NASA New Millennium Problems and Solutions

About the Book

THIS BOOK PREDICTED COLUMBIA DISASTER.. NASA New Millennium Problems and Solutions is a wake up call about the dire conditions of the U.S. space transportation program. NASA’s management philosophy of “faster, better, cheaper”  has resulted in the Agency trying to do, “too much... with too little... too fast.” The space program’s momentum has been eroded by NASA’s numerous project failures, cost overruns, and mismanagement.   NASA’s space transportation operations have been compromised to the point where serious safety conditions exist.  Astronauts, ground personnel, and even the general public are exposed to unsafe flight operations. This book examines the following daunting questions:

· Why isn’t the Space Shuttle safe?

· Why doesn’t the Space Shuttle have a crew escape system?

· What happened to NASA’s commercial Space Shuttle?

· Will the International Space Station be worth the cost?

· Was the X-33/VentureStar launch project a $1 billion blunder?

· Are the proposed X-33 population over-flight tests safe?

· Will the human exploration of Mars be postponed for decades?

· Is there light at the end of this dark tunnel?

This book gives the reader with an insider’s knowledge of decisions that have placed the future of the U.S. space transportation programs in grave peril. It is a compelling reading for the space enthusiast, the aerospace professional community, those seeking aerospace careers, and political supporters and opponents of the space program.

About the Author

Don A. Nelson is an aerospace consultant and writer. He retired from NASA in January 1999 after 36 years with the Agency. He participated in the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle Projects as a mission planner and operations technologist. Mr. Nelson was a supporting team member for the first rendezvous in space, first manned mission to the moon, first manned lunar landing, and the first flight of the Space Shuttle. During his last 11 years at NASA, he served as a mission operations evaluator for advanced space transportation projects.