Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!sun-barr!newstop!sun!concertina!fiddler
From: fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Space Station Strangles NASP
Message-ID: <126195@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 12 Oct 89 01:31:19 GMT
References: <539.252A3A3D@mamab.FIDONET.ORG>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Lines: 41

In article <539.252A3A3D@mamab.FIDONET.ORG>, Mike.Pompura@f49.n363.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Mike Pompura) writes:
> As soon as the military is seperated from NASA the better I will feel.
>  
> Remember what NASA was supposed to be?  A civilian space agency. 

Don't forget aeronautics!

> What happened back in the early 60's?  Military jet pilots were "hired" 
> as astronauts, and it went from there.... 

Hold on...

The Air Force had its own manned space projects going, things like
DynaSoar and MOL, running in parallel with NASA's civilian stuff.

Then Washington (Eisenhower's administration) said "American's
manned space presence was by damn going to be a *civilian* presence.
Kill the military manned projects."

Leaving us with an uncomfortable marriage.

As for hiring military pilots...it's hard to get lots of high-performance
jet time out of the military.  And for all anyone knew at the time, only
fighter pilots would be able to handle the job.

> The military even had a hand in designing the shuttle basics...and the 
> accountants screwed up what was left of a semi-sound engineering 
> design.  
>  
> The same thing is happening with the FREEDOM station at this moment.
> The military wants XXX and XXX to keep an eye on the high ground, and 
> the congressional bean counters are finishing the job. 

Restart a military manned program and let them play away from civilian
projects.  :}

------------
"...I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by 
reorganizing: and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion 
of progress, while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."
	- Petronius Arbiter, 210 B.C.