Category Archives: Space

Political Commentary, Space, Space and Campaign 2008

A Glimmer Of Hope?

22 Comments

As current blog readers know, I’ve been pretty much of an agnostic as to which candidate would be best for space policy (at least in terms of actually advancing us toward becoming a spacefaring society). But I just saw a very interesting rumor over at Space Politics. The post is about whether McCain likes Mars, and was influenced by reading The Martian Chronicles (which are not, contrary to common belief, science fiction, but rather fantasy, like much of Bradbury’s work).

But the rumor is in comments, from two separate commenters:

My understanding is that Craig Steidle is formally advising the McCain campaign, and may be determining McCain’s NASA policy…

…Admiral Steidle has also adopted an EELV-based approach for Shuttle replacement, albeit with the Orbital Space Plane (OSP). I think it would be very easy for him to embrace an approach using a downsized Orion/CEV on top of an EELV.

The Admiral had a very forward focused program that didn’t play favorites with any of the NASA centers, particularly Marshall. This ticked off several of the congressional delegations. But I have a feeling that the Alabama contingent may not hold as much sway over the upcoming years.

It’s interesting that you brought up the Admiral here. I’ve heard rumors from several sources that he would be the likely NASA Administrator if McCain is elected. Unlike the current Soviet-style Design Bureau Culture at NASA, Steidle is a believer and practitioner of good old American free enterprise and competition.

Steidle was in charge of the VSE before Mike Griffin came in (O’Keefe was much more hands-off as an administrator, particularly because he wasn’t a rocket scientist, and didn’t pretend he was). Mike Griffin essentially tore up everything that Steidle was doing by the roots, and instituted his own plan. So while Steidle is hardly perfect, he’ll be a big improvement, and get the program back on track as it was when he left, with the loss of three years or so. If this rumor is true, for this reason alone, McCain now looks like a far preferable candidate to Obama, in terms of space. Of course, for me, and many others, space remains a lower-priority issue. But it does provide a reason to vote for McCain (as opposed to against Obama), which I’ve been having trouble coming up with.

Popular Culture, Space, Space History

Setting The Record Straight

The commentary continues over at Clark Lindsey’s place about how long it will/should take to get low-cost access into space. I probably should respond to this one comment, though, since it seems to be advancing a lot of mythology about me and weightless flights.

Rand Simberg is a right wing nutjob, but, he is a true believer in space. He went with Weaver Aerospace to sell Zero-Grav flights to Ron Howard for the Apollo 13 movie. He had the proposal, he had the aircraft, he had a credible charter operator.
NASA dove in and gave the flights away for free. Sadly, Simberg then went and did the same deal for “From the Earth to the Moon” and NASA did it to him again.

Well, to start off, of course (and nothing to do with space), but I’m neither “right wing” or a “nutjob.” As far as I know.

But to deal with the more substantive statements, this is mostly wrong. I did put in a proposal to Ron Howard’s production company for Apollo XIII, and I did have a charterable 727 lined up. Our plan was to palletize the movie set, and use the freight doors to load and unload between shoots, so the airplane could continue to be used for other things. We weren’t going to get a special type certificate for it, as Zero-G did (at a cost of millions of dollars and many years), because it was going to be flown on an experimental certificate out of Vegas or Mojave. This was all greased with the local FAA FSDO, with whom we had worked to do T-39 flights for R&D, using Al Hansen’s plane in Mojave (he’s Burt’s next-door neighbor).

But NASA didn’t “dive in and and give the flights away for free.” NASA originally sent Howard’s people to me, and I had a meeting with them in Century City, when they asked me for a proposal. I submitted the proposal, and was told by the executive producer that they were looking it over, but before they were going to make a commitment, they wanted to try if in the K-bird first, to see if filming was practical in that environment. I was suspicious, but there wasn’t much I could do. At the same time, they were telling NASA that we couldn’t do the job, and that they had fulfilled their obligation to try to find a commercial provider, so now they had to use the KC-135. So they basically lied to both me and JSC. I don’t think they got free flights–I believe that JSC was reimbursed some (probably arbitrary, since NASA never knew what the Comet really cost) amount per hour.

Somewhere I actually documented the history for NASA, and sent it to June Edwards (I don’t know if she’s still with the agency) at Code L (legal office) at HQ, when she had to do some fact finding at the behest of Dana Rohrabacher’s office. Unfortunately, I lost it in a hard disk failure a few years ago.

Anyway, NASA was not the villain. We were both lied to by people in Hollywood (I’ll give you a minute to express your shock at the very thought of such a thing).

Oh, and as for “From the Earth to the Moon,” I never had any involvement in it whatsoever. It was basically a lot of the same people, given that it was a Tom Hanks production, and they just went back to NASA. I saw no point in wasting my time trying to put together another proposal that would be sure to be rejected.

And of course, when Lee Weaver was killed in an auto accident, a couple weeks before 911, that was pretty much the end of any interest I had in getting a weightless flight business going, after almost a decade of struggle, and a lot of debt, with which I’m still burdened.

Peter had money lined up for Zero-G, and I didn’t see any way to break in, when it was uncertain how large the market would be. Also, if I’d known what he had to go through to get the special type certificate for the airplane from the FAA, I’d have probably not even attempted it. He might even feel the same way, for all I know, but he’s through the tunnel now.

History, Space, Technology and Society

Mormons And Infrastructure

8 Comments

Jon Goff has a truly excellent post on what will be required for space settlements, with useful historical analogies. I’ve always considered the LDS analogy quite apt, both in terms of types of technologies and infrastructure needed for the emigration, and the motivations. As he notes, unfortunately, the space community often uses unuseful historical analogies and/or fails to recognize where they break down.

But what he describes would be a true “Interstate Highway System” for space, as opposed to what Mike Griffin considers one (Ares/Orion).

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Space

Why Hollywood Sux (Part 34,652)

7 Comments

It’s not bad enough that they are so deficient in creativity that they have to make flicks out of old television shows and comic books. Now they’re reduced to remaking stupid schlock that should never have been made the first time. Behold, what the world has been awaiting–a new version of Capricorn One. Well, at least they won’t be likely to compound the cinematic crime by including OJ, this time.

On a cheerier note, there’s apparently a much better (to put it mildly–I shouldn’t even be discussing them in the same post) SF movie on the way.

…what I have is a story where businessmen and engineers are the heroes, the protestors are the bad guys, people accept risk willingly and some of them die for it, where they do amazing things and go to astonishing places on their own dime, where nuclear power is good and essential and the motivation is not money or power but freedom and a love of humanity, and where America and all she stands for is a beacon in a darkening world.

It’s a crazy bizarro world of science fiction!

Hollywood would never make anything like that.

Good luck, Bill–we’ll be looking forward to seeing it, and ignoring the other.

Space

Patience

24 Comments

Several years ago (more than I care to think about) we put up a new trellis, and planted a bougainvillea at the entrance to our back yard in southern California. The hope was that the plant would grow to fill in the trellis, providing a beautiful hedge for privacy. Though one of the features of an established bougainvillea is low watering needs, we at first watered it diligently to establish the roots and spur its growth. But it grew slowly, sending out a few tendrils that I attached strategically around the trellis in the hope that it would fill in smoothly and quickly. It took two or three years before it finally blocked the view through the fencing. Now, over a decade later, it grows so vigorously that it has to be trimmed regularly, lest it project thorny branches out into the path where people walk. Despite its slow start, it has a thick trunk, and massive root system, that provides structure and nourishment for now-rapid and unstoppable growth.

It’s a truism in technological progress that we are always overoptimistic in the short term. The corollary is that we tend to be pessimistic in the longer term. Both of these effects are a result of the fact that we tend to think linearly, while life, and growth happen more exponentially–very slow at first, and then growing explosively as they climb the curve.

So Jon and Clark shouldn’t be discouraged at the frustratingly slow progress so far in suborbital activities, and Clark should and will (barring some miracle out of Armadillo or someone this summer) buy Dwayne Day his Italian dinner with cheer and good grace, and make another bet. It’s tragic, of course, that some of those on Jon’s list will not live to see the fruit of their labors, who might have had we been able to make better progress. But we can’t let that discourage us.

We have just finally, after delays caused much more by false perceptions than technological ability, gotten the plants in the ground, and the irrigation is on them, in the form of ongoing funding. Of course, they’re experimental hybrid plants, so it’s hard to know their growth rate ahead of time, or which of them will survive the soil or sun of their location. But over time, some will succeed, and grow, slowly at first, but eventually faster, until they are thriving at such a rate that we will marvel at all the people who said that the soil was barren, and that they would never flower, let alone fruit. And we will marvel from far above them, from the top of our garden that reaches up into the sky, and beyond.

General, Space

Memorial Service Arrangements

Note: I’ve bumped this post to the top, with an update. It will stay at the top for a couple days, so if you see it first, continue reading past–I’ll still be posting new stuff.

For any of my Huntsville area readers who wish to pay their respects to Darren Spurlock, David Alan Smith of Boeing passes on the following information:

Kelly and her family is planning for a service this Tuesday and Wednesday as shown below:

Tuesday, June 3
Berryhill Funeral Home
2035 Memorial Parkway North
Huntsville, AL
Visitation: 12:00 p.m.
Funeral: 2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 4
Hermitage Memorial Gardens
535 Shute Lane
Old Hickory, TN
Graveside service and burial: 11:00 a.m.

We talked further about those who knew him sharing some remembrances at his service. She and her ministers are very happy to have us do that. Since we don’t have much time I offer the following approach. If you will be able to physically attend and want to say something, please tell me and give me an idea of how long you need. If you have something you would like to share at his service but can not come, I will be glad to act as your surrogate. If you have something you would just like Kelly, Ben (6) and James (3) to have I will compile them electronically. I need those items you would like shared Tuesday by COB Monday. As these boys grow older, it will help them know Darren as the man he was.

Kelly’s public notice on Darren’s death will include the following:

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Mayfair Church of Christ:

1095 Carl T. Jones Dr.
Huntsville, AL 35802

However, she very much appreciated our thought to honor Darren through supporting Ben and James education. So as a “work” friend, if you feel moved you can send her a check in her name with the reference to the “Darren Spurlock Education Fund”. She can deposit these in Ben and James college savings accounts.

Kelly Spurlock

[Address deleted because I don’t want to blast her home address on the Interweb, the world being the sad place that it is these days in that regard. Anyone interested can contact me at the email address in the upper left corner of the blog, and I’ll relay it. Actually, I’d suggest that Kelly establish a trust with a PO Box, and a web page to take donations via Paypal–perhaps someone else can help her with this. –rs]

And finally, I can not stress how much a card, note and/or remembrance means to her. Darren touched many lives. Let us show that as a monument to his life with us. Your support, thoughts and prayers for Kelly and the boys are very much appreciated.

David Alan Smith
Advanced Programs, Exploration Launch Systems
Space Exploration, The Boeing Company

If anyone wants to get hold of David and doesn’t have his contact info (which again, I didn’t want to display), again, email me.

[Update, per my comment about not wanting to post Kelly’s home address]

For those of all called to honor Darren’s memory in a way that will positively affect his family’s future, we have established the “Darren Spurlock Memorial Education Fund” for his two boys Ben and James via 529 college savings accounts. To contribute to this account you may:

Make check payable to: College America.

In memo field: Spurlock Education Fund.

Mail to:

First Financial Group
400 Meridian Street, Ste.100
Huntsville, AL 35801

Any contribution you send will divided equally into an account for Ben and account for James. And thank you for honoring a beloved colleague and friend.

Space, Space History

Losing A Champion

4 Comments

I didn’t see Len Cormier at Space Access in March, though he has rarely missed one in the past. Now via an email from Pat Kelley, I learned why:

I’m sad to announce that Len Cormier is losing his battle with cancer. I spoke with him today, and he’s in a hospice awaiting the end. I’ve had the privilege of his friendship and professional partnership for over ten years, and I hate to see this come to an end before my goal of at least giving him the satisfaction of seeing a project birthed from his incredible intellect at least get started.

Len is not terribly religious, but I know he would not be offended by good wishes, prayers, or whatever means you may choose to honor him. I will miss him.

I don’t know how far from the end it is, and where there’s life there’s hope, so I won’t talk about him in the past tense. But if he doesn’t make it, it will be a damned shame. No one living has been talking about affordable access to space, and worked as hard at it as Len, having been an advocate for almost half a century. He was also one of the gentlest men, in the gentleman sense, that I’ve ever met, always gracious, even in the face of unreasonable criticism and often vituperation.

It’s a tragedy that he is leaving us just as the funding dam is starting to break on the kinds of projects that he has been advocating for so long, and that he won’t see the results. He should go knowing, though, that he played a significant role in laying the ground work for it, and inspired many who will carry on in his stead. Despite his failure to achieve his audacious goals, I think that he’ll be far more than a footnote in the history of astronautics.

[Update a few minutes later]

Another email comment from Rick Jurmain:

Len’s a man with dreams too grand for a single lifetime. That’s as it should be.

Or, to paraphrase Sunset Boulevard: He is big. It’s the space program that got small.

It’s been an honor to work with Len. I’ll remember him.