[singpilot]

Having been involved with a military program using existing technology thrown together in a new configuration for an unheard of mission, the rules and engineering reviews as well as the flight test regime was incredibly complex. Every design team and service branch rep had their own agenda, and needs as well as reservations and a configuration veto authority. It was a quagmire trying to get anything done in real time. 3 years later we got a useable product. Some of the technology developed will show in the civilian sector shortly. Ron Brown and that crew would not have died in Yugoslavia with the GPS (IBLS) autoland system we developed.

The final product was a compromise at best, and nobody was completely happy, but no one was completely unhappy.

Then along came the farm boys who took the ops guys (myself included) aside. Told the engineers to go away, and said, no rules, make it work and what would you change. 2 months later the bird made world headlines when it found, photographed, identity verified, illuminated, and after obtaining clearance from the highest possible level, took out a terrorist in his car on a coastal road with no collateral damage. All in real time. The vid link was watched live in Virginia as it happened.

Yes, sometimes thinking out of the box does get things done.

But not at NASA.