SLS is still a national disgrace
NASA's Space Launch System has launched once in four years, costing over $100 billion, with ongoing mismanagement affecting other missions and leading to a pessimistic outlook for the agency's future.
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NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continues to face criticism for its inefficiency and high costs, having launched only once in four years and consuming over $100 billion in development expenses. The program is described as a "national disgrace," with ongoing issues in hiring and retention at NASA attributed to the SLS's mismanagement and the agency's inability to maintain technical integrity. Other projects, such as Mars Sample Return and the Europa Clipper, have also experienced significant budget overruns and delays, reflecting a broader trend of mismanagement within NASA. The SLS's high operational costs, estimated at $12 million per day, have led to the cancellation or postponement of numerous other missions, including the VERITAS mission to Venus and the VIPER lunar rover. The blog highlights a lack of accountability and innovation within NASA, with program managers seemingly incentivized to push projects through despite known issues. The leadership under Administrator Bill Nelson has not effectively addressed these challenges, leading to a pessimistic outlook among NASA insiders regarding the agency's future. The blog concludes that without significant organizational changes, NASA's ability to execute complex projects will remain compromised.
- NASA's SLS program has launched only once in four years, costing over $100 billion.
- Other missions have faced significant delays and budget overruns due to SLS's mismanagement.
- NASA struggles with hiring and retention, impacting its technical capabilities.
- Leadership under Administrator Bill Nelson has not effectively addressed ongoing issues.
- The agency's future remains uncertain without substantial organizational changes.
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3 comments 6 Operators who are responsible for the day-to-day pointing of the instrument, monitoring systems for health, etc. Some redundancy here so that people can take vacations, not be on-call all the time, etc.
3 Astrophysics post-docs who decide which proposals are worth spending telescope time on. (Need an odd number to break ties)
1 Orbit mechanics specialist (to make sure it stays aloft, etc)
3 Systems engineers who have a good "big-picture" idea of how the satellite works
2 X-ray instrument subject matter experts
2 programmers for firmware updates of the systems on the satellite
2 programmers for programming systems on the ground
2 I.T. support
1 data analyst
2 electrical engineers for electrical issues debugging on the satellite, etc.
1 RF/EE for the ground based and comms stuff
2 mechanical engineers for mechanical issues debugging on the satellite, etc.
2 thermal systems engineers, to make sure things are at the proper temperatures
2 more astrophysics Ph.D's for helping answer technical questions about the instrument from the principle investigators for each proposal accepted for telescope time.
5 managers
2 receptionist/admins
1 HR
1 head honco
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