It’s been—in my eyes—an ugly battle. On one side, we have the old NASA, one that had been struggling for years to return to the moon with an insufficient budget, trying to stay alive. They wanted Constellation, and a new manned lunar landing, even if it had to be scaled down. When it became clear [...]

As the Apollo program wound down, many employees were laid off. We weren’t going back to the moon anytime soon, and budgets were tight. So, we got rid of those people…and their expertise. The result: in the 21st century, we’re largely having to learn how to get to the moon from scratch. We didn’t preserve [...]

Paul Haney, in the early years known as “the voice of mission control” has died at 80. From 1965 through 1969, Haney’s voice was featured on live broadcasts of NASA manned space launches.Working in the public affairs department of the space agency, Haney promoted openness. Sometimes, he clashed with the top brass. Disagreements and split [...]