The Genesee Country Village is actually comprised of two villages: an 18^th century village and a 19^th century village laid out next to each other.  The villages are manned by volunteers dressed in period costumes who explain what each building and business did way back when.  Some of the businesses are in actual use and you can “apprentice” at them for a fee of $150.  You can also bring your family for an entire weekend to live in a 18^th century cabin and live the “pioneer” life for a fee.

The first thing we saw when we entered was two oxen.  I’ve never seen oxen before and was surprised at how large they were.  They make a regular size cow look small.  I had first had thought they were bulls due to the large horn set they had, but as we got closer I knew they were bigger than any bull I’ve ever seen.  I can see why the early settlers valued them so much for they have the strength to pull a plow through some of the toughest ground you can think of short of solid rock.

We visited the one room school house next and found a young charming lady that was very informative about the building and what went on there.  School was usually held during the winter months when there wasn’t much going on at the farms.  Basically it is still the same today.  Not many schools are open during the summer months and that can be traced back to our days as an agricultural nation.

The desks were one long slanted board set out in rows with benches for seats.  Each student area consisted of just a small chalkboard, called a slate board, and some chalk for the students to do their lessons on.  Up front, was a lectern where the teacher sat on a raised pedestal so she could oversee the classroom.  Behind her was a larger chalkboard and a small rack of books.  Due to books being scarce during that time period, the students probably did not handle the books, just the teacher.

It was one room, heated by one stove and the student body consisted of a mix of ages.  The older students would assist the teacher with the younger ones in their lessons and being a role model.  Of course the older students had their lessons to tend to also.  I’ve read a study somewhere that suggested this type of learning atmosphere was actually better for the children compared to the system today where all the children are segregated by age and class.  Considering the state of our economy and the shortfall in funding for our schools, those type of mixed classrooms may someday come back into vogue.

We next moved on to the Blacksmith shop.  This is one of the areas where you can apprentice.  He had a small forge powered by a bellows that he pulled by hand to stoke the fire.  Basically his job was to create or fix metal farm equipment and even assemble a Conestoga wagon from time to time when a pioneer family was moving westward.  They were also called Prairie Schooners and used by the thousands to move settlers further west.  One of his biggest jobs was to make nails.  If you apprentice there, that is exactly what you will learn to make.  Don’t laugh!  Nails were far more important than you realize.  It helped hold your home and barn together.  When a family would move, they wouldn’t sell the house, but actually burn it down and retrieve the nails from the ashes to use in their next home.

We next moved on to visit the cooper.  A cooper is a barrel maker and bucket maker.  With nothing but hand tools, an experienced cooper can make a entire barrel in one day.  You can also apprentice there and will learn how to make a bucket of your own and hopefully it can carry water.

We went on and visited the apothecary or drug store, town hall and the gun smith.  The gun smith has on display several flint lock rifles from the late 18^th to early 19^th centuries.  I got to hold one and was amazed at how heavy it was.  I wouldn’t want to have to carry that all day.

We visited the local paper and I had an entertaining talk with the printing press operator.  He showed me a flyer he had just printed announcing a reward for his runaway apprentice saying he was willing to pay a bucket of ashes for his return.  This was a tongue in cheek way of saying that the newspaper publisher was no longer responsible for any debts, mischief, etc. that the runaway apprentice got into.  Normally, an apprentice was answerable to his Master and the Master was answerable to anything the apprentice did out in the community.  The Master is sort of like a parent, but he would be teaching the apprentice his trade along with the parental responsibilities.

We next visited the brewery, situated next to a small field of wheat and hops, called W. Grieve Brewer and distiller * Malster.  They had large iron kettle big enough for three men to heat their water in and the whole set up to make beer.  The building was two stories and due to the heating of the kettle, very hot inside.  My son-in-law, Matthew, spent a good bit of time inside talking with the brew masters.  Matt brews his own beer as a hobby and after tasting the beer made in a similar manner later that night and Matt’s dark lager he made,  I will take Matt’s beer any day.  I think he could teach the  brew masters a couple things about making beer.

We visited the carriage house which contained carriages of all types and some horse drawn sleds.  There was even an old horse drawn beer wagon for Genesee Beer that existed long before Budweiser’s Clydesdale teams.  The carriages were exquisite and one resembled an Model T Ford.  I’m sure this type of carriage was where Henry Ford got his idea for his first mass produced car.

There were many beautiful homes, especially in the 19^th century village, but the one that caught my eye was the Octagon House.  This is a house that was first designed by Orson Squire Fowler, a famous lecturer on Phrenology (the ability to read personalities of people by mapping the bumps on their heads) and amateur architect.

Fowler had come up with a design for a house that consisted of 8 sides instead of the customary 4 sides that ended up having 20% more square footage than a regular house that would sit on the same plot of land.  Inside he had a large central staircase directly in the center of the home that allowed warm air to rise up and heat the upper floors during the winters and warm air to escape out of the top of the house during the summer months.  Basically, he developed the first central air and heat system for a home.

The houses were commonly designed with a veranda circling the entire home, sometimes one would be on each floor.  The houses were customarily 2-3 stories high and topped off with a cupola that gave a person a 360 degree view of their property.  Some roofs were designed to be slanted inwards so they could catch rainwater that was piped down through filters consisting of sand and charcoal and into underground cisterns.

One other “improvement” that Fowler brought into his design and is still used by homes today, is the indoor toilet.  Up to that time, you had to go outside to the outhouse to relieve yourself.  He argued that the restroom should be inside the home with adequate plumbing, and located under the stairs.  At first people laughed at this suggestion, but the elderly and invalid loved the idea.  In time folks went back to their 4 sided homes and forgot about the Octagon Houses, but the indoor toilet idea stayed on.  You can read more about octagon houses in Fowler’s book, A Home For All, or The Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building. Originally published in 1853, the book is still available as reprints on Amazon.  I bought a copy for my library.

The last thing that caught Gypsy and I’s eye was a garden behind a 19^th century mansion.  It was laid out in a square fenced off on one end by the house, the other end with a trellis thick with grape vines, and the sides with thick honeysuckle bushes that were nearly 10 feet tall.  Inside the garden was several square sections blocked off by small hedges and in these areas fruit trees, flowers, and various plants grew.  You could walk the garden between the squares with ease and enjoy the shade of the fruit trees and the smell of honeysuckles in the air.  On one end was a gazebo that had shutter doors, similar to doors we find on closets today, but larger that could be used to close off the gazebo during bad weather and open to the air during beautiful days.  The entire garden was quite impressive and I can envision a similar backyard garden someday in our future.

Later in the evening, they had a wine tasting event.  It rained clear up until it was time for the tasting so nearly half of the vendors from the local wineries did not show up.  The ones that did show up did not have any wine that we tasted worth buying for our collection.  I do have to say, there was a jazz band in the main building that was fantastic and we spent quite a bit of time enjoying their music.

Overall it was a wonderful day and we are looking forward to returning in the future.

“Fly Your Face in Space

NASA wants to put a picture of you on one of the two remaining space shuttle missions and launch it into orbit. To launch your face into space and become a part of history, just follow these steps:

First…Select the Participate button at the bottom of this page and upload your image/name, which will be flown aboard the space shuttle. Don’t have a picture to upload? No problem, just skip the image upload and we will fly your name only on your selected mission!

Next…Print and save the confirmation page with your flight information.

Later…Return to this site after launch to print your Flight Certificate – a commemorative certificate signed by the Mission Commander. You can also check on mission status, view mission photographs, link to various NASA educational resources and follow the commander and crew on Twitter or Facebook.”

Go to www.faceinspace.nasa.gov to upload your picture and get to “fly” on one of the last two Space Shuttle Missions.  Remember, this is  probably the last time you will see American Astronauts fly on an American ship, so don’t pass  up this historic opportunity!

We have been doing some hiking in two local state parks, Letchworth and Stony Brook.  I’ve written about Letchworth before when RV-103 was on her first mission, but this is the first time we ever did any hiking there.

Letchworth is known as the “Grand Canyon of the East” and earns that title.  We took a seven-mile hike down the gorge and viewed two of their three large falls up close.  We then looped around through the woods and back to where we started.  While we were in the woods, we saw a fox, deer, and I even got a picture of a coyote!   The wildlife is quite abundant here and the scenery is beautiful.  We plan on returning soon to do some more hiking and exploring in the near future.  Below are some pictures I took during our last visit there.

Do you see the train crossing over the first falls?

View from above the first falls

Genesee River

Second falls

Another view of the second falls

See the stone bridge?

"Two paths diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

The coyote didn't like his picture taken...

...but the deer didn't mind.

Time to take a break!

Stony Brook State Park is hidden away just outside of Dansville NY.  Driving by the park entrance and over the little brook would never give you a clue as to how steep and deep the actual gorge is.  During the late 1800’s, this place was a private resort and many people would travel to this place for privacy and relaxation.  There are two trails, the Eastern Rim and the Western Rim.  Each trail is only about 1 mile long, but very steep in places.  As you climb up one of the rim trails (I recommend ascending the Eastern Rim and descending the Western Rim) you can overlook the gorge in various places.  It surprising how quickly you rise in elevation.  Thankfully there are steps in place at the most difficult places thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps from the 1930’s.

As you descend the Western Rim, you can choose the trail that follows Stony Brook and wade in the water for refreshment, or you can take the upper Western Rim Trail to overlook the gorge again.  We have done both and found each route has its particular beauty.  Though it is only a two-mile hike, the steepness of the climb and descent will make it feel much longer.  Stony Brook has three falls in the gorge, with the biggest being over 45 feet high.

Next up: RV-103 travels to the 18th and 19th centurys for some wine.

The first series of Lectures is titled:

What’s It Like to Work on the Space Shuttle-The Misadventures of a Space Cadet.

Any interested schools or civic groups that may be interested can contact Rocketman at Rocketman@RV-103.com for rates and availability.

Currently, RV-103 and her crew are conducting a mission in the Western New York Twin Tiers Region, but may be coming to your area soon.

Join the Misadventures!

www.RV-103.com

It seems that NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden thinks not only we should forgo true exploration and the Moon and instead get “religion”, and not just any old religion, but a full partnership with the Muslim world.  Give me a break!

Charlie Bolden on Al Jazeera Television

“When I became the NASA administrator — or before I became the NASA administrator — he (Obama) charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering,”

Credit: IBDEditorials.com/cartoons

(If you notice he said he was asked to do this before he became NASA administrator. So now we know that was part of the interview process for getting the job. Now we know why there were a ton of names mentioned before anyone got the job! None of them wanted the job under those terms!!!! – sb023 comment on NasaWatch.com)

(Why worry about getting moon or Mars? After 2 more shuttle flights we will not be able to go anywhere, for maybe dozens of years. Has anyone noticed that none of the 3 things Bolden has been charged to do involves actually launching things or flying in space? Is it too much to ask that NASA be charged with space exploration. Why is making Muslim nations feel good about themselves, NASA’s mission? Shouldn’t that be up to the Muslim nation. Obama is US president and NASA is US agency, shouldn’t they do something to make thier own citizens feel good? – Mungo comment on NasaWatch.com)

It is true that Middle Eastern Nations contributed in the distant past significantly, especially to astronomy and mathematics, prior to the establishment of the Muslim religion, but they have done nothing to improve science or math since then.

I am beginning to seriously wonder if this man was ever fit to command a Space Shuttle in the past, let alone administer America’s Human Space Flight Program.  I have never in my life seen a man sell his soul and integrity so completely as Charlie Bolden has done to Obama. Good Lord!  In the Muslim world, he would be known as a dhimmi and rightly so.

Charlie Bolden also said in the interview, “…the United States is not going to travel beyond low-Earth orbit on its own…” I guess Mr. Bolden forgot that we did travel beyond Earth orbit 9 times between 1968 and 1972 (Apollo 8, 10, and 13 orbited the Moon while 6 Apollo missions actually landed on the Moon.) to the Moon on our own and still remain the only nation to do so.  Does he want the Muslim nations to provide magic carpets so we can fly beyond Earth orbit?  I think he and Obama have watched Disney’s Aladdin once too often.

Obama and Bolden Fly On Their New Magic Carpet

I keep pinching myself hoping to wake up from this insanity that has infected NASA and our nation.

UPDATE:  Nasawatch and Fox News report that Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, has called for Charlie Bolden’s resignation over this and for supporting Obama’s PowerPoint Plan.

More Reactions:

“President Obama likes to say ‘if we could put a man on the moon’ we can do anything, from socializing medicine to abandoning fossil fuels. That’s nonsense on stilts for a host of reasons. But it’s also ironic, given that we can’t even put a man on the moon anymore. Not when NASA’s foremost priority is boosting the self-esteem of children and Muslims.” –columnist Jonah Goldberg

Michelle Malkin’s site has some great logo ideas for Obama’s and Charlie Bolden’s new mission for NASA.

Spacedout and Keith Cowling summed it up pretty well at NasaWatch:

There are basically two sides to this civil war:  Obama, NASA Senior Administration officials, and a few “Obamanauts” who wish to kill America’s Human Space Flight Program vs many mid-level NASA managers, employees, and contractors who are fighting for Constellation and our Human Space Flight Program.  As with all civil wars, this war is going to be more damaging in the long run compared to other wars.

Congress, during the last year, had passed a requirement that NASA had to get approval from Congress before canceling Constellation.  There were fears that though Obama had promised during the election campaign he would support our Human Space Flight Program and our setting up a base on the Moon by 2020, he might be lying and would try to cancel Constellation and our Human Space Flight Program.  For once, Congress did something very forward thinking and prudent though Obama and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden don’t seem to be that concerned about the law unless it’s in their favor.

Credit NasaWatch.com

On May 27^th, Jeff Hanley, Constellation’s Project Manager was removed from his job by Charlie Bolden for doing his job in promoting Constellation!  Charlie Bolden felt that Mr. Hanley needed to lose his job because he “was “conflicted” and had become a lightening rod for controversy,” per the Huntsville Times.  Funny, since Constellation is still on the books as America’s official Human Space Flight Program and Obama’s plan has not yet been approved by Congress, who is the “lightening rod for controversy” Mr. Bolden?

Senator Richard Shelby and other lawmakers felt this firing of Mr. Hanley was NASA senior administration’s way of bypassing Congress and getting rid of Constellation by getting rid of their effective personnel in the program. “NASA leadership removed a capable program manager in its continuing efforts to suppress internal voices of dissent to their visionless space exploration plan,” Shelby said this afternoon. “This action furthers an atmosphere where NASA’s leadership team has become a key impediment to space exploration moving forward.”

In possible retaliation for Senator Shelby’s criticism of the NASA administration and Obama, the Citizens Against Government Waste (at Obama’s prodding?) named Senator Shelby the “Porker of the Month” for wanting to save Constellation. Congressman Bill Posey rose to Senator Shelby’s defense and pointed out, “The real waste is canceling a program that’s near completion after investing $9 Billion into it.”

Credit: Florida Today

But Obama and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden weren’t done yet. Charlie Bolden and his legal team dug up a 140 year old law (Yes I said a 140 year old law created before Jules Verne had written his fictional account of man going to the Moon) called the Anti-Deficiency Act.  The Anti-Deficiency Act requires money to be set aside to cover termination costs in case a government contract is cancelled.  Bolden wanted to use this 140-year-old law to force the contractors working on Constellation to lay off the workers and use the funds to prepare to shut down Constellation and America’s Human Space Flight Program.  “NASA told Congress this week it intends to start shutting down its moon program despite legislation prohibiting the agency from terminating Project Constellation without the approval of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.”  “It also comes despite rulings by both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals that places all termination liability on the government rather than contractors.”

Stonewalling Congress is another tactic being used to kill Constellation.  Congress has been getting frustrated with Obama’s plan lacking any detail and has ordered NASA to hand over data and material that would explain the plan better.  But, “Word has it that the White House views this request as a matter of Executive privilege. As such it is unlikely that NASA will be allowed to provide much of what the House members are demanding to see.” – NasaWatch article titled “House Gets Firm With NASA Over Data Request.”

NASA officials did throw a bone to the people wanting to return to live on the Moon by announcing a new video game (part of Obama’s new space program?) called Moonbase Alpha.  Instead of us really going back to the Moon to live and work, we would do it online in a video game.  Oh the genius of this!

“NASA INVITES JOURNALISTS, VIDEO GAME EXPERTS TO REVIEW ONLINE GAME

WASHINGTON — News media and video game reviewers have an opportunity
to preview a new NASA video game, Moonbase Alpha, in advance of its
worldwide release.

Moonbase Alpha is a game with single and multiplayer options where
players step into the role of an exploration team member in a
futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical
systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar
array and life support equipment. “

NASA’s senior administration also went on the offensive to try to explain why people didn’t “understand” Obama’s new plan.  In the article titled Malice, Mischief and Misconceptions in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space online edition, the writer discussed this attempt; “The latest attempt to explain NASA’s new direction is an article published in Space.com by Clara Moskowitz.  She tries to “correct” some alleged “misunderstandings” about the Obama administration’s new direction and budget for NASA.  Her article quotes several space luminaries, who opine that the new path is simply “not understood” by a few petulant detractors who stubbornly refuse to accept Flexible Path as advertised.” In other words, we are too stupid to understand Obama’s plan, including the tens of thousands engineers, technicians, aerospace professionals, Congressmen, Senators, and nearly all of the retired astronauts that are free to speak up including Neil Armstrong, and Gene Cernan.

Personally, I think the Cartoon series called South Park does a fine job explaining Obama and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden’s new “plan.”  ***Language Warning***

Credit: NasaWatch

But, the Pro-American Human Space Flight people haven’t been idle.    Mr. Dale Thomas, who replaced Jeff Hanley as the Constellation Project manager, continues the fight.  “Dale Thomas has simply picked up where Jeff Hanley left off and has told his staff that this is what he is doing. Nothing has changed and JSC still operates in open defiance of NASA Headquarters – starting with its center director.”

Though Charlie Bolden is trying to use the 140-year-old law, The Anti-Deficiency Act, to shut off funding for Constellation, various NASA centers and mid-level managers are still obeying the Congressional directive and 2010 budget requirements and fund Constellation work.   “…Mr. Bolden in recent weeks issued directives intended to immediately halt or sharply curtail funding for continued work on some big-ticket projects. They include the family of Ares rockets being developed by Alliant Techsystems Inc. However, midlevel NASA contracting officials in the past few days released more than $160 million to Alliant. Andrew Hunter, a NASA budget official, said Wednesday the action was intended to prevent Alliant from being forced to abruptly stop all Ares work and lay off employees. Lockheed Martin Corp. also got the green light to receive $80 million for other work related to a crew capsule.” Wall Street Journal (6/24)

Even Mr. Bolden’s press spokesman defended this defiance of Obama and Mr. Bolden in a recent article titled Obama Space Plan Under Continuous Assault.  “Asked about providing continued funds for Ares work, Bob Jacobs, a press spokesman for Mr. Bolden, said Tuesday: “Whether or not it fits the priorities” previously mandated by Mr. Bolden “is kind of up for interpretation.” The spokesman said “a commitment was made” by NASA earlier to provide the money.”

The most potent weapon that is starting to be used in this civil war is the political awakening of the Human Space Flight workforce.  Most aerospace workers didn’t give a hoot about politics, but they now realize that their dreams of Human Space Flight and their jobs are dependent upon a politician’s whim and they don’t like it.  They now understand that elections do have consequences and when you elect a man that has never managed a McDonalds, how can he manage a country let alone Human Space Flight?

This large body of tens of thousands of Human Space Flight workers, a sleeping giant so to speak, has awakened and they are ticked off.  They are calling their representatives in Washington, showing up at town hall meetings when the democrats are actually brave enough to hold one, and becoming politically active.  The first politicians that will feel their wrath this November and November of 2012 are the ones that sold them out and supported Obama killing America’s Human Space Flight Program.  Politicians such as Senator Bill Nelson, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, and Congressman Allan Grayson, all from Florida.

Credit: Florida Today

Meanwhile Congress is getting into the debate.  Sixty two Congressmen recently sent a letter to Obama “expressing concern that the decision to cancel the Constellation Program could mean that the United States would cede its leadership in human space flight to other countries.”

Six Senators have written Charlie Bolden asking him “to abandon efforts to slow down Constellation by requiring contractors to withhold funds to cover termination liability.” Per Space Politics  Or in other words, quit trying to use a 140-year-old law to kill Constellation, which never had been used by NASA before, without Congressional approval!   It should be noted that Florida Senator Bill Nelson did NOT sign that letter, but it’s already well known he sold out our Human Space Flight Program along with Congresswoman Kosmos for a ride on Air Force One and a photo op with Obama.

Maryland Congressman Ruppersberger recently met with the workers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, which is far more than I can say of Obama, Nelson, and Kosmos not meeting with Kennedy Space Center workers, but hiding from them  last April.   According to the Huntsville Times June 21^st issue, Congressman Ruppersberger is “concerned about ending” Constellation saying, “It gives a head start to a lot of our competitors, especially the Chinese, and I don’t want to give any country a head start when it comes to controlling the skies and controlling space.”

Elderly Senator John Glenn even got into the act, but took the tack arguing that the Shuttle Program should not be shut down until a reliable replacement is ready.  Senator Glenn is about 6 years too late for that argument though the very late effort is appreciated.  At least he’s not doing “Dancing with the Stars” and “World Wide Wrestling” like the only Apollo astronaut to support Obama is, 80-year-old Buzz Aldrin.  It’s easier to take the elderly Senator Glenn more seriously than poor old Buzz.

It appears that even the Russians are starting to think it’s a bad idea to be left as the only ride to the International Space Station.  In an article dated 6-26 in the Parabolic Arc titled Chinese Shenzhou Vehicle Eyed as ISS Backup to Russian Soyuz, “Roscosmos chief Anatoly Perminov said the International Space Station partners are awaiting a response from China on an invitation to join the project. The interesting aspect is why the offer was made: Russia doesn’t want to be solely responsible for crew transport once the space shuttle retires.

“This is rather dangerous, any expert recognizes that. There must a backup for the Soyuz.We wish some country would have it, and we contacted China with its human spaceflight program mature enough to maintain crew transportation in the program, asking to join the ISS partnership. However there was no response,” Perminov said.

Oh, I can’t imagine this going over very well with Congress. Not. At. All. NASA issued a formal statement about this story on Friday: “We checked and confirmed with the director of the Russian Federal Space Agency human space flight program that Russia has not issued an invitation to China to join the International Space Station Program.” Personally, I think NASA is lying and trying to do some damage control before Congress finds out the truth.

Probably another thing that glaringly shows why Constellation should not be cancelled and our Human Space Flight program be handed over to private companies is the commercial companies themselves.  Six years ago, Space Ship One made history as the first privately built spacecraft to achieve sub-orbital flight.  They did two flights that year and none since then, though they were to be transporting tourists who pre-paid $200,000 apiece by now.  SpaceX has had 4 flights with their Falcon 1 rocket that failed 3 times and one flight with their Falcon 9 rocket, which had mixed results.  (See SpaceX Post) Those are the only two private companies that I know of that have put anything into space on their own besides the big boys such as Lockheed and Boeing.  Though the commercial industry supports Obama’s plan and the money that would come with it, they are probably the best hostile witness out there that shows they are not ready to take over the role of transporting our astronauts to low earth orbit or to the ISS.

This fight for our Human Space Flight is far from over.  But the damage Obama and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden have done already to NASA and our country’s aerospace community will take a long time to heal.  I was asked by a space blogger I respect very much if I thought NASA would recover from this division.  My answer, I don’t know.  I do fear that if our HSF is destroyed, that NASA will become irrelevant in a very short time.  Sometimes I think it’s only the contractors that still believe in the dream of our HSF program and America’s leadership role. I fear that NASA’s administration has lost that dream due to their lust for titles, power, and influence and therefore lost their direction and purpose.

Please go to www.Congress.org and use the contact information to contact your Senator and Congressman.  Ask them to support and save our Human Space Flight Program by saving Constellation.

]]> http://www.rv-103.com/?feed=rss2&p=702 4 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=692 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=692#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:58:34 +0000 Rocketman http://www.rv-103.com/?p=692

Recent Full Moon Over RV-103. Taken on my Iphone

I just realized when I made this post that it is the 100th post of RV-103.  Wow!  I thank you all for following this website and inputing your comments along the way.

I also want to thank the USA Educational Department for calling me on this auspicious occasion.  I really enjoyed talking with you all this evening.

Let’s see where the next 100 posts take us.

Be safe and be well.

Rocketman

]]> http://www.rv-103.com/?feed=rss2&p=692 1 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=690 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=690#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:55:52 +0000 Rocketman http://www.rv-103.com/?p=690 We had a weather front come through yesterday and things cooled down.  By the time we were ready to go to bed, I commented to Gypsy that I was cold.  I shut the windows and checked on our weather station that monitors the temps inside and outside RV-103.  It was 36 degrees outside!  4 degrees above freezing!  I have never seen it this cool in the summer, especially this far into summer.

Brrrr…time for the extra blanket.

]]> http://www.rv-103.com/?feed=rss2&p=690 1 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=665 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=665#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:08:55 +0000 Rocketman http://www.rv-103.com/?p=665 On June 4^th, 2010 SpaceX “successfully” launched their Falcon 9 rocket for the first time.  For that accomplishment, I give them my congratulations.  To launch a rocket and achieve orbit is a massive undertaking and very few nations can do that let alone private companies.

The reason I put the word “successfully” into quotes is because SpaceX has never, to my knowledge, released their mission goals or milestones they hoped to achieve during this inaugural launch of their Falcon 9.  Unlike NASA, Space X does not seem to have to release this information because they are a private company.

I would be more apt to say they had “limited success.”  Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, would only say that his rocket achieved orbit within one mile of their intended goal of 100 miles.  There is also the question of the first stage failure to land safely in the ocean to be recovered and the unusual spin the second stage experienced during flight.  That spinning stage was witnessed over Australia 45 minutes later resulting in numerous UFO calls to authorities.

Prior to launch, Elon Musk was making statements to downplay the launch realizing that most inaugural launches of new rockets historically have a 50% failure rate.  “Tomorrow’s launch, or the next day’s launch, should not be a verdict on the viability of commercial space,” he said.

Of course afterwards, Mr. Musk was making statements saying, “I think this bodes very well for the Obama plan.  I think it really helps vindicate the approach that he’s taking, and it shows that even a sort of small, new company like SpaceX can make a real difference.” I think part of his statement is post launch hubris from celebrating the launch and part of it was just public relations on Obama’s part.

With the limited knowledge of the launch goals we have, let’s break down just how “successful” this launch was.  Are they ready to climb another 150 miles and deliver supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station?  I’ll let you decide.

First of all, there is the failure of the 1^st stage to splash down in a controlled manner and be recovered.  These things happen.  Even in the Shuttle Program, occasionally the solid rocket boosters land a bit hard and are damaged.  During the Ares 1-X launch, the first stage had a parachute failure resulting in the stage being damaged during splashdown.

Second, was the unusual spin on the second stage.  Though the Falcon 9 achieved orbit, spinning end over end spewing out fuel from the side of the rocket is not good.  In 1966, Gemini 8 commanded by Neil Armstrong, had a thruster stick causing the spacecraft to violently spin out of control nearly killing the crew with one rotation occuring every second.  Armstrong shut off the thrusters and brought the spacecraft back to Earth saving the crew and the spacecraft, but without completing the mission objectives.  This occurred 44 years ago and NASA corrected the problem. As far as I know, NASA never experienced such a problem with their spacecrafts again (with the exception of Apollo 13 that was due to an explosion on board).  End over end spins are dangerous and can lead to the loss of the spacecraft, cargo, and more importantly the crew.  SpaceX just experienced what NASA has dealt with and corrected 44 years ago.

Gemini 8

The original purpose of SpaceX was to launch payloads in orbit for a cheaper price.  They also became part of the Commercial Orbiter Transportation Services (COTS) program done by NASA to set up a way to supply the International Space Station with cargo during the gap between the Shuttle Program and Constellation.  NASA at first, had no intention of using SpaceX to deliver crews to the ISS, for that was to be one of Constellation’s tasks (besides carrying crews to the Moon and back).  Obama changed all that by putting SpaceX into the role of being the one and only agency to transport human crews.  Considering SpaceX youth, inexperience, and a failure rate of 60% out of 5 total launches (Falcon 1 and Falcon 9), there are questions if this company is truly ready to take on the mantle and responsibilities of America’s Human Space Flight Program.

From a recent article on SpaceNews.com, “Roger Tetrault, a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) formed in the wake of the February 2003 space shuttle disaster, has joined the chorus of critics of NASA’s plan to cancel the Moon-bound Constellation program and rely on commercially oriented firms like Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to fly astronauts to the international space station.

“America’s path is now threatened by the decisions being proposed in the NASA budget,” Tetrault wrote in a May 27 letter to U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas), a critic of President Barack Obama’s proposed human spaceflight overhaul. “We are cancelling a program built around the findings and lessons learned from Columbia. There is no clear mission or direction given to NASA, and the use of proven-technologies is being shunned. Further, the choice to commercialize our launch capability provides insufficient safety for the brave men and women that will be asked to ride these rockets. Surely, they deserve the best we can provide.”

“…the new entrepreneurial space transportation companies” should first demonstrate they can be counted on to deliver cargo before they are trusted with NASA’s human spaceflight mission.

“Only after they have proven that they are mature and safe enough, should they be allowed to step up to the much harder task of carrying humans…”

SpaceX has also not dealt with NASA as contractors such as United Space Alliance does everyday.  NASA requires “complete accountablity” from it’s contractors when it comes to Human Space Flight.  This means that every nut, bolt, screw, etc must be accounted for on the ship.  USA has to provide where they got the parts, who made them, who installed them, who signed off on it, etc.  The oversight and paperwork tracking all these parts and work done on the shuttles are immense and time consuming, but for good reason; the safety of the ship and the crew.  SpaceX has chaffed in the past over the Air Force’s regulations concerning range safety at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station which is next door to Kennedy Space Center.

“Musk said the decision to launch Falcon 9 from the Cape was a big contributing factor to the launch delay because of the huge volume of regulatory work that has to be completed to conduct a launch from the Cape.

Air Force rules and regulations at Cape Canaveral are increasingly being identified as big obstacles to Florida attracting more space business to the Cape. The costs, security demands and rules for launching rockets from the Air Force rocket range…”

I have no idea how SpaceX will accept and comply with  NASA’s oversight when and if they start launching crews.

I do hope for SpaceX’s continued success, but I do not think they are a viable replacement to Constellation, no matter what Obama thinks.  They do not have the decades of expertise, and institutional knowledge that contractors such as USA, Lockheed, and Boeing have.  SpaceX is just not ready for Prime Time yet nor will be for many years in my humble opinion.

See my past posts about Obama’s new plan here and here.

Update:  Dwayne A. Day wrote a wonderful article about determining SpaceX’s “success” rate compared to government success rates, etc.

]]> http://www.rv-103.com/?feed=rss2&p=665 14 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=659 http://www.rv-103.com/?p=659#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:13:45 +0000 Rocketman http://www.rv-103.com/?p=659 It’s really ironic if you think about it.  We spent about 4 months in CA and experienced rain and high winds, but not much else.  We have to come to New York for me to experience my very first earthquake!

Around 1:52 pm today I was sitting on one end of the couch watching TV while Gypsy was taking a nap on the other end.  The next I know, the RV starts rocking side to side waking Gypsy up.  I looked outside the window expecting to see the trees bending from a strong wind gust, but they were standing straight up without a single leaf fluttering.  The rocking went on for a good 10 seconds.

“What’s going on?” asked Gypsy.

“I don’t know!  It’s not the wind.” I replied in a puzzled tone.

I went outside to see if a group of people  was pushing hard on the RV, but there was no one around.  I came back in and Gypsy suggested that maybe it was an earthquake.  After a few minutes, the Drudge Report put up a story of a earthquake in Ottawa Canada, nearly 460 miles away.

Sure enough that was what we felt.  The USGS reports that the quake was a 5.0 quake and was felt all the way east into Massachusetts, as far west as Wyoming, and as far south as Cincinnati OH over 1200 miles away from Ottawa.

Commander Merlin of course showed her coolness during this earthquake.  She was sleeping on the bed and never twitched a ear.

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