Just back from watching the test. Nothing out of the ordinary about the test firing… no sudden and energetic dis assembly of the motor, no flaming chunks of propellant blasting across the hillside, no spontaneous proton decal or rips in the space-time continuum. But there was one thing about the overall experience that’s a bit of a headscratcher: where the hell was everybody?
The gates to the public viewing area opened at 11. I got there about 11:05… and was the first one there. And I stayed the only one there for another half hour. In the end, the parking lot, normally packed to overflowing, was maybe 1/3 full. No school buses loaded with screaming kidlings.
Since this was they very last test ever of a motor this size (assuming that the “Liberty” launch vehicle meets the fate that seems most likely… studied for a bit, then dropped), I would have thought that the historical importance would have brought *more* viewers than usual. That’s why I got there early. Instead, not only were there relatively few people, there was little in the way of VIPs and public relations stuff. It seemed kinda… half-hearted from the publicity front.
Oh, well.
Anyway, I’ll copy over the photos and, assuming I didn’t screw them up (always a distinct possibility), I’ll post some later today.
6 Responses to “DM-3: Huh.”
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Like I said in an earlier comment on an earlier post: We need an eccentric billionaire to take interest in space and start a new Space Race.
This just shows that people have lost interest in space and this country’s space program.
Scott, Have you taken a look at ATK’s website. They have some jobs you might be interested in and qualified for. Most of the jobs appear to be in other parts of the country, though, not in Utah. That’s one
thing about jobs: you gotta move where they are.
Were the people at ATK happy to see you when you visited? Or did you still know anyone?
Do Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Robert Bigelow count as eccentric billionaires? Well, Musk probably doesn’t have a billion.
I watched Wayne Hale’s video of the firing, and wondered if most of the black smoke is debris from the hillside eroding from the exhaust of the motor.
With Ares-1 and Shuttle dead, who cares about firing a SRB?
The people who paid for it.
I didn’t find anything on the ATK website about the test, so yeah, looks like publicity was at a minimum. NASAWatch didn’t even cover it.
Oh wait, here’s a link: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/09/atk-and-nasa-ground-test-five-segment-motor/
Scott’s pictures are better!