Quote:
Originally posted by Scott
Looks like an easy job. Not like it's rocket science or oh... wait... guess it is. Nevermind.
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I moved from the Nuclear Treaty monitoring/Intel community to the launch range in 1991. I naively thought the space business would be "rocket science". Boy was I ever surprised - it was like moving back two generations in technology. We still use some technology essentially unchanged that's 5 decades old. We are just getting started in use of the GPS system for timing and location even tho we launched the things. Our own US Government (for which I work) has sold off radio spectrum so that the new generation cell phones interfere with radar beacons on the launch vehicle and we're so stuck in a quagmire that nothing is being done about it from either direction...The frequency used to send a destruct signal for errant rockets was given up to the Mexican Government...I could go on, but for now, whenever somebody says "rocket science" I think the most scientifically challenged on the forum could proudly stand up and say, "that old stuff, piece of cake"
