Orrin Judd points to an anniversary that I would have posted about a little later today, regardless, but he provides a link to the original NYT story, back when it was the Paper of Record.

Many of the younger set aren’t aware, and many of my cohorts have forgotten, that we lost astronauts in the Apollo program, and not just in training accidents in aircraft. I recall it myself somewhat vividly, because it was the day before my birthday. Thirty six years ago today, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee burned to death in a fire on a launch pad during an Apollo flight simulation.

This occurred less than two years before our first Apollo flights to the Moon (though the first actual landing was about two and a half years off, in July of 1969). One can’t tell from this article the impact that it would have on the program, of course, but it was immense. There was a great deal of concern that it could be enough of a setback that we wouldn’t achieve Kennedy’s goal of “within the decade,” and like the Challenger disaster, it pointed up many deficiencies in the program management, not just in the dangerous practice of using pure oxygen as a spacecraft environment, but also sloppy attention to detail overall.

In addition to the use of the pure oxygen, the hatch to allow the astronauts to get out had to be unbolted, rather than having a quick release (as for example, airline emergency hatches have). They died before they could even start to undo all the fasteners. There’s a dry, and simultaneously chilling, if you have the vaguest understanding of what the crew was going through during the events, timeline available from NASA.

Management was thoroughly overhauled at North American, the lead contractor for the capsule (it was purchased by Rockwell later that year) and, as a result, the program was improved considerably.

A key difference between this accident and the Challenger catastrophe was that in Apollo, we had a goal and a schedule. Accordingly, we dusted ourselves off, analyzed the problem, addressed it, and kept to the schedule.

With the Shuttle, the political reality was that there was no particular reason to fly Shuttles–no national commitment would be violated, no vital experiments wouldn’t be performed, no objects would fall from the sky on our heads, and no elections would be lost, if the Shuttle didn’t fly.

So, two and a half years after the Apollo I fire, we landed men on the Moon. Two and a half years after STS 51-L, the fleet was still grounded. It didn’t fly again until two years, nine months later.

What a difference a couple decades make.

Just listening to the CNN anchor interviewing Iraq’s UN ambassador. She asked him if he thought that Saddam Hussein was innocent, and merely “misunderstood” by President Bush and America. The question isn’t as bad as it sounds–she obviously didn’t believe that herself, judging by her tone. But he didn’t even seem to understand the question.

A smart regime, even if a monstrous one, would want to have the smoothest possible representatives to things like, say, the UN. What does it say about a regime that can’t find a UN ambassador who can comprehend plain English? We aren’t just dealing with thugs here–we’re dealing with stupid, delusional thugs. Unfortunately, they continue to be aided by many who let their hatred of the US rule their thoughts and actions.

So far, anyway:

Adding an extra arm so you can drink Bud Light is like having a doctor punch another mouth in your face so you can kiss your sister.

From Lileks.

Following Blix’ report, the Iraqi UN rep is claiming that they don’t have any WMD, because when Bill Clinton bombed them in 1998, he said himself that he’d destroyed all of Iraq’s capabilities.

This would be hilarious if it weren’t so serious.

Light or no posting this weekend. We’re about to drive up the coast to San Francisco, where I’ll be for the week, then back to LA next weekend. I’ll probably be posting from there, starting tomorrow.

A woman with terminal brain cancer was arrested and thrown in jail for attempting to pick up her Percocet (a painkiller) prescription.

More War On (Some) Drugs madness.

There are CIA and MI6 operatives among the “human shields” on their way to Iraq.

Oops! Loose lips sink ships…

Well, at least we have one other ally left from the Cold War.

The Japanese government is apparently set to announce that they’ll be with us, regardless of what the UN or old Europe do. I think that a nuclear and missile-armed DPRK has gotten their attention. I suspect that this is an “domo arigato” for redeploying the Kitty Hawk to the Sea of Japan.

Oh, and they want all of their citizens out of Iraq by Wednesday.

I just ran across this web site that has updated tactics and weapons, and another one with some British suggestions for minimization of casualties, in case we ever have to invade old Europe again.

(Be sure to scroll down on the second link.)

Gary Hudson could be said to be the prototypical space entrepreneur (well, if one ignores Bob Truax and Len Cormier, and probably others I’ve neglected in an increasingly-frequent senior moment). I first met Gary at a spacer party in northern California in 1980. He’s been at it for well over a quarter of a century, and still seems to be going strong, despite the fact that he’s almost certainly attained some level of wisdom from his experience. I don’t know if that’s a sign of devotion to the cause or, at this point, inherent insanity. I decided to find out by asking him.

Transterrestrial: OK, O wise sage of space entrepreneurs. What lessons can you pass down to those of us less worthy, and particularly those of us who haven’t yet paid our dues? How the heck are we going to get off the planet?

Continue reading Space Entrepreneur Profile: Gary Hudson →