[FPSPACE] Griffin on the Ares1/Ares5 versus Direct review

[E.P. Grondine]

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-d-griffin-i-fear-that-we-would-not-be-allowed-a-mission-like-apollo-8-today-1209967.html


"In terms of lessons for today, maybe the most significant thing about
the Apollo 8 decision is what didn't happen. The Congress didn't ask
for more study. The National Academy was not granted the right to
second-guess the decision criteria. There was no call for an
independent assessment of whether NASA was really ready to return to
flight – to the moon, no less – after a failure on the prior Saturn V
flight. White House staff didn't inquire as to how President Johnson's
legacy would be affected if the mission failed. The Office of
Management and Budget didn't ask why the Apollo 8 mission plan hadn't
been submitted for approval along with NASA's FY69 budget request. And
no one in the blogosphere was arguing that we should be going to the
moon by a different method."

Simply an astounding ignorance of the history of cosmonautics, IMO. Some of you here know the intelligence estimates and their distribution and the decision making far better than I do, but... 

The information came from the Whitehouse, and NASA leadership responded to it. I suppose the discussions with Congressional leadership may come out in time, maybe not. NASA leadership had Wernher von Braun and his team of engineers to rely on, and how you'd want to compare them with Griffin et al.,  each of you are perfectly capable of doing.

The current Thiokol PR line is that canceling Ares 1 means that Obama is going to end the Moon program, and that Obama will betray the voters by doing so. Excuse me guys, there's another shuttle derived launch vehicle called Direct which is faster, better, cheaper, and safer, again IMO. There's also a different lunar architecture which is actually more useful, and allows for international spreading of costs, again IMO.

That said, a big thank you and well done to the crew of Apollo 8. If the fuel cell lox tank had of blown on that one you'd have been in trouble.

PS - Copies of Volume 4 of my History of Cosmonautics are available by writing to me.

Merry Christmas
E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas




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