Former NASA Official William Gerstenmaier Joins SpaceX (arstechnica.com) 17
schwit1 shared this report from Ars Technica:
This is a consequential hire for SpaceX — it is difficult to overstate the influence Gerstenmaier has over human spaceflight both in the United States and abroad. He led NASA's space shuttle, International Space Station, commercial crew, and exploration programs for more than a decade. He immediately brings credibility to the company's safety culture. Former Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale, who now chairs the human spaceflight committee of NASA's Advisory Council, told Ars last summer, "Bill was recognized by everybody as being technically well-grounded and very astute. He was known to listen carefully and to make his judgments based on good technical reasons...."
Although the role is officially a consultancy, it is expected to become a full-time position. SpaceX is poised to launch the first crewed mission of its Dragon spacecraft by June of this year. [Or possibly even in early May.] Gerstenmaier will play a key role in ensuring the safety of those missions and helping SpaceX secure certification for the Crew Dragon vehicle. The hiring could have longer-term implications as well. Few people in the global aerospace community have as much gravitas as Gerstenmaier or as much understanding of how to build coalitions to explore space...
In December 2008, Gerstenmaier saved a cash-strapped SpaceX with a Commercial Resupply Service contract for operational cargo missions to the International Space Station. Gerstenmaier's decision to maintain two competitors as part of the commercial crew program in 2014 (SpaceX and Boeing) was also essential, although it was not a company-saving move. Boeing was lobbying hard for all of the funds and very nearly got them. Gerstenmaier was the deciding official who kept two providers in the competition. It has proven to be a smart decision, as SpaceX is poised to beat Boeing into space by months, if not years, at 50 percent less cost.
Although the role is officially a consultancy, it is expected to become a full-time position. SpaceX is poised to launch the first crewed mission of its Dragon spacecraft by June of this year. [Or possibly even in early May.] Gerstenmaier will play a key role in ensuring the safety of those missions and helping SpaceX secure certification for the Crew Dragon vehicle. The hiring could have longer-term implications as well. Few people in the global aerospace community have as much gravitas as Gerstenmaier or as much understanding of how to build coalitions to explore space...
In December 2008, Gerstenmaier saved a cash-strapped SpaceX with a Commercial Resupply Service contract for operational cargo missions to the International Space Station. Gerstenmaier's decision to maintain two competitors as part of the commercial crew program in 2014 (SpaceX and Boeing) was also essential, although it was not a company-saving move. Boeing was lobbying hard for all of the funds and very nearly got them. Gerstenmaier was the deciding official who kept two providers in the competition. It has proven to be a smart decision, as SpaceX is poised to beat Boeing into space by months, if not years, at 50 percent less cost.
That's not all... (Score:2)
He immediately brings credibility to the company's safety culture.
I heard he's so safe that he was really the one that came up with the safety dance. [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Be a rising star...
Re:Revolving door got stuck (Score:2)
Nothing to see here, move along...
Considering that he did the NASA thing for 14 years, I'd say that's a damn slow revolving door.
Regardless, having two competitors is better than one, and it was good when he added another vendor. Maybe that's why this particular revolving door was so slow: he wouldn't accept any Boeing grease.
Note: Boeing would toss his resume into the circular file. I guess he could find a job anywhere, but in the current state of space operations, where would *you* go?
Rotating Door (Score:3)
Nothing against Gerstenmaier personally (and I'm not claiming he's done anything not above-board), but this is just yet another example of the rotating door between government regulators/bureaucrats and the company's they regulate.
Where else can you be the pivotal vote in making sure a company is in line for millions of dollars, and then take a position as a well-paid consultant for that same company? Even if not usually explicit, the incentives involved can't help but influence people, if only subconsciously.
Of course, to Gerstenmaier's benefit, maybe he could've gotten a great position at Boeing as well, but that's not exactly a better situation either. Just normal government operations.
Re:Rotating Door (Score:5, Insightful)
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This guy was just assigning contracts
The jealousy is real. :-p [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
NASA's role isn't a as a regulator, so you would expect the same experts to work there as in other parts of the aerospace sector.
NASA's role is to be a place where nerds are willing to work, where they make cool stuff that the air force can pay companies to copy and build into weapons.
NASA also hires a lot of subcontractors and manages projects, mainly to support the aerospace sector, but they're not a regulator. They're supposed to be helping these companies.
Challenger? (Score:2)
I'm on my phone so it's hard to do research efficiently. Was he in charge of the shuttle program when we lost Challenger?
Re: (Score:2)
No, he wasn't. In fact he was apparently trying for the astronaut corps in that time period. He didn't become Shuttle Program Integration manager until 1988. His Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Damn, you're a boring, whiny bitch.
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Wow, you didn't tell us whatever you did, but it sounds really bad! I hope you get better soon.