February 21st, 2009 by Kevin A. Barnes
Earlier this week I learned from the NASA website that Konrad Dannenberg died on Monday at the age of 96. Dannenberg was a key member of Wernher von Braun’s original engineering team that developed the hardware and processes which enabled humans to reach the moon.
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Kevin meets rocket pioneer
Konrad Dannenberg on December 31, 2002. |
While attending the adult version of Space Camp in Huntsville in late 2002 and early 2003, I had the pleasure of meeting Dannenberg and talking with him about his experiences. We spoke at length about his work on various launch systems for NASA, including the Redstone — which lifted the first American astronauts into space — and the Saturn V which carried the first humans to the moon. Dannenberg told me how, at the request of Wernher von Braun, he started and managed the development of the Saturn V (which still holds the title of “largest rocket ever built”). Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Science, Space Exploration, Technology, The Future | Tags: aviation history, Foo Fighters, Konrad Dannenberg, NASA, Operation Paperclip, Redstone, Saturn V, UFOs
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January 11th, 2009 by Kevin
This past week, Mike Griffin announced he is stepping down on January 20 as NASA chief administrator, the politically appointed post that runs America’s space agency. As the Obama transition team accelerates its search for Griffin’s successor, here’s my modest proposal for the next head of NASA: Kevin A. Barnes (yes, me!).
Control your laughter for just a minute. I may have statistically about 0.00% chance of being appointed, but this is a good opportunity to examine the skills, experience and personality that NASA needs right now in its chief administrator in order to succeed: Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Science, Space Exploration, The Future | Tags: Alan Stern, Barack Obama, Charles Kennel, NASA, Sally Ride, Scott Hubbard, transition team, Wesley Huntress
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December 8th, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
During the last two weeks, there have been some tantalizing clues as to what the U.S. space exploration policy may look like during President Obama’s administration. First the Obama Transition Team submitted a series of questions to NASA, apparently to gauge various program options and costs for manned space exploration. And then on yesterday morning’s Meet the Press, the President-Elect made a comment that sounded almost Apollo-era in its vision of, and reverence toward, human space exploration.
First consider the questions submitted to NASA. According to Space.com, on November 24 the Obama Transition Team submitted a five-page questionnaire to NASA.
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Categories: Science, Space Exploration | Tags: Aries, human space exploration, NASA, Obama, Orion, space policy, space shuttle
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November 22nd, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
NASA currently is developing the spacecraft and launch systems that will replace the aging U.S. space shuttle fleet. Unfortunately NASA’s current timeline leaves a gap of several years between when the last shuttle is decommissioned and when the new Aries spacecraft is ready to carry humans into space. The problem is one of budget – specifically that NASA’s current budget cannot fund the accelerated research and development necessary in order to have Aries ready when the shuttle retires.
CNN’s Miles O’Brien recently looked into what’s known about President-elect Obama’s space policy and what impact the Obama space policy is likely to have on the approaching gap in U.S. manned spaceflight.
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Categories: Science, Space Exploration, The Future | Tags: Aries, NASA, Obama, space policy, space shuttle
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August 5th, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
A number of small items from NASA’s public relations efforts have caught my attention in the last several days, and — like pieces of a puzzle — I’m beginning to suspect that they all fit together in a way that points to a major upcoming announcement about Mars. But unfortunately I also suspect that announcement will disappoint those who champion the idea of a Mars that once (or even still today) harbored life.
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Categories: Science, Space Exploration | Tags: Mars, NASA, Phoenix lander, space
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