NASA has decided to delay the launch of Atlantis until January 10th. The reason? To give employees more time with friends and family.
Isn’t this what disgraced politicians always say when they are forced to leave office? And the Shuttle is being retired soon. Hmmm…….
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
|
| Bad Astronomy is a Wikio Top Blog! Clearly, Wikio has excellent taste. | |
 | ||
 | Bad Astronomy was chosen as one of Time.com's Best Blogs of 2009. |
 |
"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising
DISCOVERmagazine.com: Latest Articles on Space DISCOVER Blogs: The Loom
December 15th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Milestone-driven start dates coupled with calendar-driven end dates are teh suck.
December 15th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
The Shuttle is still the coolest ride in town. The crew must be really frustrated by the delays though, I can’t imagine the emotions they go through while waiting to strap themselves into such a wild trip!
December 15th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Are you suggesting that the space shuttle Atlantis is involved in some sort of political scandal? Now that you mention it, I did hear rumors about it hanging out in airport mens’ rooms….
December 15th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Remember the episode in Enterprise, where Capt. Archer and Trip plot to steal the first Warp 5 spacecraft? I wonder, since everyone at NASA will be spending time with their families, if the crew of Atlantis, could… you know? lol
December 16th, 2007 at 2:17 am
No. And no.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:06 am
If any NASA employees – astronauts, techs, engineers, whatever – involved in the shuttle program are reading this, then can I take the opportunity to speak for the people out here who *don’t* feel the need to kick you when you’re down – and who actually appreciate all the amazing work you do on the spacecraft, its systems and missions – and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a great New Year. You guys do fine work and your efforts are appreciated by many people. You deserve your break.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:34 am
… and before anyone has a go for “not getting the joke” that was just a general comment; wasn’t suggesting Phil was being anything other than humourous in that post. I just don’t enjoy the new sport of “shuttle baiting”, and I’m sure the men and women who work so hard to keep the orbiters flying get a bit sick of their spacecraft being slagged off.
December 16th, 2007 at 5:38 am
I hope the fuel sensor problem can be solved by then.
I assume that every rocket that flies has fuel sensors, and that this isn’t a unquie problem?
Although I agree with Mc Atilla about how cool a ride the shuttle is, I still eagerly anticipate the arrival of Orion.
A big OT: has anyone now heard that the new lunar lander has an offical name? It’s called Altair.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
“The reason? To give employees more time with friends and family.”
Those poor exploited NASA peons. First thing tomorrow morning I’m going to march into my boss’s office and tell him I want to spend more time with my family and friends so I won’t be coming into work until Januray 10th!
December 16th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I’ve always heard that the best time to plan your vacation when you work at KSC is for launch day.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Holidays always offer distractions, and distractions while working on spacecraft can lead to catastrophic results.
For example: at a Christmas party, you’re offered a drink to “celebrate the season.” Not wanting to be impolite, you have just one. The next morning, you’re feeling a little slower than normal in the morning, but not so bad you miss work. Looking over a system that you are responsible for inspecting, you fail to notice a damaged wiring harness. Later that day, you feel fine.
NASA’s managers are wise to postpone for a few extra days, preserve moral and protect the workplace. Yes, those folks are pros down at the Cape, but not everyone in a group so large and diverse as the ones working at Launch Services and its contractors are perfect.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Gee, Phil, what are you proposing, some sort of conspiracy?
Bad Albert, lots of people nominally plan their vacations for the holiday time period, so they can go see Aunt Edna in Cleveland (or whomever). Indeed, it is standard for the office to be sparsely populated and fairly quiet. Except for those (a) covering a Shuttle launch and therefore working shift hours to support the MCC, preparing and inspecting the vehicle and launch systems, etc, or (b) those of us scrambling to meet hardware deliveries that don’t magically slip because Bush closes federal facilities on Monday. As someone suffering from the latter (especially since several people on the team are taking their vacations despite the schedule crunch), I really don’t hold it against the first group. You sound like someone who would complain because teachers get a three month holiday in the summer and you don’t.
Also note that the launch date was originally early enough that the mission would be over by Christmas, but launch delays rescheduled the flight at the last minute. Therefore, plenty of people had holiday plans made that they were being asked to postpone/cancel to support the mission. Did your boss come to you 2 days before your 2 week vacation you’ve had planned for the last year and tell you to cancel because he needs you to stay? That would be the equivalent case.