Griffin "borrows" Space Shuttle?

To think I actually thought this guy was trustworthy. I guess power does corrupt:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41904

Air Drop #2

Bevin just reported another successful air drop test. A 50,000 pound dummy launcher from a C-17 at 8,000 feet an Edwards AFB. Everything went well. A full test of a 72,000 pound dummy from 30,000 feet in a couple of months. More as I get it. Way to go Bevin and Co.!

Comments by Mr. Griffin about the Space Shuttle and NASA:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/wesh/20050929/lo_wesh/2963993

Gee, Mike, why not tell us what you REALLY think?

Air Drop

Well, Bevin McKinney and Gary Hudson and friends are still in the rocket biz, unlike the majority of us. Check this out, click on "Technical Description Released on New Air Drop Method", it's pdf so you'll need Adobe:

http://www.transformspace.com/index.cfmfuseaction=document_library.viewalbum&albumid=C391FAB7-96B6-175C-92BE159849D00B24

Let's give Bevin a big hand, shall we?

'Strange Angel'

I just finished reading Strange Angel: the Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons by George Pendle. Anybody who was associated with Starstruck, Inc. or AMROC might be interested in this book. It's got it all: explosions, smoke and flame, weird personalities, visionaries, strange cults, sex and drugs, financial problems and government oppression. It's a good book, I recommend it. We need fewer bureaucrats and more mad scientists.

Steve Fisk

I had just checked out the CD "One Beat" by Sleater-Kinney (good CD by the way). I was reading the inner liner and noticed under the "Special thanks to... " section, the name of Steve Fisk! He is also listed as playing keyboards on two of the tracks. I remember that Steve was into music and synthisizers back in "the old days," he even gave me a demo tape he had made titled "Give Up This Day" which I probably still have packed away somewhere. Good going Steve! Nice to see somebody from the rocket biz got into some honest line of work!

Who is this Guy?

Ok, this isn't directly related to Starstruck. Michael Griffin, however, DID used to work for AMROC. I actually drove this guy to work a few times in my car. Not that we were friends or anything. He was WAY over my head:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/339/1

As to whether or not he will be good for NASA remains to be seen.