Earth Scientist May Replace Griffin

[ozone]

http://www.space.com/news/090108-nasa-administrator-candidates.html

 

[Ghostrider]

An Earth scientist? I was hoping we'd get a Vulcan.

 

[BHawthorne]

An Earth scientist? I was hoping we'd get a Vulcan.

:rofl:

 

[Zatnikitelman]

What happened to the astronaut? The last thing we need is someone who's been looking down the past few years.

 

[Kyle]

It appears that Former NASA astronaut Charles Bolden is also a very strong bet.

Also there's a previous thread on this.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Sorry, but I think the Administrator of NASA should have flown in space.

Otherwise, it's like getting someone to run a car company who can't drive.

 

[Eagle]

Well, maybe he'll be a little more more into surface missions on other planets. Maybe a sample return mission from Mars that tests out in situ utilization?

Meh, there's a potential for good and bad. Hopefully more good.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Perhaps, but he/she won't neccessarily understand about rockets and the whole 7 minutes of terror, first and last 50 miles are the most dangerous type thing.

 

[mjessick]

JSC building 8 is a medical facility. Astronaut dependents have their own reserved parking spaces in the lot there. Some danger goes on for decades, and even generations.

 

[Moonwalker]

I don't see a logical reason why a NASA administrator should be an astronaut and should know how it feels to ascent into LEO.

The Boeing chairman also does not have to attest a pilot career.

 

[Hielor]

I don't see a logical reason why a NASA administrator should be an astronaut and should know how it feels to ascent into LEO.

The Boeing chairman also does not have to attest a pilot career.

Boeing is a for-profit company. It makes sense for the person at the top to have an understanding of the business side of things.

NASA is not. It makes most sense for the person at the top to have extensive knowledge of space and how things work up there so they can make informed decisions and not end up as just a figurehead because they do nothing but nod their head and do whatever the advisors tell them because they have no earthly idea what's being said.

The person in charge of NASA should be intimately familiar with what's out there.

That's why I don't think having an Earth scientist is the best choice, since someone from another planet will have more knowledge of how things work.

 

[simonpro]

Judging from the majority of posts in this thread it seems that most people don't understand that NASA is more than just the ISS and the Shuttle. Most of the good research from NASA comes from the unmanned side of operations, and if we get someone in charge then that's surely a good thing.
Who cares if they're not an astronaut? IMO an (stereotypical) astronaut is the last person you'd want in charge.

Perhaps, but he/she won't neccessarily understand about rockets and the whole 7 minutes of terror, first and last 50 miles are the most dangerous type thing.

Do you understand about rockets?
Do you understand abuot the experience of being launched into space?
Are you an astronaut?

 

[Moonwalker]

The person in charge of NASA should be intimately familiar with what's out there.

What's out there (but also here on earth) mostly is unmanned stuff to research the earth, our solar system and the universe, without any astronaut involved. Like Simonpro already has mentioned, the manned part of NASA is a small one (which just runs a big show). So being an astronaut is no requirement to become a NASA administrator. It might be just an additional biography filling experience, but it is not required to understand all the NASA stuff. The real nerds who invent and built all the stuff actually never go into space personally.

 

[Urwumpe]

Also, NASA is more than just a research lab. It is also a part of the US education system.

The ideal administrator should be an impossible human - strong against politicians who try to have too much influence on it's decisions. But also smart enough to get the support of even these politicians.

Griffin does not know from where the wind is blowing, and his actions showed that.

 

[NukeET]

An Earth scientist? I was hoping we'd get a Vulcan.

Do we really need any more impediments to developing warp drive?

 

[Urwumpe]

Do we really need any more impediments to developing warp drive?

Not if we can wait until we make first contact with the Centauri in 2168. They will be busy with another war and even sell jump drive technology to us.

 

[NukeET]

Not if we can wait until we make first contact with the Centauri in 2168. They will be busy with another war and even sell jump drive technology to us.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait that long.

 

[Urwumpe]

I don't know about you, but I can't wait that long.

Well, the theories for the Jump Drive technology from BattleTech is supposed to be published in 2018.

But we are a bit late. The Crippen space station, which is roughly similar to the ISS in time and design, was meant to be finished in 2007 and have small construction platforms for building spacecraft.

 

[NukeET]

Well, the theories for the Jump Drive technology from BattleTech is supposed to be published in 2018.

But how can that be if everything is over in 2012?

 

[Andy44]

Well, the theories for the Jump Drive technology from BattleTech is supposed to be published in 2018.

But we are a bit late. The Crippen space station, which is roughly similar to the ISS in time and design, was meant to be finished in 2007 and have small construction platforms for building spacecraft.

Wow, I wonder if Bob Crippen is cool with the idea that BTech historians thought he would be gone by 2007?

As for a NASA administrator, saying he has to be an astronaut is like saying he has to be an Orbinaut. Flying a space shuttle has zero to do with running a government agency. If anything, it would make it easier for him to get in the way of his underlings and interfere with their work on manned vehicles, and he may have a tendency to fuss over manned spaceflight at the exclusion of the parts of NASA which are not a total waste of money, such as robotic exploration and aeronautical research.

NASA has an astronaut office, and the astronauts themselves are involved in the design and development of manned spaceflight. That's what they're paid for, to be experts in manned spaceflight. If the implication is that a non-astronaut would make dangerous decisions regarding manned flights, there are multiple layers of managment to guide his decisions.