NASA JSC's Expensive Custom Trailer For Val the Robot
Reader note:“I was at the DRC all week. NASA showed up with the most awesome/expensive looking tracker/trailer. It had a custom paint job, new custom “pelican” cases for all equipment, a fold out tent on the side, and a $15K Cadillac golf cart (image). The team, if you view their videos had 50+ workers, a high-bay work area, a specialize sewing team and a seemingly unlimited tax payer funded budget. Here’s photo of it next to the Google buses.” Larger image
–NASA JSC’s Valkyrie Robot Tied For Last Place in DARPA Competition, earlier post
– No One is in the Driver’s Seat at NASA, earlier post
– NASA JSC Has Developed A Girl Robot in Secret (Revised With NASA Responses), earlier post, earlier post
More pictures below
Check out my temporary digs! If you see me flying down the highway be sure to make some noise! pic.twitter.com/w9psJu1550
— NASA Valkyrie (@NASAValkyrie) December 17, 2013
There they are! Give them a share! #bestteamever #DarpaRoboticsChallenge #TeamValkyrie pic.twitter.com/k9Dovug7VQ
— J.D. Yamokoski (@yamokosk) December 16, 2013
You forgot the most important point:
“Tied for last place”
“Spend Spend Spend Spend Lose”
There’s no loss if the competition isn’t finished, and the competition in question is not finished.
Actually the loss was about $1M, since that was the value of a top 8 finish at the DRC Trials.
You forgot that the competition is not over.
I suppose the plan was to take the bot on an educational tour afterwards, with that as an exhibit space. But the golf cart and last place indicate… Well, you know how rodents eat valuable food and leave nothing but rodent waste and more rodents?
Some of that has the markings of an HR person spending money on “team building” – which would normally be wasted on parties, forced public humiliation, and swag.
Is this just conjecture or is there any substantive evidence to back up the Anonymous Reader note? I mean, I don’t doubt basic facts vis-a-vis the equipment physically existing; I’m just a bit skeptical of the implied financial wastage. For instance, I cannot seem to find any golf carts manufactured or sold by Cadillac or GM in general. Also, it seems irresponsible to claim the team had an “unlimited taxpayer funded budget”. Can that be backed up with evidence?
Keith, will you be verifying these purported “facts”? Because this seems like thinly veiled muckraking. Granted, I wasn’t there; but from the videos and public media I’ve seen, it looked to me like the NASA guys showed up with some shiny kit on par with other NASA projects. Would it be a different story if they would have dominated the competition with shiny gear? Or would we still be making them out to be stealing out tax dollars and burning them in an open fire?
I find it utterly hilarious that someone calling themselves “Rev. Sonsof Solomon” is questioning what is posted on NASA Watch.
Keith, I’m not sure what to make of your comment. I question it because what you reported seems to be entirely assumption. At the time you posted it, you didn’t provide any substantiated evidence to back the claims. I’m willing to retract my statements if you were to be able to provide the proof of the accusations but it just seems very thin.
Or are you just personally attacking me for not having a tradionally American name like Keith, Bobby, or Barack? For that I apologize but thank you for letting me play in your sandbox.
Your initial post under the name came “Rev. Sonsof Solomon” was made from a NASA JSC IP address. I checked people.nasa.gov and there is no one by your name employed there. Ergo you are a troll. Next.
just a note – people.nasa.gov is a a very poor reference since it only allows exact legal names and often not the common names that many go by. For example try to find the Ames director by his commonly known name.
By all means please use other resources at your disposal and tell us where “Rev. Sonsof Solomon ” works at JSC – or NASA. Thanks (in advance) for your answer.
Sorry to go a bit off-topic, but the site you list is the one people are expected to use, complete with the limitation that I noted. Other resources used to be available in the form of local phone books with preferred names. As NASA has moved to a single point online access to similar information they have yet to implement good alias/aka type searches. Maybe someday. Not sure where to look to find good IP address username details.
This is now YOUR job. If you want to prove that Rev. Sonsof Solomon” works at NASA then you will need to do the research. Let us know what you find.
I don’t care who he is – I was just making an off-topic comment about the useability of the tool you choose to use, nothing more to it.
Dear Rev,
I’ve got news for you…………NASA does burn tax dollars in an open fire!
AGC custom golf carts makes GM licensed Cadillac escalade lookalikes.
Plus this trailer is at least 150K
But how do we know they *bought* the trailer? Isn’t it possible that it was rented or leased to transport the gear, tools, support equipment, etc the thousands (?) of kilometers from Texas to Florida? It seems feasible to me that NASA might contract out a mover to take their multi-thousands dollar of kit halfway across the country rather than tossing it all in a Coop’s ’82 Honda.
That’s the sort of minimal fact checking I’d expect before blindly reporting information. But it’s much more fun to sharpen the axes and go hunting heads, right?
If you do not like NASA Watch then stop reading it. Happy new year.
Really? That’s your response to questions about fact checking?
I don’t think it’s likely a rented truck would have a custom paint job, but there are other, more constructive ways you might have responded, like “Good questions. I don’t have the time or inclination to dig further into this story, but if anyone knows the answers, please post them.”
(Yawn) if you find NASA Watch to be lacking then go somewhere else. Have a nice day.
Isn’t spending other people’s money fun?
“Isn’t spending other people’s money fun?” Sure, why not. Now let’s swap out Valkyrie with SLS and Orion and ask the question again.
And as fun as it is to mock the flashy big-spending pro’s utterly losing to the plucky uni teams (and their own lower-budget JPL colleagues), Valkyrie is just a rounding error compared to the SLS budget. (Hell the entire combined budgets of the entire DARPA competition is a rounding error in the SLS budget.)
Agree! There are some here that are penny wise and pound foolish.
No, actually, it’s hard work. Everyone I know who spends tax-supplied funds does so with great care, doing their level best to get the most benefit from every dollar spent.
Perhaps we can put a stake in the heart of this tired ignorant old saw.
Well, the trailer certainly exists
https://twitter.com/yamokos…
It would sure be nice if a little of these resources could have gone to some of the hundreds of at least potentially useful R&T proposals for $100K or less that are rejected every year.
Yes. Yes it would.
This strikes me as both absurd and completely believable.
But you totally do stand by this source? Golf cart? Sewing?
DUH. Why would I post something if I did not think it was accurate?
Unbelievable. Yes, clearly you would post something without vetting it (no pun intended. . . .and you’ll see why in a second.)
If anyone actually took the time to do their homework before spouting off with more untruths, “Design, Develop, Build, Race, Win” is Pratt-Miller’s tagline for their Cadillac/Corvette racing teams. Trucks like this one travel with racing teams and are available for SHORT TERM RENTALS. . . . .DUH.
If you have evidence that it was rented then by all means post it. I just looked at the site, did some googling, and can’t seem to find any evidence that they rent trailers.
After an extensive 2 minutes of research, I found the following:
1- http://prattmiller.com/moto… where you’ll see the tagline of which includes the word race. We all know racing wasn’t part of the DRC Trials.
2- See the attached photo showing the truck in it’s travel state. If you look closely at the pictures that seem to be posting from individual’s twitter accounts, you can see there are temporary NASA/Valkyrie stickers covering the permanent Pratt Miller logo.
Maybe we all should do a little due diligence before spreading negative propaganda, or retract things that are hastily posted as fact.
Do you have a copy of the sales or rental agreement? I just looked at the site, did some googling, and can’t seem to find any evidence that they rent trailers.
“Do you have a copy of the sales or rental agreement?”
Keith, if someone questions your facts, it’s your job to confirm you are right. You are the journalist.
Excuse me – but is there a rule book that says this? I have people questioning me every day on things simply because they want to be a pain in the ass. If you do not like NASAWatch then stop reading it.
Keith,
I feel your pain, but that’s part of being a purveyor of news. Frankly, I’d suggest you just ignore comments (including mine). However, since you don’t, there does need to be some due diligence when something is posted as fact even if it’s a quote of someone else. Clearly, at least one part is wrong (“two decals doesn’t equal custom paint job”). If it really is a $15K Cadillac golf cart, yeah, that is definitely worth reporting.
As for the rule book, grab any standard text for a Journalism 101 class and look up the section on fact checking.
The original posting is unaltered. All comments – including ones from people who are afraid to use their real names – are posted as well – unaltered. If I were going to fact check every thing that appears on this website then I would NEVER allow anonymous comments, now would I? I cannot verify who the commenters are, where they work, or even what they say etc. All I have are IP addresses and usernames (with fake names). But I err on the side of being open and allow others to post pretty much anything they want and hammer me on things that are posted – usually while hiding behind fake names. NASAWatch is what it is. I do the best that I can. If people want more they can get their news – and post their views – elsewhere.
Fair enough, that is a good point about not fact checking commenters.
If everyone is so hot on fact checking everything then I can impose a universal requirement that people use real names and provide verification of their identity before submitting posts and then provide the funds required to have fact checkers verify everything that they say.
I agree with you now about not fact checking a commenter. That would indeed be cost prohibitive. Would you also agree that you need to fact check what you posted even if it’s a “Reader Note?” Like I said before, $15K for a Cadillac golf cart to me seems pretty newsworthy and, hence, ideally it would come with confirmation (photo/second source/etc.). The fact that the commenter above noted the truck is most likely a rental w/o a “custom paint job” puts the other “Reader Notes” into question.
The decals on the rear side of truck do say “Pratt-Miller” so yes thats a rental.
There is also a “Northrop Grumman” logo on the trailer that has been painted over. Last time I checked they did not rent out trailers to NASA. see https://twitter.com/NASAVal…
Pratt Miller was teamed with Northrup Grumman last year for a special forces vehicle competition in 2012, See http://prattmiller.com/news…
for a press release on it. Perhaps this trailer was used by that program.
OK, you’re reader is right. I guess I was clouded by my hope that the golf cart was an exaggeration.
I did my own searching:
https://twitter.com/NASAVal…
Note the vehicle on the top deck. That certainly is a Cadillac license plate.
Thanks. Added a link. I also rely on my readers to crowdsource and help revise, fact check, etc my research as well – and that is how NASAWatch has operated since 1996.
If we look at it as relative performance, as opposed to absolute, then I’d say that NASAWatch has a sterling record with respect to reliability of reporting. The web is full of sites displaying endless tons of absolute crap with no fact checking at all — and much of it without any moderating even. By comparison, NASAWatch is very professional and highly discriminating in terms of what is considered acceptable for posting. I wish more web sites were as well moderated.
Do you?
YOU are the one who is questioning what is posted. If you think something is in error then provide facts and I will post them. Have a nice day “WIJG”.
NASA’s gotten quite good at operating tractor trailers the last few years. Orion’s, in its different forms – splash tests, drop tests, publicity tours – has been riding around on a flat bed for while.
To increase public awareness, the Human Exploration & Operations Directorate should take this big rig expertise a step further and drag race Orion down the taxiway at Spaceport America parallel to a White Knight Two / SpaceShipTwo take off run.
Look at those pictures impressive!!!
Dare I say almost presidential.
Don’t our NASA managers want our government researchers to look respectable and impressive?
Of course!
Recall during the GM bailout when all the CEOs flew to Washington in their private jets, to beg for money?? They had lost touch.
Seems its all about show. Who has the money? Who has my money.
Where is the beef.
You would think that those in charge would be in touch enough to know not to put on the dog so much. But they have the money. My HARD earned money, so why should they care!!!! Have they lost touch?
You should all be thankful that there is a NASA WATCH
Thanks Keith for your hard work. We are all better for it.
Struggling Tax Payer!
“You should all be thankful that there is a NASA WATCH.
Thanks Keith for your hard work. We are all better for it.”
Yes. And given the nature of the work, an acerbic personality is part of the deal.
Anonymity is a big issue across the web these days and it is not simple.
I know that our host is alert to anonymity, as am I (I’ve always used my name, or easily googled). But then I don’t work in aerospace. I see lots of thoughtful and useful comments by very smart people that are anonymous and could be working in sensitive work. At least in part, perhaps some of these fear losing jobs?
That being the case, it’s really not kosher to reveal IP addresses in the course of a thread. Either protect the anonymous or kick them off. The address isn’t user-identifieable, but together with previous comments and internal evidence an industrious person could perhaps puzzle identity.
I’ve been reading this site for many many years and have seen many comments from anonymity-protected folks bringing much to the conversation. On balance I appreciate them.
But then, it’s not a democracy 🙂
You insinuated all manner of things in just that one post of trite and used up cliches. Your bias is clearly showing.
Why does NASA need another trailer?? Don’t they have some unused ones sitting idle that they could use??
While it is expensive looking it’s a borrowed unit from Pratt & Miller who amongst other things including defense department work, race corvettes, so the trailer is functionally a racing trailer or technical support trailer for defense prototypes, it’s a great idea to borrow a tool like that if you know the right person!
I know that General Motors was involved with Robonaut at one time. Has there been any evidence that they have been involved with Valkyrie?
All right now, can we take a step back?? Does anyone actually know if this stuff was owned already, purchased, rented or borrowed?? It seems to me certainly possible that the trailer (and Cadillac golf cart that I’m sure goes with it) was rented or borrowed. If you’ve ever been to a racing event you’ll know that there are plenty of these toys around. Actually to the racing community and fans, they’re probably thought of as more than just toys since traveling to these events is a major part of their life.