To Understand Low-Earth Orbit, Look to Mt. Everest “Getting to low-Earth orbit is a lot like climbing Mt. Everest. It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult, expensive and risky. As experience […]
Safety
Posted inISS News
The Nauka Incident: Deja Vu All Over Again In Space
Space Station Incident Demands Independent Investigation, Jim Oberg, IEEE Spectrum “How close the station had come to disaster is an open question, and the flight director humorously alluded to it […]
Posted inSafety
OIG: NASA Made Little/No Progress On Orbital Debris Mitigation
NASA OIG: NASA’s Efforts to Mitigate the Risks Posed by Orbital Debris, OIG “Despite presidential and congressional directives to NASA over the past decade to develop active debris removal technologies, […]
Posted inPolicy
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel 2020 Annual Report
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases 2020 Annual Report “… We believe that NASA must make some strategically critical decisions, based on deliberate and thorough consideration, that are necessary because […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Should NASA and SpaceX Launch A Crew? Yes – Safely. (Update)
The Mission NASA Doesn’t Want to Postpone, The Atlantic “In this moment, an astronaut launch might seem to be the opposite of everything Americans have been instructed to do to […]
Posted inApollo
We're Still Learning From Apollo 13 Half A Century Later
Apollo 13 Reminds Us of Hard Things Worth Doing, op ed, By Jim Lovell and Jim Bridenstine, WS Journal “As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, Americans can take comfort in our […]
Posted inSecurity
NASA Drone Memo: Warnings, Spinoffs, And Political Talking Points
Keith’s note: On 21 February 2020 a memo titled “Unauthorized Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Flights Over NASA Centers/Facilities”, written by Joseph S. Mahaley, Assistant Administrator, Office of Protective Services, was […]
Posted inCommercialization
The Boeing Company Has A Big Safety Culture Problem
Boeing Employees Mocked F.A.A. and ‘Clowns’ Who Designed 737 Max, NY Times “The most damaging messages included conversations among Boeing pilots and other employees about software issues and other problems […]
Posted inCulture
NASA JSC Certainly Got All Of The Safety Memos
Keith’s note: From a retired NASA employee and long-time NASAWatch reader: “Keith, the attached photo was just too instructive to pass up. Let me explain. This is at the Gilruth […]
Posted inSafety
OIG Is Looking Into NASA's management of the Ground and Flight Application Software
OIG announces an audit that will evaluate NASA’s management of the Ground and Flight Application Software. — NASA OIG (@NASAOIG) February 26, 2019