Behind The Black – Page 2677 – Behind The Black

NASA Inspector General notes continuing worries about the Mars Science Lab

June 8, 2011 10:29 am Robert Zimmerman

A NASA Inspector General report issued today [pdf] notes continuing worries about the Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled for launch later this year.

Remaining Unresolved Technical Issues: Although Project managers have overcome the majority of technical issues that led to the [2009] launch delay, as of March 2011 three significant technical issues remain unresolved. . . . Because of technical issues related to these three and other items, Project managers must complete nearly three times the number of critical tasks than originally planned in the few months remaining until launch. [emphasis mine]

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Dept. of Education SWAT team breaks down man’s door

June 8, 2011 9:39 am Robert Zimmerman

The abuse of power: The U.S. Department of Education used a SWAT team to break down a man’s door and hold him and his three children, aged 3, 7, and 11, for six hours, all because his wife had defaulted on her student loans.

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Whistle-blower claims his accusations cost him his job

June 8, 2011 9:21 am Robert Zimmerman

A whistle-blower from a Wisconsin research lab claims his accusations cost him his job.

After months of friction that culminated in his openly questioning the reproducibility of data published by his supervisor, a postdoc at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s zoology department was presented with three options. The department’s chairman said he could wait to be fired, resign voluntarily or accept a “gracious exit strategy” that would give him time to prepare a paper for publication, if he dropped his “scientific misconduct issues”.

When geneticist Aaron Taylor objected that the third option sounded like a “plea bargain” meant to discourage him from pressing his concerns about the lab’s data, the chairman, Jeffrey Hardin disagreed. But Hardin also said: “I think you’d have to decide which is more important to you.” He later added: “You have to decide whether you want to kind of engage in whistle-blowing.” [emphasis mine]

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Market research firm predicts over 1,600 satellites worth $250 billion will be launched in the next fifteen years

June 8, 2011 9:14 am Robert Zimmerman

A bright future for commercial space: A market research firm predicts the launching of more than 1,600 satellites, worth $250 billion, in the next fifteen years.

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