Keith Cowing is ****ed. It seems someone else criticized NASA.

I thought the newsgroup might enjoy how Keith Cowing (NASAWatch.com)
reacts to critical remarks about his old comments. (He found some time
to respond between TV appearances.)

I quoted some of his early comments about the Columbia accident back to
him, and added my comment at the bottom.

Keith responded with a statement that (I'm sure) will stand up there
with the "nuts" message from Bastogne during WWII. :-)

- Eric Dahlstrom

---------
From: Keith Cowing
Date: Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:40:45 PM US/Eastern
To: Eric Dahlstrom
Subject: a state of denial

Bite me.


On Tuesday, August 26, 2003, at 09:37 PM, Eric Dahlstrom wrote:
[from http://www.nasawatch.com/columbia.html]
------
18 March 2003: Sen. Nelson denounces NASA, AP

"U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said arrogance and a lack of communication among
NASA officials contributed to the disintegration of the space shuttle
Columbia six weeks ago. The former astronaut, who flew on Columbia in
1986, said Monday that the same problems befell the Challenger before it
exploded in 1986."

Editor's note: Senator, flying on a Space Shuttle as a political
passenger 17 years ago doesn't make you a rocket scientist. Making such
a simplistic linakge between these two accidents is clear evidence of
lack of understanding about both events on your part.

------
25 April 2003: Retooling NASA's culture, Christian Science Monitor
"In a space agency where safety is typically gauged by statistics and
flight experience, can managers make sufficient room for an engineer's
hunch or intuition?"

25 April 2003: NASA Culture, Shuttle Losses May Be Linked, Discovery.com
"The problems that existed at the time of Challenger have not been
fixed," said Vaughn, testifying at the end of a day-long public hearing
in Houston.

25 April 2003: Board to revamp NASA management organization, SpaceflightNow

Editor's note: Culture, culture, culture. NASA culture is broke. Yea, I
use that term too when I describe problems - pre- and post- Columbia and
I don't disagree in a generic sense. Yet the media seems to be using the
word as generic buzzword for a specific issue they just don't seem to be
able to describe. One exception: Bill Harwood at SpaceflightNow has
taken the time to parse the topic - not just with short quotes, but with
long quotes - and some thinking.

------------
26 August 2003: CAIB: Same problems as Challenger. NASA culture.

How many foam hits does it take before NASA recognizes a problem? And
how many rants do you make before you recognize a problem?
I suggest you re-read your comments. In the past few years, you have
picked some strange moments to defend NASA against valid criticisms.
Sort of like a spurned lover who cannot hear any bad comments about the
person that dumped them.

- Eric

------------
Keith Cowing, Editor
- http://www.spaceref.com
- http://www.marstoday.com
- http://www.astrobiology.com
- http://www.nasawatch.com
- http://www.mars.tv

AOL IM: keithlcowing

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