Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...

18 replies on “SLS Huggers Love The Smell of RP-1 In The Morning”

  1. I didn’t read it as a joke, just a sensible warning to not go rubber-necking at the site of an explosion :shrug:

      1. But that doesn’t mean that she was taking a shot at SpaceX in this tweet. Taking a shot would be something like,

        “This shows the importance of quality over cheap prices.”

        But she didn’t say that. Merely reporting that something happened and telling people to stay away from a toxic cloud is not taking a shot or joking about the accident.

        If you read her other tweets during and after the incident I think it is clear she wasn’t taking shots at SpaceX.

        Good roundup of reactions to yesterday’s accident; Congressional and @NASA support. @spacex https://t.co/qhVBwMc0VQ

        — Mary Lynne Dittmar (@DittmarML) September 2, 2016

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        A tough morning at the Cape. @CNBC reports no injuries. @spacex @NASA https://t.co/NYUuXuehsN

        — Mary Lynne Dittmar (@DittmarML) September 1, 2016

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  2. I didn’t read that as a joke, either. Of course, if it had been a joke, then Musk could respond by saying that at least he has a rocket on the launch pad to have a failed launch with.

      1. Keith, you are grasping at straws. Yes the SLS folks have been plenty negative about SpaceX, and yes her job might be to promote SLS, but interpreting her two twitter postings as a joke is a stretch. I know you can’t stand the SLS fanboys/girls but try not to let it cloud your judgement.

      2. Where is she impugning commercial space? Boeing (a commercial crew contractor) and Orbital ATK (a COTS/CRS contractor) are major sponsors of her organization. Just because her job is to promote SLS/Orion and NASA’s Path to Mars does not mean she’s against commercial space. Is she supposed to pitch Musk’s absurd people to Mars by 2022 nonsense?

  3. She also tweeted “tough morning at the Cape”, and “hoping everyone is well/safe”.

    Not exactly gracious but hardly gloating either.

  4. At the very least, I don’t think it was her place to be issuing a sightseeing warning. I’d think the USAF personnel along with local law enforcement would be keeping overly curious people away.

    1. Tweeting is a sort of sickness amongst the aficionados, constantly looking for things to say even if what they say is mere noise.

  5. Well as an “SLS hugger” and a SpaceX fan I can tell you that I am not happy with what happened yesterday. I cheer for everybody in the US spaceflight community so I hope this issue is resolved quickly and the Falcon flies again.

    It looks like Ms. Dittmar was warning people to stay away from the cloud of smoke. From this tweet alone it doesn’t look like she was taking a shot at SpaceX.

    I find it ironic that as often as I am criticized by a couple of extreme SpaceX fanboys it turned out that I had a more pro-SpaceX response than some of them. I heard people that just a week before had proclaimed that SpaceX was going to Mars in 5 years turn around and claim this was the end.

    To those fair weather fans I say this: SpaceX is not going under. They are extremely competent and they will find what the problem is, fix it, and fly again. I am looking forward to the next launch and landing.

  6. I’m with the others, Keith. She said what she said, and what she said was a comment addressing roadblocks being set up to protect people from the debris. In this instance at least, seeing what she said as a joke at Space X’s expense appears deep in the eye of the beholder.

  7. The Falcon does not carry hydrazine or other toxic propellants. The small amount in the payload would have been almost completely consumed in the explosion.

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