Why Houston Did Not Get A Shuttle, Wayne Hale “Immediate reaction from many people in the Houston area was that the Orbiter disposition decision was politically tainted. For example, this was the explanation of my old Rice classmate Annise Parker, her honor the Mayor of Houston. Maybe there is some truth to that. It’s hard to say what goes on inside the Washington beltway with any certainty. But my suspicions […]

A Not-So-Simple Truth, Wayne Hale “February is a month for introspection for me, and the events of 8 years ago have been on my mind. In the Columbia accident investigation report, there are several pages devoted to the use of a computer program called “Crater” which analyzed potential damage to the thermal tiles. The results provided from that computer program indicated that no serious damage had been done to Columbia’s […]

The coming train wreck for Commercial Human Spaceflight, Wayne Hale “Now NASA has released a draft (dated Oct. 8, 2010) of its requirements CCT-REQ-1130 ISS Crew Transportation and Services Requirements. I’d like for you to read it but it is behind NASA’s IT firewall and you must have an ID and password to access it. I have read it and I’m disappointed. The document runs a mind-numbing 260 pages of […]

ChasingAugustine, Wayne Hale “A couple of months later I was notified that I would receive a Group Achievement Award for helping with the [Augustine] committee. I told them I did not want the award and would not accept it. They didn’t know how to handle that request. I boycotted the awards presentation but they still sent me the certificate in the mail. My first impulse was to burn it. I […]

KillingConstellation, Wayne Hale “There are probably any number of factors which have wounded the Constellation program, perhaps mortally. But taking longer to return the shuttle to flight, costing more to return the shuttle to flight, and delaying the completion of the ISS and the retirement of the shuttle; those were major causes too. Coupled with the top-level decisions not to ask the Congress for more money, the squeeze was well-nigh […]

Reader note: “This document was found in an office at KSC recently. It’s from Jim Slade, a commentator for ABC News at the time. It was written at August 12, 1991. It sums up in the last paragraph exactly what is going on today. This is making its way around the email chains at the different centers.” Wayne Hale’s note: “I have this document in my files and scanned in […]

@waynehale: “Updated my blog a few minutes ago announcing my retirement at the end of the month. Its been great!” All Good Things, Wayne Hale’s NASA Blog “Working at NASA has been a lifelong dream; I often tell people that I would have paid them to let me in the door rather than the other way around. It has been a privilege and an honor to work in this place […]