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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Exploration Strategy _ Space Exploration Labor Shortage

Posted by: StargazeInWonder May 25 2023, 03:46 PM

This article in the Washington Post is behind a firewall, but adds some detail to the story that began with a delay of Psyche and threatens to delay or "soft cancel" VERITAS.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2023/nasa-jpl-space-exploration-challenges/

The single point that most squarely defines the situation is, "They just don’t have the manpower they need to do the missions."

That's not a situation that can be fixed overnight, but hopefully it's addressed in due time. It seems like massive layoffs in the commercial tech industry might provide the headcount to address this.

Posted by: mcaplinger May 25 2023, 08:54 PM

QUOTE (StargazeInWonder @ May 25 2023, 08:46 AM)

The single point that most squarely defines the situation is, "They just don’t have the manpower they need to do the missions."

I haven't read the article but this is more or less what the review board report said -- https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/psyche_irb_report_and_response_nov_2022.pdf

Not to be cynical, but I refer to you to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

QUOTE

Its central theme is that adding manpower to a software project that is behind schedule delays it even longer.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder May 30 2023, 08:12 AM

I have cited The Mythical Man-Month often, including recently, and agree entirely that adding people to a project might in many circumstances slow it down. Unfortunately, it's also true that subtracting people from a project may also slow it down.

I have no doubt that adding people is not likely to speed up a project (Psyche) right away, and it may not even help VERITAS now, but in the long run, there is an amount of staffing required to run multiple missions, and both the review board and the NASA replies conclude that current staffing is low and that increases are beneficial. As for the timeline of the staffing up helping more than it hurts, the devil's in the details. Interviewing alone is a drag on short-term progress.