Allow the other-abled to other-use their other-abilities to other-prosper in their own other-world, but not by fiat feeding them out of my wallet. Intelligence requires constant feeding. Stupidity is its own engine of creation.
As the 1960s dawned a small band of unrepentant Nazis were tasked with sending Americans round-trip to the moon. Werner von Braun and his stormenginee... ah, boys grabbed some slide rules and birthed the Saturn V. As the 21st century yawned NASA had its superultrahypercomputer Columbia, a well-named 10,240-processor SGI Altix disaster even after its Itanium-1 farces were replaced with Itanium-2 travesties. Apollo 1.5 was Return to the Moon!
The Ares light booster was built of $100 bills impregnated with epoxy and pressure cured. It exhausted high pressure NASA smoke and mirrors. After its first limp $billion launch even Congresscritters needing summer employment for their simian frat boy progeny could not swallow the lie or waterboard it to others.
Hundreds of $billions were squandered on the Space Scuttle and International Space Station Freedom FUBAR Space Hole One Alpha. The use once and toss Saturn V cost less than 1/3 as much to boost a pound into orbit as the reusable Space Scuttle. The use once and toss Saturn V boosted 130 tons into low Earth orbit compared to a Space Scuttle safety downrated to 27 tons from a whopping huge 31 tons spec'd.
What is to be done with the FEMA of Man In Space? Diversity! A giant gush of money now enables a new, bright, muscular NASA to squander another round of hundreds of $billions. Wait for it... otherwise asstronaught unemployment is threatened!
The way things really are, "Highly selected, highly trained, highly colonic'd people who do chair parade until their country calls will be replaced by Mil-Spec burlap sacks of Mil-Spec pea gravel. Each little stone will be individually inspected under seven layers of the best Six Sigma professional managerial expertise available from political favor-owed special interest Marketing Departments. Each sack will bear bright custom- embroidered mission-specific Mil-Spec logos. The sacks' Mil-Spec pension structures are being negotiated as you read this."
NASA said, "... we will focus on the development of game-changing technology and early-stage innovation."
Who won that round of Bullshit Bingo? The New NASA (TOP SECRET/Lotus Eater - do not read): action item, a-b testing, capacity ownership, core competencies, cross-sell, gap analysis, growth pushback, impactfulness, lessons-learned database, long tail, mission set, off-line revenue, oriented process, real-time burn rate, reconfigurable leadership, reusability level, synergy, team building, total quality, traction, up-sell, user-centric, vertical market niche, skill set. Toss the money to Advanced Composites and turn off the lights in Houston.
But wait, there's more! "NASA is going to cast a wide net for the best ideas from industry [managers!], academia [deans!], NASA centers [janitors!], or partnerships with other agencies [No Child Left Behind!]."
"These innovations will enable the development of new approaches to our current mission set and allow us to pursue entirely new missions for the country." For the country! Our country! Oh the selfless sacrifices that are to made by other people.
Uncle Al covertly obtained a list of what could be NASA tractive core competencies up-selling capacity ownership of oriented processes. NASA's next eleven budget figure$ may be devoted to studying
Space Scuttle external fuel tank insulation foam blowing agent was Greenified and Enviro-whinerated into dead asstronaughts and a fried Winnespacego. Uncle Al sent NASA the solution: Add chopped fiber to the spray-up." It's called "Fiberglass" (reinforced concrete, etc.) Fibers hold the mass together as the matrix cracks, so the whole of it does not fail. The PU foam NASA slobbered over Space Scuttle external fuel tanks must survive for 180 seconds until it gets above air.
Uncle Al got back a nice reply, to wit: "This is not the solution NASA seeks." Every launch thereafter had 100% NASA quality assurance before lift off. Every launch thereafter had 100% NASA pants moistened as foam continued to spall and hit the crappy bloated Space Scuttle.
On man's core competency is another man's lessons-learned database, but not at NASA! Stop the money, end the insanity.
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