Potpourri CXXV

Not too much craziness tonight, but let's get right to it, shall we?

Loretta Whitesides has a good piece at OpenNASA.com on perfectionism that resonated with me.

From Martin: If you thought I had too much time on my hands, consider this guy, who created Minas Tirith out of matches. Dang.

From Twila: I haven't watched this yet, but Jay Barbree is a long-time space journalist and fan. He gets things right about 1/3 to 1/2 the time, but what the heck.

From Tracy: A Wall Street Journal article on a possible "Plan B" response to Congress on the NASA budget. I have already complained about this, of course.

From Kristina: There's a new web site for posting events in the Tennessee Valley, just in case you're interested.

From myself, about two years ago. I was clearing out some emails, and I found this bit of whimsy. Someone started doing a Chuck Norris riff on someone I'd never heard of named Anna, and I just added to the mix. Here's what happens when I'm allowed to free associate for ten minutes.

Who is Anna?

No one knows where Anna is from.
Anna swept in mysteriously one night from a place with frozen tundra and only fair pizza.
Anna makes farm animals restless from 50 miles away.
We aren’t 100 percent sure, but we think Anna built the pyramids.
Anna can jam NORAD radars.
Anna raises and lowers meeting room chairs when nobody is looking.
Anna caused sea level to rise, but no one noticed because the land rose the same amount.
Anna’s bullets ricochet off tall buildings.
Despite what you think, Anna did not fix the 1919 World Series.
Anna has 357 unpaid parking tickets.
Anna is the one who steals socks from the dryer.
Anna is secretly running the space program.
Anna keeps 55-gallon drums of bubbles in her office.
Anna knows what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.
Anna knows the true meaning of lagniappe.
Don’t mess with Anna on days when she’s carrying a clipboard.
Anna brought back bell bottoms and disco, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Anna keeps an android of herself that is so lifelike it was declared a national treasure.
Anna knows where the next asteroid is going to hit, and when.
Anna has made Twinkies.
Anna knows the secret ingredients of every food chain’s specials.
If you’re not careful, Anna will steal your leftovers.
Anna defies gravity, and gravity defies right back.
When Anna throws toast in the air, it always lands butter side up.
Anna singlehandedly moved the city of Irvine, California three feet to the left.
Don’t give Anna matches. Ever. No, really. I’m not kidding.
Anna is standing right behind you.

What the heck is a CubeSat? Try this.

From Greg: An audio file that explains how missile guidance systems work. 'Cause you just never know when you'll need such useful information.

From the NASA PAO: A couple of NASA instruments on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter have detected a LOT more water at the lunar north pole than ever previously suspected. This is awesome news! Too bad the President wants to shut down our human space exploration program, isn't it? Well, maybe the Indians can make something of it when they get there. Or the Chinese.

From D2: A company is now selling personal jet packs. Some things really SHOULD be licensed... 

And lastly, some pictures from Sarah, one of my fellow tourees, of last year's adventure through Europe. Fun!

The New Era of Space Continues

The Indian space agency has launched its first probe toward the Moon, Chandrayaan-1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7679818.stm. Good for them!

Chandrayaan-1 was developed, in part, with assistance from the U.S., as one of its onboard instruments was built by NASA. Data from this orbiter will most likely help Constellation pick future landing spots for our astronauts (though, of course, any discoveries made will be confirmed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter).

Between the cooperation in space and the recent deal on nuclear power, the U.S. and India are fundamentally shifting the shape of politics in South Asia, as the two largest democratically elected governments on Earth are now seen as cooperating, if not actual allies. This is a huge change after the Cold War, when socialist India was much closer to the Soviet Union. Having finally embraced capitalism, India is now moving closer to the U.S. This is to our advantage, especially given the potential threat of China--on Earth or in space. We could do a lot worse, and this country could use all the allies it can get!

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In the course of my job today, I got to listen to the following speech by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=29544. It was an interesting topic--integrity--for a man who many pundits seem to assume will not have a job come the next administration.

Obviously Dr. Griffin has felt wounded and insulted by the criticism the Constellation Program has endured for the last four years. However, the speech also served as a reminder to the NASA internal audience: the proper functioning of a government bureaucracy requires behaving with integrity.

That said, Griffin remained "on message." He stated that the current Constellation architecture will continue. Is it perfect? No, but it is the best architecture given the constraints the agency had to operate under and the requirements the Constellation mission had to use.

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Griffin's speech was given at the American Astronautical Society's Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium here in Huntsville. The first panel of the morning--the one that most concerned my day job--was the Ares panel. After that was Griffin's luncheon speech and then a panel on the other parts of the Constellation Program, including the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, the Altair lunar lander, and Orion crew exploration vehicle. Wayne Hale, former Space Shuttle Program Manager, had a great and sometimes hilarious presentation on exploration and science.

The best speech I heard all day came from John Horack, Manager of the Science & Mission Systems department at Marshall Space Flight Center. I've heard Horack speak before, but he hit a sensitive spot for me today, as he discussed the "why" of human exploration. I have some notes, but they don't begin to capture the man's delivery or message. I'm hoping to get a copy tomorrow to pull some actual quotations, but I'll try to give some of my impressions now.

He spoke about the fact that space exploration is one of the few things this nation does that exists to create a better future. This is important when so many governmental actions exist to prevent negative consequences. He spoke of the need to build a better future, and how NASA exemplified that need. He spoke of how Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, still decided to fund the Transcontinental Railroad, and how that investment "made the future that much better." He spoke about the need for a better future, and challenged the audience to explain to their children, if we cut the space program completely, why we believed America would no longer exist or that the future would no longer be better for them. It was fundamental stuff, things we probably don't hear often enough, and things I obviously needed to hear. I promise to post some better quotations from Horack's speech as soon as I can obtain them.

And it bears noting how Horack introduced himself: "Hi, I'm John Horack, and I'm a scientist." There's this bizarre competition between science and engineering within NASA, but you hear none of that from Horack, even when I'm sure some of his programs have taken budget hits to pay for Shuttle or Constellation. He believes in exploration and what it can do for science, and that goes a long way toward helping others see the potential for cooperation and synergy. Now the cynic in me should probably qualify this, and say, "He says he believes in exploration," but jeez, why go to all the trouble? Why put one's best thoughts and words toward ideas one doesn't believe? Anyhow, I liked his speech a great deal, and given some of the negativity I've heard and expressed lately, I probably needed it.