Sarge Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Which one is Chommie? :laugh: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52818 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – America's space agency is waking up to photographs of some of its workers caught snoozing on the job and playing cards at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. NASA workers appear caught napping on the job at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (courtesy: NASA Watch) The watchdog website NASA Watch released a series of images reportedly provided by a former NASA employee who also claims to have documented incidents of federal workers surfing the Internet for pornography and engaged in online gambling. In a post on NASA Watch, the former worker states: "I worked at MSFC for 5 years and these are the types of things I witnessed and documented. This is only a handful of people that I observed sleeping and playing video games. In addition to playing video games I also documented Teledyne Brown Engineering Employees surfing pornography sites, participating in online gambling, betting on fantasy football and playing video games for extended periods of time. Even though these were NASA contractors the NASA Payload Operations Director was in the room and did not do anything to correct the problem. I believe the tax payers of this country deserve better and so do the payload developers. How do you think it feels for most people, who work hard every day just to make ends meet, to watch Government employees sleeping and playing, while they make $200 - $300 per day. How do you think the Payload developers are going to feel once they realize that no one is watching their hardware while it is operating in orbit. It makes me sick. What's even worse is that these photos and video were taken in the wake of Columbia, which should have been a time to fix all the problems that NASA faces but instead everyone went to sleep. This is not fiction, I can back up everything I've said. If you think I'm blugffing (sic), just try me. I have a small video archive of violations I'd be glad to share with you, the rest of America and the World. You better tighten this ship up before you loose another vehicle." The space agency did not dispute the authenticity of the photos, which were estimated to be a little over a year old. "The pictures ... are not indicative of the performance of the overall team. They're isolated incidents," NASA spokesman Steve Roy told the Associated Press. "This is serious to us. We're extremely concerned about it." Roy said only one of the employees in the photos still works for the Payload Operations Center. Workers at Marshall were said to be reviewing rules in the wake of the public disclosure of the pictures. The photographs come on the heels of a major gaffe admitted by NASA three months ago. The original magnetic tapes that recorded the iconic images of man's first footsteps on the moon are missing and scientists fear they are in danger of deteriorating into dust unless they are found quickly and converted to digital format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsOrlando Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Ahh, government employees at there best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwbiggs Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 They can't help that they have sleeping disorders....if TO gets away with it why not these fellas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen-like Todd Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Gee, just like any other tech company on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 In there own defense, they were most likely in the middle of 24hr testing. I've often had to pull the midnight shift during testing, and yes, it is hard to stay awake watching a computer going beep. . . beep. . . beep. . .beep. . .people do fall asleep. We always needed two people minimum to monitor the data stream, and I would let someone sleep while I watched the data and surfed the net. You are doing nothing more then being a glorified security guard, but you need to have the background to understand what to look for. Now, does it happen that people fall asleep? Sure, but the article didn't report that there were other people there, and most likely it was a 24 watch on a program in testing. At 3:00am watching a computer beep, it can be very hard to stay awake. . .especially if you are jet lagged, and there is no ES to keep you company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 You are doing nothing more then being a glorified security guard, but you need to have the background to understand what to look for. What kind of background do you need to look at the inside of your eyelids? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinstzar Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Uhh that is nothing. Take a jaunt through an NIH building and I garauntee you see sleeping and surfing to end all surfing and sleeping. It is called the A-76 Initiative, what the hell else are they gonna do. We have a guy in our department who either does nothing at all or is part of a sleep test. Oh yeah, he bills out at over 200 an hour too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 I hope these aren't the same guys responsible for bring the shuttle home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 I hope these aren't the same guys responsible for bring the shuttle home. They are most likely in the middle of testing 1500 miles away from home on a 24 hour shift watching hardware. I've done the 24hr testing at MSFC in their XRCF building, and it is booooring as hell. It takes an all out effort to stay awake, and it is not a big deal that a few people actually take a nap or two. What you are doing is monitoring the data stream for testing. It is usually thermal vac testing that requires 24hr coverage, and the tests run for weeks sometimes. You are mimicking a space environment, and you have to put the instrument through the same pressures (vacuum) and temperatures it will see on orbit. They are very boring, and people do go to sleep. Nothing special to write home about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 What kind of background do you need to look at the inside of your eyelids? :laugh: some soft music or ocean waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 What kind of background do you need to look at the inside of your eyelids? :laugh: You need to understand the instrument, what is going on with it, what the expected temperatures are, what anomalies are critical and what are not. You need to understand a lot about science, and engineering to monitor the instrument. Just because someone fell asleep in the middle of testing does not mean the employees are bad. . . just tired BTW, why does world net daily always try to "expose" NASA's gaffs, while doing nothing to show the good things they do? Do you think it is because the religious nutjobs who are against science donate and fund the trash website? Nahh, couldn't be that huh Sarge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tizzod Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Somebody needs to beat the crap out of that whiny rat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 No worse than all of us surfing extremskins every day from work....:paranoid: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeInJc aka M.I.A. Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 BTW, why does world net daily always try to "expose" NASA's gaffs, while doing nothing to show the good things they do? Do you think it is because the religious nutjobs who are against science donate and fund the trash website? Nahh, couldn't be that huh Sarge. Sitting in front of computers for even 12 hour shifts is boring enough when there's nothing coming in or you are just waiting for something to happen. Not to mean they are excused for doing this, but it does happen sometime. This employee that took the pictures is probably some pissed off douche bag, that is trying to get revenge for him/her "being done wrong". But I like your second point here, about not showing the good things that they are doing...... Hmmm kind of sounds like what CNN does when they are reporting on another topic ....cough...Iraq....cough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 You need to understand the instrument, what is going on with it, what the expected temperatures are, what anomalies are critical and what are not. You need to understand a lot about science, and engineering to monitor the instrument. Just because someone fell asleep in the middle of testing does not mean the employees are bad. . . just tired OK, now..........let me get this straight You are "monitoring" testing. I got that part. But........how do you monitor it when you are asleep? Does the test equipment alert you? Does your alarm go off? Do you leave a wake up call withthe front desk that comes in through those headsets? Perhaps bugaboo's are filtered directly into your brain and automatically disprupt the REM cycle? Or is this all "classified"? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Uhh that is nothing. Take a jaunt through an NIH building and I garauntee you see sleeping and surfing to end all surfing and sleeping. i was going to say the same thing. 90% of science is hurry up and wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 OK, now..........let me get this straight You are "monitoring" testing. I got that part. But........how do you monitor it when you are asleep?Does the test equipment alert you? Does your alarm go off? Do you leave a wake up call withthe front desk that comes in through those headsets? Perhaps bugaboo's are filtered directly into your brain and automatically disprupt the REM cycle? Or is this all "classified"? :laugh: As I mentioned before, there is more then one person there for that very reason. It is a boring job, and NASA knows this. They make sure you have two people to monitor the testing in case someone falls asleep. I am sorry, but I don't understand why accepting human nature for what it is is bad Sarge. Look at it this way. What is in NASA's best interest? To know that people are going to sleep during all night testing because. . . 1. It is boring as hell 2. They are not used to staying awake all night, and bodies take time to adjust 3. They are usually jet lagged, and away from home, tired and strung out from working 18 hours a day to get the instrument built and into testing in the first place. Or should NASA just have one person on the job, and have a $100million dollar spacecraft go caput because someone fell asleep? The risk is to great to place everything on one man, and it is smart program wise to take into account peoples physiological reactions during 24hr testing. It is why it is mandatory to have at least 2 people on any shift. NASA, to combat the problem, puts two people on a shift. Hell, even astronauts fall asleep doing menial tasks, they know it will be an issue, especially during the first day or two of testing while people's bodies get acclimated. It is in the best interest of the program and for the agency to insure nothing happens during the graveyard shift, and it is understood that people will on occasion fall asleep. It is not wanted, by any means, but it is definitely explainable, unlike your headline which implies this is a common occurrence at NASA, it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 But what if both people fall asleep? And didn't something on that sun satellite you all just launched fail to work? What if those guys were asleep? Maybe they dreamed they saw one test result when it was actually something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 OK, now..........let me get this straight You are "monitoring" testing. I got that part. But........how do you monitor it when you are asleep? This reminds me of something. B-2 pilots only have to literally fly their planes during takeoff, landing and refueling. But during all other times, they have to constantly monitor every one of their flight, navigation, and communication systems. So if you're a B-2 pilot on a 30-hour Middle East bombing mission and you're sleeping on a chaise-lounge back by the chemical toilet -- just as all B-2 pilots do, on every single long bombing mission... OMFG WHO'S FLYING TEH PLANE OH NOES YOU'RE GONNA CRASH!!!!!!!one! Oh, wait. There's another pilot. Oh, but what if they both fall asleep? Wow, the DoD is completely irresponsible for creating bombers that don't poke you in the gut every 15 seconds to make sure you're awake. What's wrong with those slacker pilots, anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 This reminds me of something. B-2 pilots only have to literally fly their planes during takeoff, landing and refueling. But during all other times, they have to constantly monitor every one of their flight, navigation, and communication systems.So if you're a B-2 pilot on a 30-hour Middle East bombing mission and you're sleeping on a chaise-lounge back by the chemical toilet -- just as all B-2 pilots do, on every single long bombing mission... OMFG WHO'S FLYING TEH PLANE OH NOES YOU'RE GONNA CRASH!!!!!!!one! You forgot one part. They have to be awake during the bombing. The rest is simple. They have these things called ALTRVS(altitude reservations) that are reserved and cleared exclusively for bombers, usually at high altitudes No other air traffic is at that route/altitude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Judges Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Damn it I knew we should have left those twenty thousand dollar ultra comfortable office chairs off the budget! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 You forgot one part. They have to be awake during the bombing. The rest is simple. They have these things called ALTRVS(altitude reservations) that are reserved and cleared exclusively for bombers, usually at high altitudesNo other air traffic is at that route/altitude Not sure what your point is here. Obviously the airspace of a $2 billion stealth aircraft is going to be cleared, particularly given that they typically operate above 40,000 feet for most missions of significance. And obviously that's going to apply for most military aircraft of any kind running combat missions or support. The sleeping pilot problem applies not only during combat missions, but also during training, testing and repositioning flights. Surely you aren't saying it's okay for both the aircraft commander and the mission commander to be asleep during any part of any of those flights. Nothing is that easy, even in a B-2. So, what if they both fall asleep? What prevents that from happening? How does this not worry you? As taxpayers, we're paying for the plane, the fuel, the support staff, and the pilots' salaries. And they're taking a million-dollar nap at 45,000 feet! Is that why we're putting them up there? Outrage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slateman Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Sleep happens after 24 hours without it. And, frankly, they're computer nerds. Of course they're gonna find games, gambling, and porn. Its sort of their job . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afkidd Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 who cares if they fell asleep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 well, considering this is the internet and all, I'd have to have definitive proof that they actually are asleep, or actually working for nasa, or actually in a building that houses nasa, or even on the same continent as a building that houses nasa.. Believing pictures on the net... lol,, haven't you guys learned anything? It's funny,, a newspaper paints up Condy rice's eyes to make her look demonic,, the LA times doctors photos, Reuters doctors photos.. But, we believe the photos that support our position. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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