Ben... " > "But Marge! Trying is the first step toward failure!"
your argument/position is one that NASA tots out all the time to explain why they have lost two space shuttles "we are pushing the unknown". Not so much. Had Columbia been lost on its first few flights because there was something "not understood" about tripping the Mach/reynolds numbers coming from vacumn and 17,500 mph and ballistic flight to near sea level and 220 kts and "lift" (sorry to mix) then it would have been sad but then again that is what test flying is all about. The ground around Edwards and Pax River is littered with holes dug by Aviators/pilots trying to figure those things out. See Glenn Edwards and The Flying Wing. A noted astronaut (and a very good test pilot) died as he uncovered a problem with a very popular homebuilt...and a lot of "regular pilots" fly safe because of it. Columbia was lost because the folks at NASA and shuttle ops confused "bold" and "reckless" and continued to fly with a known malfunction that could destroy the vehicle. Thats reckless.. The folks at Buffalo killed their passengers because they didnt follow approved procedures. thats reckless there is no cloaking that "to boldy go where no one has gone before". > So, if Robert was in charge in the 1960s, Earth would have likely not > made it beyond LEO, if gotten that far. But, just think: We would have > NEVER failed! odd you bring up Apollo. Apollo was a stunt. As Gene Krantz said immediatly after Armstrong/et al got on the Hornet "lets stop". It was a political effort the equivalent of "war" and it came well before the infrastructure of human spaceflight could support continued efforts http://thespacereview.com/article/1448/1 my friend Jim Oberg and I do not agree on everything but this is not all that bad an analysis > > One has to hope the Robert's wife was in charge of teaching his kids how > to ride their bikes... my saintly wife did that actually. When the girls were mature and ready to ride bikes I was in the Mideast. Slugger also taught the kids to drive, I was in Russia. I however taught the kids aerobatics...and while sadly my (by then) late wife could not be there, was on the deck of the CVN with their grandfather...when they finished flight training. They are now pushing fighters on and off of the "Gipper" They are pretty acquainted with the difference between bold and reckless. > > Robert, if you are truly worried about something dooming AMSAT to > failure, you can appreciate how this statement, if followed, would do > it. AMSAT is one of the few bright spots in "pushing the envelope" of > Amateur radio. thats subjective. Robert WB5MZO _________________________________________________________________ Get back to school stuff for them and cashback for you. http://www.bing.com/cashback?form=MSHYCB&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=TEXT_MSHYCB_BackToSchool_Cashback_BTSCashback_1x1 _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
