O&C Building Shut Down for Obama Visit

This morning during Atlantis rollover I heard (NOTE: "I heaard" = hearsay and rumor) that the employees will be given the day off, told they can use comp or personal time or something like that. Not surethe details, but, essentially, they won't be huddling off somewhere else and then return to the building when the President leaves. But again, that's just the hearsay I caught. It is obvious, though, that there's not a strong desire to have masses of employees around when the President is talking. There (hopefully) won't be any "you lie!" moments. Personally, I think the President should speak with employees - he's their boss after all and if they're disgruntled/worried, then he should want to hear it from them directly and not from some politicians.

All this, plus the Obama team requested KSC to take down all the giant Orion banners and posters and the Orion mockups and the partial pressure vessel in the O&C High Bay.
I guess they don’t want the cameras to catch any progress.
 
 
And why or why is the ‘speech’ not going to be televised?

I thought his presidency was all about “transparency” ….?

Latest information on President’s space conference at KSC,

Thursday, April 15 – 2:45 EST.                   

NASA Television will provide live video of President Obama’s arrival and departure, and of the opening and closing of the NASA Space Conference.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

I believe his "major space policy" speech is part of the televised opening/closing events. In between there will be breakout sessions and private meetings, but not "the" speech. That's how I understand it at this time. Of course, that could change in the next 48 hours.

"This deal is getting worse all the time." -Lando Calrissian.

The irony, the Obama briefing in the same building where the Constellation office is. He comes for a speech, all vestiges of the program have to be removed and they get the day off.

No fitness center or massages for a whole day?

folks, choose your battles & this O&C one ain't worth it!

but here's one-just read a comment about a PopSci thing on nuclear power rockets:

"The piece raises doubts about launch reliability: “It’s a bummer when a satellite ends up underwater, but it’s an entirely different story if that rocket is packing a few hundred pounds of uranium. And if the uranium caught fire, it could stay airborne and circulate for months, dusting the globe with radioactive ash. Still seem like a good idea?”
http://blog.acton.org/archives/15650-why-not-just-dispose-of-nuclear-waste-in-the-sun.html
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-04/why-not-just-dispose-nuclear-waste-sun

WTF, To Mars with Nukes???

The cafeteria being closed is a good thing always...safety first.

It's been a long time since I studied the case/details for nuclear reactors in space, so I may have this wrong.

If I remember correctly one of the main benefits of launching a larger uranium based reactor versus the plutonium based RPGs (i.e. Cassini) was that you didn't need to start the chain reaction that created the radioactive waste until after you had safely reached orbit.

The big problem that still must be overcome with regard to nuclear power in space is one of weight; not danger from the materials that must be launched.

This is one area that the new research dollars in the new budget could really help out with.

The Navy has been safely running reactors aboard submarines now for many years; a spaceship isn't conceptually that much different, although the analogy obviously isn't perfect.

But lifting the mass equivalent of a nuclear submarine into space is still out of reach for our current technology; that is why NASA needs to do some additional work to get us there.

This is all typical of a presidential visit, but you would think from the reaction of the hysterical anti-Obama crowd that this is unprecedented. The only thing unprecedented is the fact that he's even coming to KSC at all. No other president has ever bothered to come to KSC in the last 40 years except to see a launch, and none of them were Republican (Bush 41 visited as VP).

Displaced CS employees can either work at another location or take Excused Leave, they don't have to take personal time. Contractors follow whatever their company policy is in this case.

Damn, I was looking forward to the Shepards Pie!

@possum - oh yeah, absolutely typical, in fact I must have missed this typical, evacuate the building premise when President Bush came to JSC after the Columbia accident. Not only did they not evacuate the buildings (for 12 hours!), but they allowed anybody who had a JSC badge on-site and they let as many people as possible cram onto the mall area behind Building 1 to listen to President Bush speak at the memorial. There were thousands of civil servants and contractors crammed into that space. The ones in front were only a few feet from the president's podium. The President landed at Ellington Field, i.e. offsite, and arrived by motorcade, i.e. - he did not arrive in restricted airspace away from the public either. So I'm not exactly sure of this "typical" behavior of which you speak. Every single person on site is a badged employee, either federal or contractor. Every single person who has a PIV II badge has had an extensive background check (not top secret, or secret, but not far off either). If you cant trust these people on a controlled government facility with guards everywhere who carry large automatic weapons then maybe you should hide in a bunker under the white house. Or maybe you know that your "vision" is so pathetic that you are afraid to face the people you lied to during the primaries. An unmanned Orion to go to ISS as an rescue vehicle aboard an Atlas or Delta WTF? No destination? Why bother?

But nice touch, making them take all the Orion mockups and banners out of the O&C before the big dog and pony show. Wouldnt want to accidentally capture any of it on camera.

Per ardua ad nusquam.

If this would of been President Bush the news media would of been screaming bloody murder. The media gives Obama a free pass at every opportunity. However, things are changing and Obama's poll numbers are falling faster than the value of the dollar. The American people are waking up. The Democrat's have been in control of Congress (spending) since 2006 and at the current rate of deficit spending America will be bankrupt soon. For the record, I really didn't like President Bush.

It must have been an illusion when Bill and Hillary Clinton came to KSC to see STS-85 (the John Glenn liftoff) and then give a speech afterwards in the LCC. Well, whoever this impersonator was, he sure looked a lot like President Clinton.

I can understand though why the O&C is being closed off for this visit. I'm not quite sure if the President would be able to maintain his composure in the face of the inevitable boos and catcalls.