lot of worry and uncertainty about the future of NASA’s role in galactic travel, she said.
“Don’t believe the news,” she said. “Through this whole process, I learned not to trust the news.”
Although it is true that the program is gone, Kerrick said, NASA will be around until at least 2020. She also said Orbital, a private company based in Virginia, and SpaceX, a company based in California, are the primary sources of funding to continue the development of shuttles capable of going beyond low-Earth orbit.
It’s unclear whether she really said this stuff, or if the reporter just garbled whatever she actually did say, but there are at least four problems with that last paragraph.
[Via Jeff Foust]
“Don’t believe the news,” she said. “Through this whole process, I learned not to trust the news.”
Well, this one paragraph pretty much negates all the rest. It was smart of Kerrick to provide this caveat.
I’d much sooner believe some cub reporter mangled the quotes…
some cub reporter mangled the quotes…
Not cub reporter, journalism student. The Daily Toreador is a student paper.
Low orbit is part of the galaxy!
A very, very small and nearby part…
There is also no way that NASA has had 80 women flight directors. I doubt there have been that many total.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/nov/HQ_05411_hispanics_team.html
According to this press release, “Since the beginning of America’s space program, only 58 individuals have directed human spaceflight missions. The Flight Director Class of 2005 is the second largest ever appointed and the most diverse.”
So, they might be up to 80 total (men and women) by now.
Correct, 80 total.
I’d say the reporter mangled what she heard pretty badly. I have worked with Ginger, and while I did not hear her speech in Lubbock, I’d bet any amount that she did not say or imply several things as stated/implied in that article. And Ed Wright is correct about the number of NASA Flight Directors. Less than 80 total, men and women. I do not have the exact numbers at hand for total, total men, and total women, but the total-total is definitely less than 80 starting with Chris Kraft. The current Chief of the Flight Director Office loves to remind people that to date there have been fewer NASA Flight Directors than Astronauts.
The number is exactly 80, in fact. The 58 count didn’t include the class of 2005 itself (9). Then 2 in 2006, 4 in 2007, 4 in 2008, and 3 in 2009.
Nemo,
I still have not checked the lists myself, but I’ll take your word and I stand corrected. I assumed the number quoted in the press release included the crowd selected in 2005, and counting from there on my fingers from memory I could not come up with 80 even adding the 3 men selected a few months ago (but not yet certified and therefore still “candidate” Flight Directors). Shows what happens when you assume things…maybe I could qualify for a good-paying job as a reporter with that approach, however! 😉
Shouldn’t Russian flight directors be adding to the count? After all, they’re the ones who put American astronauts into space.