From: Jeff Davis (jdavis@socketscience.com)
Date: Sun Mar 26 2000 - 12:15:54 MST
On Sat, 25 Mar 2000 09:45:36 -0500,
John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net) wrote:
>The 17 ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory ...<little snippage>...is a
jewel, it's still working fine, it's still
>producing priceless data.
>Thus NASA has decided to destroy it on June 3.
What I read was that they didn't have time to plan and implement a repair.
Why? Because in the time that would take, there was a certain--surprise!
surprise! unacceptably high--probability that a second gyro would fail, and
then they would not be able to control the safety aspects of the situation.
What I did NOT read in my exposure to the story, was the sufficiency of
fuel to place the observatory in a higher orbit, thus giving them all the
flippin' time they need to save the thing.
I think this whole stinkin' thing needs some email directed to nasa's
congressional oversight committee.
Question: Is the person in charge of the disposition of the Compton Gamma
Ray Observatory the same person who was in charge of the Mars Polar Orbiter
orbital insertion regimen? Cause it sure looks like he's in possession of
the same skill set. Get a clue. Pink slip that turkey.
Best, Jeff Davis
"Everything's hard till you know how to do it."
Ray Charles
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