Well, I worked for NASA in Houston from 1972-1977 and I wore a tie only a few times—primarily for important presentations. Managers wore ties most of the time, but not the regular engineers. NASA had the same excited young engineers that SpaceX does. I was there during Shuttle development, but got to see the last Moon mission, Apollo/Soyuz, Skylab, and the Enterprise drop test for the Shuttle program. We got just as excited as SpaceX does.
What follows is my personal opinion of what have been the problems with NASA.
I think the problem with blown schedules and cost overruns was due to working with the military industrial complex, which has been screwing the government for many decades. They knew NASA and the military couldn’t exist without them and got away with as much as they could. The people at NASA hated them.
I left NASA to go into business with my best friend, but it didn’t work out. I hated Houston, so I got a job with Martin Marietta in Denver. While working there on a NASA project, several pilots came to fly the simulator I was working on. One I had worked closely with at NASA recognized me. He pulled me aside and asked why I was “working for the bad guys.” I told him my loyalties were still with NASA. This was a common attitude. Everyone hated Rockwell International and were bitter that they were picked as the prime contractor for the Shuttle. Apparently, it was a political decision, because they had the worst design AND worst track record (remember Apollo 1 and Apollo 13?).
The problem isn’t that SpaceX is more efficient than NASA. The problem is that NASA is saddled with Congress and their desire to bring jobs—even unnecessary ones—to their districts. And of course those jobs go to the old-guard aerospace companies who have been bribing them for decades. And those companies know they can get away with anything. The whims of Congress also means funds are not dependable.
So, an upstart company with a Silicon Valley attitude comes along and decides they want to go to Mars. They don’t own Congress and have to prove themselves to get anywhere. They win over the hearts and minds of the American public and so Congress is forced to play ball with them. They grudgingly allow SpaceX to get one of the contracts for Commercial Crew. The old-guard influence still results in Boeing getting a lot more money to do the job than SpaceX ($4.2B vs $2.6B). And guess what. SpaceX got to the ISS first. They had something to prove and they risked their company to make it happen. You can bet Boeing didn’t risk their company. They knew NASA and the military can’t live without them and so they didn’t have to try harder.
So, don’t blame NASA for our past space woes. Blame congress and the military industrial complex that owns them and offers members cushy jobs when they leave congress.
Also, don’t blame the USPS for their problems. Congress won’t let them run their operation in a realistic way. They can’t set their own rates and they were saddled with unnecessary rules regarding setting aside unnecessary funds. Blame the congress that has been trying to kill them for a long time. If you turn the USPS duties over to a private company, you won’t be getting mail six days a week and people in rural areas will have to drive long distances to get mail. Tell me, is it more efficient for every farmer to drive to town every day for mail than to have one letter carrier drive from farm to farm?
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