tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post2727752571694484953..comments2023-09-12T09:38:27.205-04:00Comments on The Mil & Aero Blog: Let Skylab be a reminder of what happens to a neglected space stationPennwell Blogs Administratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15757232455847950283noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190977655495067644.post-5978048930222210462011-09-02T14:37:10.923-04:002011-09-02T14:37:10.923-04:00I'm a 37-year NASA engineer who was: a) one of...I'm a 37-year NASA engineer who was: a) one of the Skylab flight controllers in Mission Control in Houston that brought Skylab safely out of orbit; and, b) am one of the 'cabal' inside NASA who is a proponent of creating new, American-led commercial space industries; including a commercial human transportation industry to replace our current monopoly-reliance on our Russian friends.<br /><br />First, a tweak of the history; followed by what really matters now, in Sept. 2011.<br /><br />History- NASA did not 'neglect' Skylab after 1973. Skylab's mission was over, completely accomplished. And there was never a plan to keep it going, with the shuttle or anything else; it wasn't designed for that sort of maintenance or upgrade. <br /><br />In terms of a safe deorbit, two things conspired simultaneously: <br />1. Shuttle availability slipped - as new things often do; and at the same time, <br />2. Solar activity increased above predictions, which expanded the upper atmosphere, increased drag, and brought Skylab down even faster. <br /><br />We controlled Skylab through through the final day; in fact, when our entry debris footprint prediction suggested that southeastern Canada would be under the debris track, we commanded the spacecraft to change attitude and drag profile to - successfully - put its 3 thousand mile debris track right down the Atlantic, and around the Cape of Good Hope. I last saw Skylab data on my screen as it was burning up, over Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, at about 400,000 ft altitude. <br /><br />We were extremely surprised later when it turned out that the debris track was not 3000 miles - but three times that - leading the heaviest remaining parts, the oxygen tanks, to land in the Aussie outback. No one in 1979 could have predicted that. <br /><br />What Matters RIGHT NOW?? The Bush Ad. ordered the Shuttle cancelled (in 2004) without any US replacement for astronaut transportation services. The Obama Administration's first major space decision was to rectify that: by creating a US Commercial Crew Development Program that used innovative, government/industry cost-sharing partnerships to jump-start a brand-new, cost-effective, competitive commercial space transportation industry. And progress has been made. <br /><br />The Administration's budget request to continue this innovative effort, however, is now under attack by the large traditional NASA contractors and their congressional district supporters, who are trying in the House to reduce the Administration request by 70% or more, essentially gutting the attempt to create a true, multi-competitor American led industry. Instead they want to build a truly un-needed, hugely expensive government designed/owned/operated superbooster; leaving human transportation to and from the ISS something we continue to pay the Russian's over $1b for. <br /><br />Both the group, Tea Party and Space, and conservative Republican Cong. Rohrbacher, support the Obama plan to get off of Russian dependency via jump-starting a new American industry. This is not a partisan issue; it is, however, an issue of Old Aerospace, campaign contributions, and trying to kill the new to keep funding the old.<br /><br />How this plays out, this year, will determine whether America continues being a true space faring leader or not; and whether American tax dollars continue to go solely to paying Russian space engineers, instead of American ones. <br /><br />Obama, the Tea Party, and Cong. Rohrbacher all agree: we need to fight back against the big donations and ensure the US Commercial Crew Development effort is fully funded. <br /><br />Dave Huntsman<br />My opinion only.Dave Huntsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04058001791396741375noreply@blogger.com