NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps was supposed to be in space right now, as the first African-American crew member living on the International Space Station. But instead she's on the ground doing all of the things astronauts do when they're not in space—training, monitoring programs, working as a capcom in Mission Control, and more.
Since being pulled from her flight in January, a mission that launched about two weeks ago for a six-month tour on the space station, Epps has remained quiet in public. NASA did not specify the reasons for her removal from Expedition 56 to the space station, saying only that, "These decisions are personnel matters for which NASA doesn’t provide information."
However, Epps did finally speak publicly this week, appearing at the Tech Open Air technology festival in Berlin on June 21, where she was interviewed by journalist Megan Gannon. The website CollectSPACE provided a transcript of the discussion.
Asked why she was taken off the Expedition 56 flight, Epps said she could not go into great detail. “I can't speculate in this forum why that was done, but it was a decision of my management and it is something that we're going to try to work through,” she said. However, Epps noted that she passed all of her NASA training, her Russian training, as well as exams for operating European and Japanese modules on the space station.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Monday June 25 2018, @05:46AM (6 children)
Epps basically had nothing new to add to this story [soylentnews.org].
However, Eric Berger, author of the Ars article, knows the reason(s). From the commnts:
So there you have it. TFA is half-baked. Best speculation I saw was that it was due to her being a CIA officer [wikipedia.org].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday June 25 2018, @07:26AM
It's likely her former position at the Ford's research had a role as well.
What if she sabotages that Tesla Elon launched into space? Like sorta coup to replace that legitimately elected Tesla with an evil ICE Ford [youtube.com]
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Monday June 25 2018, @08:04AM (2 children)
CIA technical intelligence officer in Afghanistan. Multiple tours.
Common opinion seems to suggest the Russian's really didn't care about that, and some cosmonauts voiced disappointments at her removal. (Maybe too loudly?).
She was notified while in Russia doing final training, which never happened before.
She says:
If you realize who your friends are, you also probably just realized who might be your enemies.
All in all, this sounds like someone who said something unwise, impolitic, or too political, or maybe just laughed at the wrong joke, or I suppose some behavior issue could have been witnessed/reported as well, perhaps in Russia.
Word got back, and NASA got worried about an uncontrolled mouth in space.
It had to be serious. Because the last thing NASA would want to do is trigger a Black Lives Matter issue for a War Veteran, Hero, and female astronaut. It wasn't done on a whim, or racism (unless its her own). Because that would be so stupid that higher ups would step in.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DutchUncle on Monday June 25 2018, @06:10PM (1 child)
>>> that would be so stupid that higher ups would step in.
Based on experience of the past year or so, there is no longer a limit on stupidity; and being a decorated veteran has suddenly become less of an automatic bonus now that women (and others) can claim it more often.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 25 2018, @06:13PM
at the top, at least.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @09:56AM
So she's the first CIA officer in the Space Force?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @07:39PM
TFA is half-baked.
As clickbait it is well done. Got a pretty good rise out of this crowd, didn't it?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by ilPapa on Monday June 25 2018, @06:14AM (33 children)
Let's not bullshit. The orders came down from the White House: No black people in space. His base wouldn't like it. And by "base", I mean the fine people who will be in the "White Civil Rights" rally scheduled in front of the White House to commemorate the Nazi march in Charlotte last year.
They're not even pretending to hide the white supremacy any more.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @06:28AM (5 children)
Why wait for facts when you can jump to conclusions which fit your own personal political agenda, especially when doing so allows you to engage in virtue signaling !
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @07:13AM (4 children)
Lame. You forgot to use the very basic "SJW" and "narrative" in your rebuke.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stretch611 on Monday June 25 2018, @02:37PM (2 children)
Wrong... It doesn't take a SJW to spot racism in the current White House.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @05:45PM (1 child)
Imbeciles like you sadly and all too often attempt to insert comments that are not germane to a discussion.
Your whining is stale. Go do something productive and quit acting like a pathetic little bitch.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday June 25 2018, @07:28PM
And yet, I am the one with the balls to post with my account name instead of posting AC.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @05:49PM
Your comment added NOTHING to the discussion.
You can go back to playing WoW now, you useless idiot child.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Monday June 25 2018, @07:15AM (10 children)
The reasons are known to the author of the TFA, but he refuses to disclose them. From the comments, including the other comments the author quoted (his text in bold):
I'm doubtful that the author would feel the need to hold back if racism was a factor.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 25 2018, @08:15AM
Exactly.
Possible exception is if it was Racism on HER part, which seems rather unlikely. But then I've seen stuff slosh out of people's mouth after 4 shots of vodka that I would never have believed.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 25 2018, @11:00AM
Racism is never a stated factor, that would be illegal.
There are plenty of "soft" factors that can be played up. We don't really need to examine a single instance to determine if there is a racial bias in the actual flying astronaut program, the statistical sample is large enough to speak for itself.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Alphatool on Monday June 25 2018, @12:30PM (2 children)
He would if he thought it would compromise Epps' chance of flying again. Not only would it be morally wrong to destroy a person's career just for a relatively minor story, it would mean that nobody would ever talk to him again. Eric Berger has built a great reputation for disclosing sensitive information about NASA without compromising sources and the trust he's built up over many years would be destroyed if he did something to stop an astronaut from flying. That's two pretty solid reasons to hold back.
Moving on to unsubstantiated rumors, a friend of a friend (with good contacts and no reason to lie, but no hard evidence either) told me that the official reason was that "the FOD thought there would be personality conflicts if she went on the mission". He also said that this decision was at the sole discretion of the FOD and no details were given beyond this, as in "it's my call and I don't have to explain why I made it". Does this stack up? To me it makes more sense that something scummy is happening than a person being an astronaut for almost a decade without their personality being suitable, but without actual information it's all just speculation.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday June 25 2018, @06:24PM (1 child)
Not even remotely. No such think as "its my call" in the real world of public employment. FOD is not GOD, and doesn't get to make arbitrary decisions.
.
That said, the fact that the announcement was made while she was training in Russia says this came from something or some event in Russia. Maybe she's just too assertive or too self confident for some of the Russian male counterparts. (Russian officials are telling Russian women not to sleep with non-white guests attending world cup games. It seems that contrary to popular SJW opinion the US doesn't have the racism market cornered.)
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday June 25 2018, @06:44PM
Yeah but thats why drumphf loves the !!!RUSSIANS!!! checkmate racist
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @12:58PM (1 child)
But it's currently sitting at +4 insightful in soylent worldview.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 25 2018, @04:01PM
#NotAnymore
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DutchUncle on Monday June 25 2018, @06:16PM (1 child)
Disagree, no matter what was "the factor". People often "hold back" on a relationship-risking action, thinking that there's still a chance things will go right, because they don't know (or can't accept) that the other side (management, relationship, whatever) has already made up its mind.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 25 2018, @06:19PM
A lot of people have cried "racism" or even accused the Trump administration of bumping this astronaut. The burden of proof is on them.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @09:11PM
He would if he was one of those arstechnica SJW goons. Oh, look, he is! One of them is never going to write anything that would make a black look bad. It might hurt someone's precious feelings. (No, I don't care if the astronaut is black, but arstech does!)
As a former regular poster on arstech, long ago, it is sad to see how deep into the lunacy bin that site has gone.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Sulla on Monday June 25 2018, @07:41AM (9 children)
Were I in the area I would also have protested against the removal of a Lee or Jackson statue (unless it were on private property) and I and I presume most of the like people protesting would have any problem with her going into space. The problem with the "alt-right" is at the end of the day they are capitalists that believe in merit, the right in general is also (until recently) over-supportive of CIA/etc folks.
These weird white pride folks just want to be who they are and not be villified (although it appears their method goes against that desire) and not about hating the other side. It does not appear to me that la raza folks or black power folks hate whites, they just want to be who they are and get respect. The most recent white version appears to be the same. Yeah there are full blown racists as part of it, but not nearly as much as the media is pushing. I think a telling sign is that all of these alt-right guys have guns, and yet with the exception of the one nut with the charger there has been more actual violence from the left.
Hopefully they work through whatever the snag was and this woman gets her chance.
Question for Lord of Citations Takyon, any idea what percent of people who go through all the training actually get to fly?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Monday June 25 2018, @07:56AM
Apparently a high percentage of NASA astronauts do fly, but a few percent (around 3-6%) don't [stackexchange.com]:
Epps is one of the 2009 rookies [wikipedia.org] (14 total). She is the only one of the nine Americans not to fly to the ISS yet. Serena Auñón-Chancellor [wikipedia.org] launched about 2 weeks ago as Jeanette's replacement. Two of the Canadians have not flown yet (one is scheduled).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday June 25 2018, @06:17PM (7 children)
The South is where they erect statues to traitors. We should have let General Sherman do what he wanted. If we'd hung a bunch of the traitors, we'd have a lot fewer problems in the US today.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday June 25 2018, @06:40PM (6 children)
So 290,000 wasn't enough for you? 1 in 100 people were killed for siding with the south. How much blood do you require to wash away the sins of our ancestors?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @09:18PM
He wants it all. All our blood. He, and those with him, want us all dead.
More and more of us are waking up to that fact these days. It's he, and those with him, scream so much; they're afraid their schemes to exterminate us won't work after all.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday June 25 2018, @10:49PM (4 children)
If you could acknowledge the "sins of our ancestors", we wouldn't have to argue over statues of traitors and rebel battle flags. But the fact is that the people showing up at these racist rallies don't really believe the South did anything wrong.
At minimum, we should have had a series of Nuremberg-style trials for everyone above the level of captain. Some hangings might have been helpful in preventing Jim Crow and the many many more lynchings in the antebellum South. And of course, immediate full reparations for anyone who had been enslaved and a couple of generations that followed them.
As it was, we pretty much blew it. Emboldened by the general pardon and the forgiveness of the North, the racists formed the KKK and other shadowy white supremacist groups, which led eventually to Donald Trump and the mess we're in today.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday June 25 2018, @11:10PM (3 children)
What mess? Trump has been better for black employment than any president since Lincoln.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Tuesday June 26 2018, @12:40AM (2 children)
The trajectory of black unemployment is exactly the same under Trump as it was under Obama. Trump did nothing for black unemployment but inherit a good economy.
Unfortunately, wages have been steadily dropping since Trump got his Tax Cut for the Rich bill through congress back in January. So a lot more people are working for lower wages.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Tuesday June 26 2018, @12:54AM (1 child)
As a percentage of my income my take-home is up 4.5% due to the tax cuts. I am in the 50-75k/year range. Labor website conflicts itself between a zero increase and a .9% increase over the past year. Inflation is forecast at 1.9% so my net gain is still looking pretty good.
I know looking at the facts can be hard, but maybe you should do that.
More people working and more people working full time
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2018/06/04/the-ratio-of-part-time-employed-may-2018 [advisorperspectives.com]
Again, you are only deceiving yourself.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Tuesday June 26 2018, @02:23AM
First, you're one of just 4% of American workers who have seen any kind of pay bump since Trump took office, assuming you're not bullshitting, which is probably a bad assumption if you're a Trump supporter. Second, inflation since Trump took office is a 2.9%, not 1.9%, so get your fact straight.
This is from 4 days ago:
https://augustafreepress.com/frank-clemente-trump-gop-get-failing-grades-on-new-tax-law/ [augustafreepress.com]
And this is from 9 days ago:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-american-workers-wages-20180616-story.html [chicagotribune.com]
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Monday June 25 2018, @08:07AM (1 child)
Did you hear that? It's the sound of thousands of Charlottesvillians who are happy for once to be confused with Charlotte, NC.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday June 25 2018, @06:12PM
Oh jeez, did I mix them up again? I'm so sorry. Charlotte is such a nice town, too. I've had some of the best BBQ ever at Mac's Speed Shop.
Please forgive, people of Charlotte.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @01:37PM (1 child)
Really? The conclusion is that it must be race?
...and this is somehow rated as "Insightful?"
The absence of information is not information.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @03:05PM
It's like the cheers and applause for "Fuck Trump" among actors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @04:18PM
Probably not race related, but the current administration has been asking anyone and everyone who works for the government who they voted for. Maybe it's that they won't reward anyone who didn't vote for the current inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 25 2018, @06:28PM
Fucking SJW's are worse than racists.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 25 2018, @07:24AM (3 children)
I've looked at that mag a few times. Every article is meaningless drama. TFA could have been taken straight from People. There is simply no story.
Epps sounds like she has her head on straight. She's been soldiering along for years, she thought she was going to get her big chance, it was yanked from her - so she'll just keep her mouth shut, and soldier on. She would like to be ranked among the rock stars, but she's willing to continue the same old grind, waiting for her chance.
Salutes, Jeanette!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday June 25 2018, @07:29AM (2 children)
Wanna bet she'd be happier between star rocks?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 25 2018, @07:35AM (1 child)
DAS SEXISSS!!!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday June 25 2018, @07:43AM
What's so sexist in meteors and asteroids?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford