Devil is in the Details and the Details are Voluminous
Wayne Hale has had a look at NASA’s requirements for commercial crew providers and he’s not liking what he sees:
> Now NASA has released a draft (dated Oct. 8, 2010) of its requirements CCT-REQ-1130 ISS Crew Transportation and Services Requirements. I’d like for you to read it but it is behind NASA’s IT firewall and you must have an ID and password to access it. I have read it and I’m disappointed. The document runs a mind-numbing 260 pages of densely spaced requirements. Most disappointing, on pages 7 to 11 is a table of 74 additional requirements documents which must be followed, in whole or in part. Taken all together, there are thousands of requirement statements referenced in this document. And for every one NASA will require a potential commercial space flight provider to document, prove, and verify with massive amounts of paperwork and/or electronic forms. This, folks is the old way of doing business. This is one of the major reasons why spaceflight is as costly as it is…. > > So whether Commercial Space Flight gets $6 billion or $3 billion or $50 million, the entire effort is on the way to a train wreck.
The commercial crew providers might have some leverage in negotiating change here. If the NASA leadership is truly serious, it will be accommodating.
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(C) Douglas for Parabolic Arc, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post
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