Posted on 02/05/2010 8:57:10 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The makers of America’s rockets and satellites “are still stumbling on fundamentals too often,” said Gary Payton, former astronaut and the top Air Force man on space acquisition. Payton’s comments seem to indicate a continuing trend of shoddy quality control among those whose toughest job is turning out top quality parts and software and making sure they work and fit well.
The biggest problem lies with suppliers, who are selling equipment that is just not up to snuff, Payton said. However, the primes also must shoulder blame since they are not overseeing suppliers at the factory level as closely as they must. Payton spoke to reporters at a Thursday lunch organized by the Space Foundation.
“We have been finding problems on satellites and launch vehicles; valves on launch vehicles, gyroscopes and reaction wheels on satellites,” Payton said. “We have been finding test execution problems.” The problems are not as severe they were five years ago during the peak of the period when most honest people declared space acquisition broken, when almost every space program suffered Nunn-McCurdy breaches and serious technical challenges. But Payton made clear there are still significant problems.
Payton is the second senior acquisition official to worry publicly about quality control this week. The Missile Defense Agency is struggling with lousy quality control among its contractors, its executive director said the agency’s budget rollout. David Altwegg, a highly respected missileer and engineer, told reporters that he and his colleagues stood watching a recent THAAD test. A drogue parachute pulled the target out of a C-17. “We all stood there and watched it fall into the water,” said an obviously disgusted Altweg. A failure review board was convened and found the test failed due to “a quality control problem.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dodbuzz.com ...
i could not agree more... they will kill a bunch of astronauts and then manned space in the process...
Launching problems with the Minotaur rocket has delayed the entire program of almost 14 months. These delays and mistakes are becoming a national security issue.
and they will kill people with commercial space. Some things are just nation state jobs..... this is one of them.
Gary Payton, former astronaut and the top Air Force man on space acquisition.
At first, I though they were talking about the basketball player :p
Another gift of the NEA and govt schools become leftist indoctrination centers: a dearth of students with the skills to go into engineering...
A system is only as good as its weakest link. The “low-tech” stuff such as cables, fasteners and connectors is what usually fails.
A system is only as good as its weakest link. The “low-tech” stuff such as cables, fasteners and connectors is what usually fails.
I agree.
Right. Because NASA has never killed astronauts. Those evil incompetent private firms, who (unlike a government agency) will go out of business it they do so, shouldn't be allowed to play the game.
Vitriolic statement at best.. you can do better...
Actually that isn’t true.
Many young people would like to be engineers but American firms prefer to hire foreigners. So the kids I’ve talked to say why even bother if they can’t get work later after graduating.
Is the problem engineers, or is it a lack of competent oversight for production of components?
“...gift of the NEA and govt schools become leftist indoctrination centers: a dearth of students with the skills to go into engineering...” This was the statement I was answering, Joe. It can be found at #6.
As to lack of quality control in manufacturing the parts needed by the space and aeronautical industries, that has little to with engineering and much to do with substandard management practices at point of manufacture.
Actually both are true. I was involved with a top 10 ranked college of engineering in a capacity that dealt with incoming students. This was in the late 80s. The math ability of the incoming American students dropped DRASTICALLY over my 4 years. Not in the top 20%, but in the next 50% group, the ones who become your bread-and-butter engineers.
It got much worse in the subsequent years (I stayed in touch).
Combine the points we are both making and they mean the USA is losing it’s engineering base. That will doom a nation both economically and militarily. After all, for all the ripping of engineers as “nerds,” they are essential for everything from cars to roads to chairs to bridges to weapons to medical equipment to spaceflight. Without a solid engineering base, a nation cannot compete. Period.
In 1993 I was laid off my job as an EQ Coordinator in a Nuclear Plant, part of a group in plant engineering. The following three years while I searched for another job, I got to know a lot of engineers who, though highly qualified, were not offered jobs.
Instead, companies were trying to bring in foreigners on work visas, to work as contractors.
One group I became acquainted with had 250,000 members of unemployed engineers from various fields. The children of those laid off engineers no doubt looked to work in fields other than engineering.
Why bother to study for an engineering degree when companies like Microsoft and Apple prefer to hire foreign engineers? When American companies start to once again begin hiring Americans, then young people here will return to math and science.
Just for the record, my kid was home schooled and could do calculus and algebra before he was sixteen. Not a genius, but he is very imaginative, creative, and works hard. He will be going into IT.
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