HOW COULD NASA GET AWAY WITH FAKING VIDEO

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HOW COULD NASA GET AWAY WITH FAKING VIDEO LETTER TO THE EDITOR READER RESPONSE

http://www.brojon.org/frontpage/Letter_How_NASA_gets_away.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Reader Response to "How could NASA hope to get away with Faking Videos?"

 

QUESTION: I do have a question and I think you'll agree it's a fair one. All this stuff you know about space, speed, foam, parabola, shuttle -- wouldn't those at NASA know it, too? And therefore, wouldn't they take it into consideration IF they were ordered to fake a picture so that people like you would not catch them doing it? Thanks. Zoe

RESPONSE: March 7, 2003 Zoe -- That is a very fair question. Wouldn't the people at NASA know that someone like me might catch them faking the video? I spent many years as a consultant at NASA but never was a direct employee. The reason for that was that all the NASA workers are government employees. In general most government employees are from the lower ranks of their graduating class and don't have the smarts to make it in industry where the pay is usually twice what a government worker

earns. That does not mean that government workers are not dedicated hard working employees. But would you hire the Post Office to build a spaceship? I was usually paid three times or more what the equivalent experienced NASA scientist earned. That is why even today, two-thirds of all the people who work on NASA projects are non-government employees working for contractors and sub-contractors such as Boeing, GE, United Technologies, Morton-Thiokol, etc. The bottom line, Zoe, I don't think NASA could "fake" its way out of a paper bag. If NASA were ordered to fake movies and data, that order would only apply to those GS12 through GS18 level government workers, and not to the NASA subcontractors. It certainly doesn't apply to me. Since right now, the main blame for the Columbia disaster is being placed on the Shuttle Orbiter itself, which was made by Boeing, I am surprised that nobody at Boeing is jumping up and down and shouting, "Hey, that video was faked."

But then again, I was hired by Boeing, GE and UTC as a consultant to solve the NASA problems their own people couldn't. So I guess that's why, so far, I am the only one jumping up and down. Some years ago, I talked to the managers on several levels at NASA on the Missing Ozone Layer Project. One of the top level project managers did not understand that the sun does not go overhead at the north and south poles. I had to explain to her that the sun goes around the equator. And she had a PhD. So I would say that the person who faked the foam video only turned the image to make it look like the foam was falling down, but didn't know there was a lot more information in the image which showed it was actually moving sideways. But of course, now you know, so that makes you a lot smarter than a lot of the people at NASA. So Zoe, I hope that answers your question. Marshall SmithEditor, BroJon Gazettewww.brojon.com