Saturday, July 29, 2006

NASA blows off GAO recommendations



Hmm. A recent Space.com story explains that certain forces on Capitol Hill, including the powerful General Accounting Office, want NASA to slow down their decision on picking a builder for the new CEV spacecraft. NASA however has basically blown off the GAO's recommendations, a highly unusual maneuver to say the least. The GAO is highly respected in Washington, and rarely do their recommendations go unheeded, much less get shoved back in their faces. NASA's swift outright rejection of the GAO's recommended timeline is an indication that they are in a real hurry to start work. In fact, a little birdy told me that one of the two bidders (Lockheed Martin is in competition with a Northrop-Boeing consortium) has been told that they will be expected to be putting out production designs within one week of being awarded the contract.

Which begs the question: What's the hurry? Hmm...

Industry sources say the Northrop-Boeing team has the inside track heading into August's decision.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Mini Book Review - Strange Angel

George Pendle's "Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons" is the second posthumous biography of Parsons in the last few years. It basically rehashes the same material as Feral House's "Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons" by "John Carter." Pendle, however is lighter on the details of some of the nuttier aspects of Parsons life, especially his involvement with Aliester Crowley and the OTO. He glosses over the deep hatred Parsosns had for Western culture and society, and chooses to view him as eccentric rather than sociopathic.

Pendle also downplays Parsons "Babalon Working" with L. Ron Hubbard, preferring to focus more on Hubbard's wife stealing and confidence games. In all, Parsons comes off as more buffoonish than dangerous, and that I believe is a disservice to his readers. Parsons sought nothing less than the destruction of civilization, and while that may seem more amusing than threatening through the hourglass of time, it is deserving of a serious review since Parsons, as a founder of JPL, was hardly historically insignificant.

In the end, I'd have to recommend "Sex and Rockets" over "Strange Angel." It is a deeper, more honest and critical look at a man who might have done far more damage in the world had he lived longer.

"Project Osiris" to the Moon...

On July 20th, a well worn NASA ritual date that will resonate with anyone who has followed the work of Richard C. Hoagland and myself, collectSpace.com “leaked” the name of NASA’s new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). In what should come as no surprise to our readers, that name will be “Project Orion,” and the capsule itself will be an “Orion” capsule.

Orion is the stellar representation of the Egyptian god Osiris, and we have made note of numerous references to both Orion and Osiris in the long history of NASA. What NASA once sought to hide behind the symbolism of the infamous original Apollo mission patch, they now display openly. Such is their confidence that no one in the mainstream press will question either their motives or sincerity around this issue.

Unfortunately, until there is a comprehensive reference detailing NASA’s duplicitous obsession with Orion and Osiris, we can expect that the Space.com crowd and the empty suits at CNN will continue to ignore NASA’s bizarre behavior. We can only watch and wait for the official announcement to see if there is any comment on this from the mainstream press.

For more information on the Orion connection at NASA, see http://www.enterprisemission.com/kennedy1.html

The collectSPACE.com story

Mike Bara to Present at Joshua Tree

I've just agreed to do presentation at Richard C. Hoagland's Joshua Tree event in October. I'll be doing an hour (or two) on Columbia and the true story behind Columbus day. Of course, I will be doing it on Columbus day!

Now, if only I could figure out a way to get paid for it...

More Details on the Enterprise Mission web site.

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Thanks for dropping by the Lunar Anomalies Blogspot. Feel free to comment on the stories of the day, but keep it clean.

Mike