Fall Observations

September 21, 2011

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Fall (or Autumn) begins this week. Officially it starts at 9:04 UTC (3:04 AM Eastern time in the U.S.) on Friday Morning. That is the moment of the Autumnal Equinox or the point at which day and night are exactly equal. During the barbaric (pre-Christian) period of Europe and in some areas of Africa today, the Equinox (both vernal and autumnal) and the Solstice (Summer and Winter) are significant holidays. Although the Christian church did supplant the vernal equinox with Easter and the Winter Solstice with Christmas, the autumnal equinox has been left, not so much superseded, but ignored. Oh sure, some astronomy buffs may make a big deal about it, but most people do not even know that it is the true separation of summer and fall.

Science and technicalities aside, what does the transition from summer to fall actually mean? In most of the United States, school started almost a month ago. College football is already in its third week and professional football is in its second. There is still a month of baseball left. Politicians no longer wait for fall to start campaigning, you could actually say that this cycle began the day of the last presidential election. The new car models use to be released at the end of October, now they start in the spring. Halloween candy and decorations at one time went on sale at the start of fall, now they are on the shelves right after the school supplies are pulled. It seems that modern commercialism had done a better job of minimizing the importance of an old pagan holiday than the church.

Regardless of what importance Man puts on the seasonal transition, nature will continue as it always has. Nights will get longer, days will get cooler, the crops will mature. All this will happen whether there is a celebration or no, whether there is a sale or no, and whether you even notice the weatherman announce the fact of the equinox or not. Canadian geese are starting to head south. Some animals and insects will go into hibernation. All of these natural events will occur even without our acknowledgement.

I hope you do recognize this event. I am not asking anyone to participate in a pagan rite, just an observation of the beautifully cyclic dance of our world. Day to day, month to month, season to season and year to year, we get to experience miracles and spectacular displays. Take at least one opportunity to experience our world.

Obama’s Jobs Speech

September 12, 2011

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The President of the United States was involved in two major events over the last week.  Most recently, he was the guest of honor at the 9/11 remembrance in New York City.  The president along with all of the other dignitaries and special guests did a phenomenal job of participation without ostentation, but with dignity and reverence.  The right wing fears of exclusion of first responders and prayer were just simply wrong.  The memories of those who lost their lives on that September morning 10 years ago, and those who have lost their lives in the defense of our nation since then, were honored.  The poems, letters and scriptures read, the musical performances, the reading of the names, and the personal testimonies, all added to the somber yet hopeful atmosphere of the entire day.

The second event, was a speech before a joint session of congress, advertised as the solution for the joblessness being experienced in the United States.  This event was not nearly as mature, dignified, or effective as the 9/11 anniversary.  This speech, which was supposed to be a new message, was in fact a restatement of some fifty previous speeches that he president has given.  The immaturity of the event was exposed in the political squabbling that went on before the actual speech accrued.  First, the president asked for the joint session on the same night that a previously scheduled debate of the Republican presidential candidates.  The speaker of the house, a republican, refused.  His refusal was not well taken by the White House, both sides acting like children.  The President eventually asked for the joint session on the following night.

The content of this speech in no way required a joint session of congress.  The speech promised a proposed piece of legislation that he insisted must be passed quickly.  He had already promised to have legislation ready when they returned from their summer vacations.  There was no legislation, that is the prevue of the congress anyway, there was just another promise to get it to them.  Now there were some ideas presented that are good, but not new.  Training for the long term unemployed is a great idea, a democratic congress with Ronald Reagan had a program for the same purpose back in the 1980’s.  Preferential employment of veterans is another good idea, but it has been in place for federal employment, post office and contractors to the government since World War II.

The most frightening part of the speech was not the repetitiveness of the ideas for jobs, but the repetitiveness of the exorbitant cost and methods of payment. Yet again the suggestion is hundreds of billions of dollars spent.  Once again there is a call for taxing the “more fortunate” members of society, as if earning is a gift that is not fair.  And again, we here of a rich man who does not think it is fair that he pays less in income tax than his secretary (Mr. Buffet, you do not have to claim all of your deductions if you think you should pay more).  Although there are plenty of things wrong with the tax code (the complexity alone is mind boggling), increasing taxes is not the solution.

The only way to get the economy going again is to have actual work for people to do.  Not shifting of payment of projects from states to the federal government, not addressing an unreported surplus of unemployed teachers, and definitely not another hand out to some bankrupt entity be it an car company, a bank or a union.  This country needs to spend within its budget and reduce the burden of taxes and regulation on everyone.  It worked for Kennedy and Reagan.  When we spend beyond our means and broaden the scope of government, the economy goes into the tank, as happened under Johnson and prolonged by the “price freezes” of Nixon and Carter and is now happening from the spending frenzy of Bush and Obama.  In each case, we identify the president, but the blame is equally if not more the responsibility of the congress at the time.

The last issue with the speech was the return to blaming the previous president for the problems being faced today.  There is always a lingering effect of the previous administration, but up until now, the president has remained above the blame game.  It is one thing if a partisan group blames Clinton for 9/11, it would have been quite another if the Bush had gotten on front of congress and blamed him.  Yet again, President Obama is blaming Bush.  Since he took office, the deficit has gotten bigger, unemployment has gotten worse, and up until eight months ago, he had gotten everything he wanted.  Eventually, the president and especially congress will have to start acting like adults.  We cannot expect the partisans or the press to mature, but we should expect it from our elected officials.  It will not be possible to create jobs until at least one thing happens – Congress must do its job and actually pass a budget.  Nothing that the president suggests or sends to congress to consider will have any meaning until a budget is in place.

The Importance Of Labor Day

September 5, 2011

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Labor Day is a day of celebration.  The celebration is sometimes not understood by the majority of people benefitting from the day off.  Labor Day is the recognition of organized labor in the United States.  That’s right conservatives, a national holiday for Unions.  So the question arises, why a holiday for labor, don’t they get off for all of the other holidays?

When the first “informal” Labor day was celebrated in the late 1800’s, there were no official holidays, there were not even official weekends.  The majority of corporate workers (admittedly not the majority of people as most people worked their own farms or small businesses) worked at the pleasure of the company.  If you were a coal worker, you lived in company housing, shopped at the company store and usually owed the company more at the end of the month than you paycheck was worth.  Then if you got hurt or killed, your family was thrown out to make room for a new worker.  There were equally deplorable conditions in the garment industry, transportation and others.

Labor unions started in Europe in the 1600’s to protect the integrity of specific trades.  You could not sell your services as a carpenter unless you were a recognized member of the carpenter’s union.  This ensured quality for the whole industry and ensured higher compensation for the members of the union.  In the United Sates and England, labor unions took on the abuses of industry during the industrial revolution and into the 20th century.  These abuses were real and dangerous, there was no Department of Labor or OSHA.  The government even sent out thugs to break up protests, including beatings and killings.  Most people today cannot claim that the union movement was not needed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For those of you who are not union members (called free loaders), you have a lot to celebrate as well.  Two day weekends, the 40 hour week, federal holiday, sick leave, vacation, and even disablity insurance are all the result of the labor movement.  There were and are companies that provided these benefits without the need for union or governmental pressure (to get and keep the best employees), but for the largest industries, there is no evidence that they would ever have changed the policies that resulted in the labor disputes of 100 years ago.

Now comes the question as to the necessity of unions today.  There is a strong effort today by the federal government to revitalize unions.  Union membership has been dropping over the last 30 years.  So of this is because the unions won.  The major grievances have been addressed.  New workers do not have the history to understand what was achieved and what can be lost.  But there is another driver.  After World War II, union leaders became separated for the union membership.  A myth arose that in order to negotiate with corporate leaders, union leaders had to be of equal compensation with staff and support.  Early union leaders were the guys willing to walk up to a line of armed thugs and tell them off, true works and true heroes.  Today’s leadership is just another layer of management between the worker and the corporate leaders.  This extra layer spend the money of the rank and file on things the ordinary worker does not understand.  So today, there are law suites against unions for using funds to lobby for legislation or bonus for leadership.

To answer the question posed above, unions are definitely still necessary.  We simply cannot depend on the government protecting our rights and ensuring proper treatment.  The government has been on the wrong side of the argument too many times (labor and civil rights are just tow examples) where force has been used to suppress legitimate complaints.  Are unions effective in their present form?  That question is up for debate.  When the federal government has to step in to assure membership, something is fundamentally wrong.  When the most significant issue being pushed by organized labor is “card check” is to remove the rights of union members (elimination of the secret ballot in union activities), things just do not seem right.

Enjoy this last hurray of summer.  Celebrate labor as one of the three pillars of what makes America great; Military strength, Agricultural independence, and Labor Union.  We owe our lives, our comfort and our livelihood to every other American we share this great nation with.

School Is Back In Session

August 22, 2011

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Across most of America, students have headed back to school. This is significant in many ways. For the drivers out there, it means that there are school buses to watch out for and avoid, not to mention the kids getting on and off. On the positive side for drivers, there will be fewer children on the streets during school hours. There was also an up tick in retail sales as school supplies and new clothes were on the list over the last few weeks. Although it is only a temporary boost, any economic good news is important these days. Finally, and most import to some, college and professional football are on television again.

I for one am relieved that the diversion of football is back. Although I seldom go to games, I do watch on television. Baseball on the other hand, I will go to see live, but seldom watch on television. In baseball, the stadium activities are part of the overall entertainment. For football, the only entertainment you can watch that is not the actual game, is the half time show, but that is the time for bathroom breaks and food call.

This is the time of year where baseball is wrapping up with the excitement of the pennant, football is starting, the state fairs are underway, and politicians are kissing babies. Living in Iowa, I am in the center of all of those activities. We are bout four hours from four professional baseball team, with lots of minor league teams even closer. The same distance from five professional football teams with lots of college division I and II near by. We are currently the center of political activity with the straw poll and the jobs tour by the President.

In some ways this is a comfortable routine that we have every year (except for the politicians of course). We get to the school year and think back to our own school days. We start to reminisce about our friends and the good times we had. So, it is time to cheer on our school, or our kids’ schools, go to recitals and rallies. All of this will create new memories, mostly for the young people, but we oldsters will gain some as well.

 

Saving Our Agricultural Heritage

August 15, 2011

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There is a place dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds for gardeners all over the world. Heirloom seeds are handed down from generation to generation on small farms for unique types of flowers, vegetables and berries. They are different from the mass produced seeds that you can pick up at any garden center or super store like Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot, or Lowes. Heirloom seeds are not hybrids, the seeds of the plant can be harvested to be used again next year.

There is nothing wrong with hybrid seeds. Hybrids have made food available in a greater abundance than the world has ever seen. Heirloom seeds allow the gardener to be freed from the need to return each year to the box store. In addition, the maintenance of these seeds and plant provide the basis for all hybrid development. If there were to be a disastrous year for the seed industry, having this repository of the basic plants will be invaluable in restarting and creating food and flowers.

The place is called the Seed Savers Exchange. They have a farm located outside of Decorah, Iowa. As the name suggests, they continuously look for sources of heirloom seeds, and exchange with those gardeners to broaden the inventory that they keep in protected storage to preserve garden biodiversity. They exist through several avenues of funding, including memberships, donations and direct sale of the seeds. There are reportedly only two organizations currently perusing the protection of our crop heritage, the Seed Savers exchange and a similar organization in Norway.

The farm is open to visitors and has several active gardens to tour and walking trails, along with a store where seeds, books and experiences can be exchanged. Walking those gardens is especially pleasant during the late summer, when the season starts to cool in far northern Iowa. There are numerous herbs, flowers and vegetables. Although they host activities all year, the beginning of September brings the Tomato Testing event. The gardens add a twist as the plants are not grown to harvest the fruit, but to harvest the seed. The onions are huge, but the seeds are what are prized. The squash, zucchini, cucumbers, bean and peas are over ripe, but perfect.

The whole idea is to preserve. Pursuant to this mission, the people at the exchange teach. They have pamphlets and books to teach anyone how to grow their own garden anywhere. The customers exchange stories; what works, what does not, what has been tried, and what would be interesting to try. This effort has apparently gotten some well deserved attention. The President of the United States, Mr. Barak Obama, is planning a visit to the farm. The people of Decorah are excited about his visit, as are the people who work and the farm. It is worth the effort to visit, if not in person, like the President, then on line, where much of what is available at the farm can be viewed and purchased.

 

The End Of Summer Is Nigh

August 8, 2011

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The summer of 2011 is quickly coming to a close. This is evidenced by many tell-tale signs. There are back to school sales at the stores, school sports practices have begun, county fairs are wrapping up, and the professional football teams are in camp. Games behind in the baseball pennant race is actually starting to mean something. In a couple of weeks, the schools will be packed with eager students. A few weeks later, the trees will start changing colors in the far north east and the upper peninsula of Michigan.

All of this is a relief; relief from the heat that most of the country has endured over the last month, relief from houses crowded with kids of all ages, and the bounty of the harvest soon to be gathered. Each of the seasons has benefits and drawbacks. The change between the seasons can be inspiring and relaxing. For those who live in the north, the transition from winter to spring is a release from the confinements of the home. In the Deep South, it is autumn that signals the drop in temperatures that many crave.

Summer is the season of playing. The holidays and events that fill summer are for the whole family. The kids are out of school and most adults take vacations to take advantage of warm and usually dry weather. But all playing must eventually be followed by rest. As we approach the end of summer, we gather. Physically, we gather the crops, emotionally we gather our memories. We settle into a routine of school and work that will last far into next spring, with a few holidays sprinkled in. The Holidays ahead require planning and organization.

Summer is much more free wheeling. On the fourth of July, no-one worried if Granddad and Grandma would get through the storm, or if Aunt Sally would like the gift. In summer, gatherings are spontaneous and open ended. There is more daylight, and more life. This season ends with feeling for regret. Some people will try to pack in as much as possible before September actually arrives. But rather than regret, consider all of the activities that will fill next summer. And if you are out and about, cook one more hot dog on the grill for me.

 

Space, the Debt Ceiling, and the NFL Lockout

July 25, 2011

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The United State Space program

With the landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis last Thursday, the Space Shuttle Program comes to an end and a chapter of United States history also comes to a close. Based on the current priorities within the beltway of Washington DC, there has been insufficient budget to have a replacement vehicle in place for a seamless transition from the Shuttle program. The United States is in the same position it faced in the mid-1970s when the Apollo/Skylab programs ended and the nation had to hold its breath until 1981 as we had no manned presence in space.

This time we will still have the Space Station, but we will be dependent on other countries to keep that vehicle properly manned and supplied. Most notably, we will be dependent on the Russians who, as the Soviet Union, were our chief rivals in the space frontier for more than forty years. Now we will take a break from manned space travel as we work towards a new vehicle (which appears most likely to be upgrades to the capsules used in the 1960’s and 70s) while the Chinese push forward with an aggressive program of their own. We have a significant lead on the Chinese, but we cannot depend on that lead when we consider our national safety. The Chinese will not have to spend as much time or money to get to the level of the United States simply because we have shown what can and cannot be done.

I therefore want to make a call out to all Americans and specifically those who have been elected to run our country. Refocus on Space – NOW.

The United States Debt Ceiling

There are a lot of opinions about raising the debt limit for the United States federal government. Frankly, I do not care. If the debt limit is not raised, automatic budget cuts are activated to keep the country running, which is exactly what individuals have to do. There is a lot of noise about the county’s credit rating dropping if we do not get the limit raised. From what I have seen, if you keep upping your limit your credit score goes down, not up. If you pay off your debts your credit score goes up not down. Now maybe things work differently in Washington DC then they do in my house, but I would prefer that they did not.

I find it comical that we hear on the news that the only way to get of debt is to spend more money that does not exist. My whole life I have learned that the only way to get out of debt is to pay off that debt. That means, on a personal level, a reduction of funds spent on entertainment, transportation, housing, and, at times, even food. When ever I have resorted to getting more credit, I have used that credit and gotten further into debt. My take on this debate is to let it keep going with the congress doing nothing at all. At least while they are arguing about this, they are not enacting more laws that make the nanny state that much more intrusive. Over the last few years, the federal government has decided how much water we can use to flush, what kind of water heater we can have, the amount of energy a dishwasher or clothes dryer can use, and what kind of light bulb goes into light fixtures. I have always been much more at ease when congress is NOT in session

The NFL Lockout

This is probably the most important topic I wanted to bring up this week. Are we going to have a professional football season this year or not? This is not a life or death question. I can always survive watching college football, and I am sure that many more games will be broadcast if the professionals cannot get their act together. Some dollar conscious schools will move games to Sunday and even Monday night to fill the void.

As of this writing, the Billionaires (owners) have approved and presented a proposal to the Millionaires (players). Now the Millionaires have to reorganize and vote on whether they like the proposal or not. The reorganization is required because they dissolved their union. Many people do not understand why they dissolved, thinking it is just adding more difficulty to the decision. They dissolved to avoid federal arbitration. If a union and a corporation come to a deadlock in negotiations, either side can ask for binding federal arbitration. What ever the arbitrator decides is binding to all participants. The players did not like the odds when most of the owners are politically active at the federal level (one is even an ambassador), so they dissolved the union. No union means no union-employer deadlock, therefore there is no basis for arbitration.

I personally have no idea what the overall conflict was about or what is in the proposal. I really do not care either. I just want to know what I will be doing on Sunday afternoons this fall. The players and the owners are the only ones who can decide if there will be a season. That decision will determine whether I spend time watching their product and the advertisements that substantially help pay their income, or whether I spend my time doing something else. Their choice, I hope they choose well.

Space Shuttle Memories: Becoming An Advocate

July 21, 2011

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The following is a remembrance of the United States Space Program as I have lived it. I will restrain from naming specific people except historic figures and the actual crews of missions I have witnessed or supported. My qualifications for writing this memoir are; a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, three tours as a Co-operative engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and nine years as an engineer supporting the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs for what eventually became the United Space Alliance (USA) on the Space Transportation System Operations Contract (STSOC). For those who are interested, technical summaries of each Space Shuttle flight can be found at the NASA web site. All NASA manned missions can be viewed in the archive.

In the fall of 1995, I left NASA. I was still working in the aerospace industry, just not the space portion. I continued to monitor the happenings at NASA and always prayed for the best for everyone working the projects. From my new position outside looking in, I continued my love affair with space. I tried to watch every launch and every landing. I kept in touch with my friends in Houston and had them send me mission patches to add to my collection.

I have always advocated for the space program, not just because of the adventure, but because of the benefits that naturally come from exploration. We have had great advances in material science, medicine and even heat transfer from our experiences in space. The space program is expensive, but it produces products and knowledge that benefit many people and disciplines. Space travel can grab the attention of children and adults, sometimes the whole nation or the whole world at one time. Unfortunately it can also become routine. That is when budgets are cut and people stop watching, reading or caring. That is what happened in January of 2003.

On January 16, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched for the one hundred and thirteenth mission (STS-103). I watched the launch, but pretty much ignored the rest of the mission. My brother in law called to ask me if I was watching the landing, that is when I turned on the news and knew immediately that another shuttle and another crew had been lost. When I had worked at NASA the single most dangerous part of all missions was launch. That is when a controlled explosion was used to put the vehicle into orbit. Coming down was easy, slow down and let gravity suck you in, aim for the runway and land. I had been away from the program for more than seven years and did not personally know any of the astronauts lost, but it was still like loosing members of my family.

It was shortly after the return to flight of STS-114 in July of 2005 that I decided how I was going to support the space program from a distance. One of my co-workers’ wife is a teacher at a local middle school. Part of there curriculum includes a journalism segment where the student right about famous events in history; Columbus reaching the Antilles, Washington winning the battle of Yorktown, the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the first landing on the moon. I established a K-12 program where I go and talk to the students over a full day of classes. I try to explain the inch by inch method of achieving a goal, we did not just suddenly land on the moon, a lot of work had to be done to get there. More important, we continue that progress today, with potential for each of those young people to have a great affect on the history of humanity.

Every year I speak with these kids and have their attention throughout the day. Some of it is that I am not their normal teacher, some is the fear of misbehaving while their teachers are watching, but some of it is actual interest. Space is cool in every generation. I tell them silly stories about astronauts, I tell them the serious nature and danger of space flight by discussing candidly the Challenger and Columbia accidents. I also do a demonstration of size. I have cardboard constructions of the Mercury and Gemini capsules. I put one volunteer in the mercury mock up, it is very tight. I then put two in the Gemini mock up, also a tight fit. I give one a rope and open the “door” and have them step out. This is to demonstrate how hard it would have been for the craft bound astronaut to get a disabled space walker back into the craft.

So as not to bore them, I break into some video and artifact demonstrations with plenty of time to ask questions and look at all of the space stuff I have collected over the years. Most often the kids ask about the space ships. How big they were (I have a poster for that), how cramped they were (more than just Mercury and Gemini), what the Soviets had. For space within the craft, I showed the Mercury by putting a cone around a single chair and the Gemini by putting a cone around two chairs close together. The Apollo could be shown by having a cone around three chairs close together (there is space behind the chairs for more room). The Soyuz could be shown by having three chairs in a sphere. They had room overhead and beneath the chairs making it a little roomier than the Apollo. The Apollo usually had a Lunar Lander attached when housing three astronauts so there was additional space there. All of these would be considered sub-compact cars when compared with the luxury of the Space Shuttle.

The Space Shuttle has two decks with ample space around the chairs when they are installed. Only the commander and pilot seats are permanently attached. The decks are tall enough to stand up in and when in orbit, you can float into every cubit inch of that volume. When you add a Space Lab module in the payload bay, it is pretty much a resort hotel in space. The space station is even bigger, with private quarters for crew members to sleep and get away when necessary.

I will continue my advocacy for the space program. I am disappointed that the decision has been made to retire the Space Shuttle before a new vehicle is ready. This is the same mistake made in the transition from Apollo to Shuttle. I do not like being dependent on other countries to keep our Space Station fully crewed. I never want to allow another country to overtake the United States in space technology. As the Shuttle program comes to an end, I do feel sadness and even disappointment. I felt this same way when the Apollo program ended. But I am also optimistic. The Space Shuttle moved us forward in so many areas, from Avionics to Medicine to Astronomy. I can only dream about what we will do next. For now, I await with anticipation the next space craft to launch our imagination.

 

Articles in this series:

Space Shuttle Memories: Leaving NASA

July 20, 2011

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The following is a remembrance of the United States Space Program as I have lived it. I will restrain from naming specific people except historic figures and the actual crews of missions I have witnessed or supported. My qualifications for writing this memoir are; a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, three tours as a Co-operative engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and nine years as an engineer supporting the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs for what eventually became the United Space Alliance (USA) on the Space Transportation System Operations Contract (STSOC). For those who are interested, technical summaries of each Space Shuttle flight can be found at the NASA web site. All NASA manned missions can be viewed in the archive.

Many things had changed by 1994. The shuttle program was marching along with successful flights following successful flights. I had gotten married and had two children and a house. Things were looking good, but at work not really moving up. Every so often I would regret my decision to work on the STSOC contract rather than join NASA directly. Since I was still working at the same NASA site I had cooped with, I visited with the people I had worked with and looked at job options. The political climate was changing, and budget cuts were driving more “efficiency” at NASA. That meant that the contractors, like Rockwell and Boeing, had to lay people off without reducing the work that had to be accomplished.

I was a simulation engineer in a group that had already been reduced down to ten people. All of the lower performers had already been let go, we were down to the core of people who could do the job well. We were tasked with reducing our head count by 10%. I was the only white male left in the group, and even if I had been obviously better qualified than other members of the team (I was not), the corporate members of the STSOC team had been sued multiple times for racial and sexual discrimination practices in hiring and employment. I went searching for a new job.

I found one only about forty feet from my desk. The Mechanical Engineer for OV-95 (the STS of the SAIL) and OV-63 (the GTS of the SAIL) was retiring. I took his place. Each Orbiter Vehicle had a Mechanical Engineer and an Electrical Engineer assigned to plan, and carry out modifications to thier space craft. The duties were separated by the tools needed to perform the task. If the task required standard tools such as a wrench or screw driver it was a mechanical job. If the task required a specialized tool such as a pin extractor or a soldering iron, it was an electrical job. That meant installation, airflow and power were my concern, wire bundles and computer connectors were the electrical engineer. I sat next to and worked with the electrical engineer every day. He was an older man who had been hired as an electrical technician when the assembly of the SAIL had started in 1976. My boss had moved to Houston to supervise that construction. As THE Mechanical Engineer, I was protected from down sizing.

The fiscal year defined as 1995 (October 1994 to September 1995) was one of the fasted paced years of my life. When I had been a simulation engineer, I had noted that after each flight there had been a bevy of activity in the rig on off hours, often preempting testing and getting me off a second shift or two. In the hardware team, we had bursts of around the clock activity to get those modifications completed. If there was not testing, large amounts of money was considered lost. There were only six missions during that fiscal year, more I do not think I could have handled. We swapped out the General Purpose Computers, added the first Global Positioning Satellite receiver and planned the installation of new color displays. The shuttle was moving from the cutting edge of the 1970’s to the tried and true technology of the 1980s.

Seeing that the attitude at NASA was changing from exploring the new frontier with bravado, or proving out the newest technology as fearless test pilots, to basically repeating the same tasks with the same tools told me that my part of the space program was at an end. It would take 15 more years before the shuttle program did actually grind to a halt, but I did not want to be the one turning out the lights when everyone else was gone. In October of 1995, I left NASA, I left Houston, I left Texas. I have always looked back with a sense of pride for what I did accomplish, but never with regret. I now stand outside of the space program and what I see is still grand. I will not say that the experience did not live up to my expectations, it was different. Many things were not as glamorous as imagined, but the humanity that makes up the space program, both here in the United States and in the World in general, is inspiring.

 

Articles in this series:

Space Shuttle Memories – Engineer at NASA

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The following is a remembrance of the United States Space Program as I have lived it. I will restrain from naming specific people except historic figures and the actual crews of missions I have witnessed or supported. My qualifications for writing this memoir are; a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, three tours as a Co-operative engineer at the NASA Johnson Space Center, and nine years as an engineer supporting the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs for what eventually became the United Space Alliance (USA) on the Space Transportation System Operations Contract (STSOC). For those who are interested, technical summaries of each Space Shuttle flight can be found at the NASA web site. All NASA manned missions can be viewed in the archive.

The year 1986 was very eventful for me. I was going to graduate from the University of Texas with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. I had more that a year of experience from working three tours as a coop at NASA and my prospects could not look brighter. Starting in January, things got interesting. I had only had one interview when the Space Shuttle Challenger was lost and all shuttle missions were grounded. I had several interviews cancelled as support contracts for the space effort were delayed. Then the congress started pushing back the military build up that President Reagan had been driving, so more interviews got cancelled as aircraft orders dwindled. Things were looking bleak from the employment point of view.

I had two job offers when I graduated; one from my coop division at NASA and one working for what was then Rockwell Space Operations Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of North American Space Craft Corporation. Both jobs would support the Space Shuttle, with the NASA job also supporting the Space Station. The other job paid more and also offered more opportunities. For better or for worse, I chose to work AT NASA not FOR NASA.

I was working on the Space Transportation System Operations Contract (STSOC, pronounced STEE-sock). STSOC was manned with people from many companies, the biggest partners being Rockwell, Bendix and Unisys. I worked supporting the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). While I was there, the SAIL consisted of two engineering articles, the Shuttle Test Station (STS) and the Guidance Test Station (GTS). The STS was a full mock up of the shuttle (less wings and engines) with every piece of electronics, cabling and hardware in place. The GTS was only a cockpit. We simulated or stimulated every function of the Shuttle. Every “vehicle” that had a set of General Purpose Computers (GPCs) was given an orbiter designation. The Challenger was OV-099, Columbia was OV102, the STS was OV-95 and the GTS was OV-63. Many of the OV designations were planned but never built. The challenger was never intended to be a flight vehicle, but the simple addition of engines allowed NASA to have one more flying ship to complete their task.

My arrival back at the Johnson Space center on the opposite side of the table of the NASA personnel who I had worked with the year before, also marked the return to the original numbering scheme of shuttle launches. I started working on STS-26. I was in the Simulation group responsible for the math models that simulated or stimulated the various avionics that control the Shuttle. We could provide electrical inputs that would simulate what the avionics would experience in flight, or we could simulate the entire piece of equipment. There were many math models, from main engine thrust, to aerodynamics, to the Remote Manipulator System, to the Inertial Measurement Units. I worked on most of these models throughout my carrier. The SAIL was used to verify the software loads for each mission. We provided a real time simulation of all shuttle functions. Astronauts, usually not the ones assigned to the mission as they were busy with other training, would fly our rig and evaluate the operations. In this way I met even more of the astronauts and became friends with some.

The SAIL worked two 8 hour shifts every week day, with graveyard and weekends for maintenance to fix, clean and install equipment. During missions, we were on call around the clock, receiving downlink data during launch and landing to be an extra set of eyes on the performance of the vehicle. As a simulation engineer, I had to work on the models and support the testing. Our work area was not in the control center, it was in the bowels of the computing lab. We monitored strip chart recorders to make sure both the shuttle software and our simulation were working properly. My time as a simulation engineer in the SAIL encompassed the missions STS-26 through STS-68 (the 65th flight).

When I was young, I had dreamed about flying in space and all the wonderful places we would explore. That dreaming seemed to end when NASA moved its focus from the Moon to near Earth orbit. During my time working what could be described as the first half of the shuttle program, I was part of a re-expansion of the exploration mission. There were missions to Venus, Jupiter, and around the Sun. There were also the deployment of some of the great observatories; the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) and the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). Although it was a job, it was still an adventure.

 

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