Keith’s note: At this morning’s NASA Advisory Council Human Exploration and Operations Committee meeting,, the committee chair, Wayne Hale, offered these observations: .@waynehale: NASA’s apparent lack of transparency in public statements “bothers me a lot.” “There is a real thirst out there for a better understanding of what (NASA) is doing. And for some reason, (they) can’t seem to push that out the way we used to back in the […]

Advising NASA, Wayne Hale “My goals for the HEO committee and for the NAC itself will be to listen thoroughly, research broadly, think clearly and give the best advice possible. I would also like to work with the agency to make the HEO committee more diverse – not only in the usual sense of diversity but also more diverse in experience and opinion. So, a long post and probably too […]

King for a Day, Wayne Hale “Many of my old friends and colleagues are asking me a question these days: “If you were NASA Administrator, what would you have the agency do?” I know what they want to hear: Moon, Mars, or Asteroid – what is the next destination for human spaceflight? But that is not the answer I would give. Whatever ‘horizon goal’ is established, without significant organizational and […]

Von Braun Symposium speech Oct. 29, 2015, Wayne Hale “Two years ago I spoke to this conference and told you that we need to fly soon and fly often. We need to figure out how that can be done. Today we are not two years closer to the first human flight of our exploration systems. If anything we are farther away. No wonder I’m frustrated. If we are honest with […]

The coming train wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight “NASA at its highest leadership level has committed to try to allow commercial space flight providers a great deal of flexibility and cost control. There are ways to do this which will not compromise safety in design or operation. But having NASA civil servants as the arbiters of whether or not thousands of requirements have been satisfied is not the way to […]

Keynote speaker at von Braun Symposium says NASA needs to ‘try new strategies’, Huntsville Times “[Wayne] Hale outlined a mixed bag of NASA successes in wake of the Apollo moon missions, noting that the agency has languished for almost 40 years as different visions for NASA have died amid a lack of funding. The current Space Launch System – a heavy lift rocket under development at Huntsville’s Marshall Flight Center […]

NASA manager mused about what to tell Columbia crew if they had known space shuttle was doomed, AP “When NASA started flying shuttles again, Hale told the new team of mission managers: “We are never ever going to say that there is nothing we can do.” NASA developed an in-flight heat shield repair kit. … Hale said he is now writing about the issue because he wanted future space officials […]

A Conversation with Wayne Hale (Video), SpaceRef “SpaceRef had the opportunity to sit down with Wayne Hale at the 28th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Mr. Hale is a former NASA space shuttle mission controller, flight director, space shuttle program manager, Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategic Partnerships and currently the Director of Human Spaceflight / International Programs with Special Aerospace Services. Wayne share his thoughts on the current status […]

Standards, Wayne Hale “Much of the time NASA appears to be a loose confederation of 10 quasi independent fiefdoms, each pretty much in charge of their own business. People often ask me what would I do if I were king of NASA for a day. They expect me to say something like: build this rocket, launch that satellite. Rather I think how I would standardize the procurement processes, or the […]

Wings In Orbit: An Inside Look at the Shuttle, Aviation Week “Published by the Johnson Space Center and the Government Printing Office, Wings In Orbit is scheduled for an April 8 release through major book stores, including Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, as well as at http://www.shopNASA.com.” Keith’s 26 April note: This book is finally online. No one at PAO bothered to tell me despite repeated email inquiries and a […]