Comments | beamjockey: Rocketry: An Unexpected Sign of Progress

beamjockey

Rocketry: An Unexpected Sign of Progress

Dec 13, 2011 13:34

I was reading "New Launch Hoops," an article by Amy Butler in Aviation Week's 17 October 2011 issue. I quote:
The three U.S. agencies responsible for purchasing launches of government payloads into space are agreeing on long-awaited criteria that for the first time pave the way for new rocket companies to penetrate a national security launch ( Read more... )

space, politics, nasa

Comments 18

derekl1963 December 13 2011, 19:43:58 UTC

So long as the sex of the person occupying the office is a matter to be pointed out - there's no reason at all to be proud. In fact, it's evidence of lack of progress.

netmouse December 13 2011, 19:55:03 UTC

I disagree. I don't think self-awareness is evidence of lack of progress. We do still have a Looong way to go, though, if equal opportunity across genders is what we're aiming for. And there's definite backsliding right now in both youth and conservative culture.

beamjockey December 13 2011, 20:49:40 UTC

In a world where people are constantly counting the number of females in the tables-of-contents of anthologies, I thought it might be a cheerful thing to point this out. I wish I could have relieved your grumpiness, but apparently that was not meant to be.

derekl1963 December 13 2011, 21:14:41 UTC

I don't see that counting women in offices is any different than counting them in tables of contents.

I'm not grumpy, I just don't believe that judging whether each jar of beans contains the 'right' number of the 'right' qualities (sex, color, whatever) is a positive step towards judging people as individuals. I believe that is has the opposite effect, it enhances the focus on the ticky box rather than on the individual.

Thread 6

netmouse December 13 2011, 19:52:00 UTC

Nice! I wonder what percentage of licensed pilots are female these days...

wcg December 13 2011, 20:07:17 UTC

3.6%, according to the ninety-nines (organization of women pilots).

netmouse December 13 2011, 20:59:08 UTC

Oh cool, I thought the ninety-nines were history. Nice to know they're still going.

That's an even lower percentage than I expected, though. *sigh* I guess at this point few people have seen, much less met, a female pilot outside of the movies etc. Not like in the barnstorming and racing days...

bigbumble December 14 2011, 03:53:26 UTC

My niece is a female pilot. She has even had the chance to fly a P-51.

Thread 7

wcg December 13 2011, 20:07:56 UTC

Yes, it's progress, though there's still a lot to be done.

dewline December 13 2011, 20:57:21 UTC

Grumpiness improved. james_nicoll sent me here.

(The comment has been removed)

netmouse December 14 2011, 04:10:36 UTC

I think there are probably a lot of things in effect on this one, and one of them that comes to mind because I know it's affecting me right not is risk-aversion. Now that I have an infant who is dependent on me, I'm not going to ride a motorcycle, though I'd like to, and I'm not going to take flying lessons, though I'd like to do that too ( ... )