Nothing international about Space Station when using the toilet

William Atkins
Thursday, 16 April 2009 20:16

Opinion and Analysis

But, these printers are almost always broken, which meant we had to wait several hours (instead of minutes) until out print-outs could be printed down at the central computer office. I got tired of this very inefficient way of working.

So, I talked with the engineers in charge of these printers (they worked for another NASA contractor, which is the key point to this story).

They were also very frustrated with these printers because the majority of their problems were minor at best (jammed paper, flipped off circuit breaker, etc., you get the picture).

I asked them if they would show me how to fix the minor problems. They were overjoyed because they were busy with major problems and these minor ones took up a lot of time (aka: wasted their time over jammed paper and the like!).

I passed this proposal to management (like a good little emploee) and, of course, we couldn’t possibly do this because the contract specifically states “Company A fixes equipment” and “Company B develops shuttle mission plans.”

So, I was stopped in my tracks. Well, only for about three minutes.

I ignored management (oops, there goes their control) and their inflexible rules, and learned how to fix these minor problems, taught the other engineers in our department how to fix them, and we ended up being a lot more efficient (and much happier) because we could do our work in a better and more logical way.

And, if you think about it for just about two seconds, isn’t this one of the main reasons why we have management, politicians, and bureaucrats: To make sure things work efficiently and to make sure employees (and citizens) can do the best job possible and be the best possible citizens, students, parents, employees, leaders, etc.

However, isn’t this also the major problem we all have with politicians and bureaucrats: They waste our hard-earned money by doing things inefficiently, illogically, and without much common sense.

Yes, it is difficult to run a country, a space program, a corporation, a city, etc. but that does not mean you can’t run it as efficiently as possible.

It also means that when running such an organization you are flexible enough so you can change the rules and regulations when they need to be improved and you work with competitors and others to make sure the job is performed in the best way possible.

NOTE: This story is no doubt one of the many, many reasons why I’m now an independent science writer and no longer working for the U.S. manned space program.

So, the moral of the story is: Work on an acceptable agreement between American and Russian politicians and bureaucrats that will get the cosmonauts and astronauts (the crewmembers) of the International Space Station back in top working form.

Or, if these silly politicans and bureaucrats can’t come to an agreement, then just ignore the rules and regulation of politicians and bureaucrats when such rules and regulations are silly, illogical, and just plain dumb.

Of course, you probably won’t be going back up to the Space Station for any more work, but we all have to make decisions as to what is best for us.

So, let’s put the “international” back into the Space Station with regards to toilets, food and water, and exercise equipment. And, maybe this will help just a little bit with international understanding and peace.