‘Do the right thing’ is not a joke or or just a mouthed phrase to Cape workers, but a creed in which they take pride. Those workers are fully aware of the lives at stake and of the taxpayers investment. They take their jobs very seriously and the take their failures very much to heart.
99.99% percent are decent, honest, hardworking folk. But then you always get the exception that proves the rule.
Hansen disgraces the efforts of the vast majority.
Over time, what I’ve seen happening in “government labs” is that there is a constant process of seeking out new talent. The best of them gather resume bullets, take advantage of educational subsidies, and then, advanced degrees in hand, move on to higher paying opportunities in the private sector as quickly as they can. Some become contractors. Some find their way into private laboratories or universities.
The ones that stay on tend to be the less competent and less ambitious ones. Some are willing to trade off job satisfaction for job security, or they find they have to.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with job security, but the government environment over time tends to effectively stifle one’s spirit and creativity. The constant pressure to contract out meaningful, interesting work is one of the big reasons for this.
Of course, there are always exceptions, but a buildup of dead wood over time is the result. That process afflicts all disciplines, not just scientists.
Most of these people tend to be low profile types, but you do get the occasional whack job like Hansen who seems to have abandoned a scientist’s quest for knowledge and truth for some other agenda. Nearly his entire career has been spent working for the government. One has to wonder why. He seems to be in full CYA mode now. He knows he’s in a hole, but yet he’s digging even faster.
But most of them, as you say, are good people, solid and reasonable, but they’re not the best.
Because of the nature of their work, NASA is probably less susceptible to this process, but it still happens. Considering the full spectrum of federal laboratories and related agencies, I stand by my statement, though I certainly could have said it better.