h (Rand Simberg) wrote:

:On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 14:45:27 GMT, in a place far, far away, Fred J.
:McCall made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
:such a way as to indicate that:
:
:
::I'm only saying that it's easy relative to how difficult some think
::it, not in any absolute sense.
:
:Well, that's the first time THAT has come out.
:
:No, it isn't. You haven't been paying attention.

********.

::Was ISS 'easy'?
::It largely seems so, by your definition, and yet it is an order of
::magnitude over the original budget estimates and still seems well
::short of the originally discussed capabilities.
::
::That has nothing to do with the intrinsic ease or difficulty of
::building space stations.
:
:No? Then where is all the money going? It's easy, remember? Why did
:it have to keep adding budget and schedule?
:
:Because the purpose of the program was not to build a space station.
:The purpose of the program was to provide full employment in certain
:congressional districts.

We have congressional districts near Baikonur now?

--
"Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar
territory."
--G. Behn