Shuttle Doc

["George F. Hayhoe" <george -at- GHAYHOE -dot- COM>]

LaVonna said that the instructions for docking the Shuttle to
Mir seemed confusing and didn't present our profession in good
light. Tim A. remarked that LaVonna's description reminded him
of spaghetti code.

Once upon a time, NASA's technical communication really shone.
Remember the recent flick _Apollo 13_? The spacecraft's
documentation was one of the heroes of the film.

If this situation LaVonna described indeed indicates a problem,
I suspect that downsizing at the space agency is the culprit
here. Just like businesses, government organizations don't
always make wise decisions about what to cut and what not to
cut. I'm glad I'm not going to be the one who has to use
spaghetti code instructions in case of potential catastrophe
such as the one depicted in the movie.

--George Hayhoe (george -at- ghayhoe -dot- com)

George Hayhoe Associates
Voice: +1 803-642-2156
Fax: +1 803-642-9325
Award-winning Web site: http://www.ghayhoe.com

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