The Good and the Bad...

Today, I'll share 2 stories from the aerospace world from today. At the risk of seeming self-centered, both have personal significance to me.

First the good: NASA's Mars Recon Orbiter safely settled into its initial braking orbit today, clearing what is essentially the last major technical hurdle of the trip out there. It will spend the next 6 months dipping into the Martian atmosphere periodoically to slow down and gradually decend into its final orbit. Much more elegant and cheaper than trying to fire rocket motors and get where you want to go in one massive swoop. In November it will start collecting many different types of data from orbit, helping pave the way for future robotic and human explorers. My tie in: I did a tiny, tiny bit of analysis on some of the trajectory schemes to be used on this one and other unmanned systems out there. Also did a very small bit of work on the propulsion stuff they're using with a different group way back when.

This is the point in the mission where the infamous didn't-convert-English-units-to-metric quag happened some years ago. We (the US) only got 2 out of the 4 orbiters & stationary landers there going into today. Initial data shows it's right where its supposed to be, so our "batting average" just got better. Hats off to the outstanding people at JPL that made this happen.

Now the not so good news: the F-14 Tomcat, known to most Americans as the "Top Gun plane", has now been officially decomissioned/retired from U.S. military service. Yeah yeah, I'm being overly dramatic. The last "trap" happened last month, and the planes from that squadron just got back to Virginia today. So ends an impressive career of one of the finest combat aircraft ever built. The main reason was not only it being outdated, but it is too expensive to maintain, requiring up to 60 man-hours of maintenance for every 1 hour the thing is in the air, compared to 10-15 maintenance hours for the new F-18 Super Hornets.

My connection: I was a fan of that airplane for as long as I can remember (yes, even before the movie), and the desire to fly it was a major factor in my drive to be a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Well, I got older, decided I wanted to fly for a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dept. of the Navy, and the Tomcat kept flying. The Good Lord finally got the message through my stubborn, thick skull that I wasn't meant to wear Navy/USMC wings and I went in a different direction. And the Tomcat kept doing awesome work for our country. Now that she's going to enjoy a well-deserved retirement, I guess it feels like another reminder that the old goals of mine are indeed history. Not a nail in the coffin per se, just that things are the way they're meant to be and life goes on. It's a good thing.

For some reference, that airplane entered service one year before Captain Dave, his wife, myself and a good number of our friends were born. So congrats to the Kitten; ya done good! I'll post a photo of yours truly and my favorite Bird tomorrow.