BLAST OFF !

(BLAST OFF !)

Back in the early days of the Space Race, there was a comedian on TV, who called himself an "astronaut." He said he his suit and everything. Then he talked about the blast off. He said "he always takes a blast before he takes off. Otherwise, he would never go near that thing !"

On April 4th, 1968, NASA launched Apollo 6, an unmanned test of the Saturn V rocket. Unlike the previous Apollo 4, which had launched the previous November, which was an all but flawless test, on the ascent of the follow-on mission, set to test the viability of the Third Stage's capacity to achieve an orbit that would have allowed for Trans-Lunar trajectory, vibrations became so severe that several pipes in the stage were wrenched loose. For a time, there was even a thought of aborting the mission altogether. However, second stage engines re-gimbled themselves and burned for the time to get the vehicle in a stable orbit. While the flight profile did not conform to designed parameters, valuable data were still attained.

The Biden Administration is having its own set of technical issues but of much more profound than those of Apollo 6. If one would like a better analogy, Biden's situation is more akin to the loss of Apollo 1, where a spark in 100% oxygen ignited a fire in the Command Module and killed the crew: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

The Apollo 1 fire, while tragic, was probably necessary for President Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The event led to a re-designed Command Module as well as other changes that made the rest of the Apollo program its resounding success.

The Biden Administration is resembling the culture at NASA leading up to the Apollo 1 fire. There was a lack of quality control. There were too many design changes that were difficult that were difficult to incorporate into the whole package. And, as had been noted by observers at the time, no one was able to stand up and just say stop it.

It had been un-bridled ambition at NASA that led to the tragedy. That same ambition is afflicting the Biden Administration. One can start with the President's budget of over seven trillion dollars. He wants to raise taxes. He is forming a "climate corps" of thousands of committed volunteers.

Whether it is the vibrations encountered in the launch of Apollo 6 or the conflagration that destroyed Apollo 1, the Biden Administration and please pardon the expression, is writing checks its body can't cash.