Sharing The Dream

14 May, 2008

Warning! Rant in progress.

Just for the record, I really support Space programs. I have never had any kind of beef with NASA or anyone in the industry, no matter how strange. Today that changed. Everyday, I try to check out the latest Space happenings on sites like hobbyspace, spacedaily, and space.com. The article I caught today called "NASA Rolls Out Space Shuttle Tires for Loan" had me struggling with my emotions. I felt both anger and sadness to the point of tears. "Has it really come to this?", I find myself asking.

Let's think about this for a moment. We are inspiring kids to strive for Space by giving schools a chance to display a tire from the Space Shuttle.

A tire.

This is inspiration? This is getting kids actively engaged in the sciences? This is what will drive children across this great nation to decide to take us out into the solar system?

I don't buy it.

These are tires and they should be recycled appropriately. If someone wants to buy them, then go for it. Let them put them in a private collection. What NASA should be doing to get kids excited is spend the money they would use to manage these tires on something more productive like sub-orbital flights that kids can participate in. Why can't NASA develop kits (or better yet buy them) and give these to educators. In these kits will be ideas on what experiments can be performed and then let the students design and send their own stuff into Space. Admitted I do have a bias since we send kits like this to Space as part of our business but I can think of other ways just as exciting.

A tire? Really.

12 May, 2008

Lately there have been a lot of happenings in the Space industry. NASA is moving forward with Aries despite opposition and consternation. The New Mexico spaceport has secured the tax base needed to move forward. Virginia is pressing hard for zero gravity zero tax legislation and Florida is working to allocate money to woo the space industrial giants to stay. This is a lot of paper. Early on, I thought that most of it was unnecessary. As I have been working in this industry now for almost 10 years, I can tell you that only some of it is not needed.

Bureaucracies must be fed and they live on paper. The reasons for the unreasonable use of dead trees are many. Lets look at a few of them.

CYA – This is the most important part of the extra paper. There is the belief (and rightly so) that rocket flights are dangerous. If anyone tells you they are perfectly safe, they are lying. This leads to a lot of people (government agencies) not wanting to take ownership of any decisions. There is nothing like trying to explain to grieving loved ones that you made a mistake in oversight. That is not good public policy. So a lot of paper is created just to cover the possibility that your group will be blamed for an accident, even if had nothing to do directly with the event. CYA is not a bad thing in most cases but it can take on a life of its own.

Mistrust – There is inherent mistrust in bureaucracies. They like to know that they are covered (see above) and most do not believe that the other bureaucracies are looking out for them. If you cannot trust whom you are working with, then the best course of action is to protect yourself with the currency of choice – more paper.

Lack of Communication – Every large entity be it a company, local government agency or federal office likes to claim their own ‘turf’. This can lead to a lack of communication between groups even when talking things out would make life easier for the customer (i.e. rocket companies) since there could be clear indicators of who is in charge of what.  Sadly this doesn’t occur nearly as much as it should. The end result is more paper.

It might appear that I am having issues with paper. That would be correct. It is not as bad as it could be, but it is enough to be frustrating. I have always said the best way to work with government is to ask them what they want and then give it to them. That still holds, even when the paperwork is duplicate crazy stuff.

21 Apr, 2008

For me the Internet is not so much an addiction as a way of life. Since it went commercial in the early 90's I've had an Internet connection of some kind. It started with an old fashioned dial up running at 2400 baud. I've had wireless, microwave, DSL and cable. If there was a way to get email, I've tried it. This weekend, my net connection was down – and hard. As of this morning, it is still down at home. Only by going to work am I able to even get a log entry made. Not fun.

It isn't like I can't live without it. I can. I've been on trips where I have no connection to the world outside. Those are great. Unplanned events such as this current outage are not fun. It is a disruption of my day. There are set times to check email, read news, verify weather and get directions. My connection to the Internet is my connection to convenience. It is this fulfillment of basic need – the receiving of information – that makes the net so powerful. It is also why the Space sector is struggling.

It does not fill a perceived need.

I could wax poetically about the role of the US Space program, what it was and what it has become. That answer will vary depending on whom you ask. At the moment however, it does not fill a need that people easily understand. And while those of us in the private space sector feel we are outside the sphere of NASA, the truth is how people view NASA is how the general public will view us for the foreseeable future. As big as space is, there are not a lot of differentiators in the space business. The key to success will be finding these and then communicating them effectively to the public.

Where is my Internet when I need it?

18 Apr, 2008

In order to pay the bills, I've been coding lately. The work is tough, but enjoyable if you are into that sort of thing. The beauty of code is in the knowledge of making something come to life. It is the same in construction. When you start a project, there is nothing here but a piece of land. When you are finished, there is a new home for someone to live in or a new office for workers or a new factory to build other things. It is a great feeling of accomplishment. When writing programs, you start with a concept and slowly bring it to life; hopefully creating a tool that people will enjoy using.

The same goes for rocketry. Designing and building rockets starts with ideas and concepts slowly moving to physical form.  Watching that process is amazing. To actually be a part of it is even better - it is indescribable. For me, it is the most fun I've had in a work environment. But some of the joy is in the unknown. Up until the moment you push the launch button, there is no way to really know that everything will work. It comes down to faith in your abilities. I'm looking forward to getting back to it.

03 Apr, 2008

Last night after working a long and frustrating day, I attended a local meeting of Toastmasters International. This is a group that lets people learn public speaking and how to do it with confidence. This was pretty good-sized group of about 30 people. There were three good speeches, their evaluations and a quick thinking speech giving exercise called ‘Table Topics’. It was great to be there.

Years ago when I was running a software company, a good friend suggested that I attend. Being the introverted engineer type at the time I needed all the help I could get. By breaking out of my pattern of shyness, I found out that I loved public speaking. Since then I have relished every opportunity given to speak about subjects near and dear to my heart (rockets, sailing).

If you are looking to get involved in any sort of business the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly and effectively is important. If you have never given a speech or do so frequently, Toastmasters can help you improve. The program has done wonders for many people I know, including myself. I recommend everyone at least attend a meeting and see what its like.

Okay, I’ll turn the soapbox off for the day.