March 27, 2018 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts. The first part of this podcast is definitely worth listening to. I go after NASA for both SLS and Webb, which seem to be projects in a competition to see who can last the longest without accomplishing anything. Both are now creeping towards project length’s exceeding two decades, and neither is close to flying.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Embedded below the fold in two parts. The first part of this podcast is definitely worth listening to. I go after NASA for both SLS and Webb, which seem to be projects in a competition to see who can last the longest without accomplishing anything. Both are now creeping towards project length’s exceeding two decades, and neither is close to flying.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
The reason NASA shifted focus to the Moon has to do with the difficulties getting an administrator approved. So they need someone who moonlights.
Bob,
From your show featuring SLS and Webb, you made what was an apparent general statement about people at NASA.
Do you really feel that at NASA “No one really cares if they actually build something that works.”?
That is a pretty comprehensive generalization. I mean, it sounds like you are saying 100% of all workers do not care if something works.
Also, both you and John stated NASA is a jobs program and pension program. I am not sure what the latter means. Pensions are not paid by NASA, but by the Federal government. NASA gets a certain allocation of jobs to do its multitude of missions. So, it seems that both of you are saying that none of the work at NASA is worth it and could easily not be done by NASA with nothing missed. Am I understanding you right? You both have investigated the entirety of NASA missions and can now generalize and say it is a 100% jobs program?
J Fincannon: I know you work at NASA and I know you do good work. I was expressing my disgust mostly with SLS/Orion/Webb and NASA’s management and didn’t parse my words as nicely or as perfectly as reality demands. Moreover, I thought I had said that “no one really cares if they actually build something that actually flies.” SLS especially is a waste. It is too expensive. It will never make it possible to explore the solar system. Linked with LOP-G, the only things these projects accomplish is to suck money from the taxpayer to pay for the jobs at NASA and at the big contractors.
We all are personally responsible. Every engineer working on SLS knows its a boondoggle, and has gone along for two decades to get that paycheck. LOP-G is the same. Faced with working on this junk I would have quit to go do real work. (That is not false braggadocio. I have done exactly that several times in my life. It is the reason I don’t make a lot of money in what I do, but can sleep at night.)
That so many continue working there for projects that are empty promises reveals to me their true priorities. I make no apologizes for that conclusion.