Recently by jkugler

Everyone who knows me knows that I live and breathe my profession - space exploration.  It has not been an easy time for those of us who chose this path.  Friends and colleagues of mine have suffered or are facing layoffs as the Shuttle Program ramps down and the Constellation Program is finally terminated.Unfortunately, we find ourselves in this situation because of a lack of leadership.  Neither Congress nor the previous administration heeded the warnings...

A close friend brought this story to my attention to help a friend of hers.  Let's see if we can use the power of the Internet to do some good.Takumi was a graduate student in Japan, taking care of his parents and younger sibling when not in class, until a series of debilitating symptoms began to afflict him.  In January and February, he suffered three heart attacks. In February, he had a stroke.  Born in...

I hold Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the highest regard because of the good work they do around the world to provide medical care to those in crisis. They are also one of the most effective charity organizations, with administrative costs of only one percent. Please, help them help those who cannot provide for themselves in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Nearly a third of Haiti's population lives in Port-au-Prince. The...

The Conservative Case For Gay Marriage by Ted Olson is a must-read, no matter where you side on the issue.And I'm not just saying this because I agree with every word. :)Olson's article in Newsweek is a window into the case he is about to make against Proposition 8 in California.  It is a glimpse of the future and a shot across the bow of those who would use a tyranny of the majority to...

Some conservative bloggers and talking heads, including Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich, have accused President Obama of "ceding American sovereignty" over an executive order granting Interpol the same immunities and privileges granted other public international organizations with offices here in the US.This practice is an outgrowth of Ronald Reagan granting Interpol immunity from prosecution for official acts and from lawsuits in 1983 and the culmination of a request lodged with the Bush Administration when Interpol...

With the Copenhagen conference and "Climategate," the Internet and the media are abuzz with climate change.  I think more rational voices are being drowned out, though, by the bickering between those that have become polarized in the political debate.  (Gee, does that sound familiar?)  The lines between good science, good problem solving, and good policy have been blurred to everyone's detriment.  Let's try to unravel this Gordian knot a bit.First, the science.I was a climate...

I still hear from some corners that this administration "abandoned" our allies in Europe by canceling the Ground-based Midcourse Defense silos in Poland and X-band radar site in the Czech Republic proposed by the Bush Administration.  The administration, especially Defense Secretary Gates, makes the argument that they've traded an unproven capability for one that can be deployed sooner and have a real effect on improving European security.As a former weapons analyst myself, the subject and...

At the risk of giving some of my readers a heart attack, I'm going to cite a Fox News article, because I think it provides the best summation I've found yet.It has been reported that the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, has expressed to the President serious reservations about sending additional troops to Afghanistan to bolster a government seen as corrupt and illegitimate by many.Retired Lt. Gen. Eikenberry is no State Department wallflower, though. ...

Republican candidate for New York District 23, Dede Scozzafava, recently pulled out of the race.  She had come under withering attacks from Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman and his supporters, including Sarah Palin, for not being "conservative enough" because of her pro-choice, pro-gay marriage stance on social issues, ties to organized labor, and support for the stimulus.  Scozzafava claims her record was misrepresented and that she simply could not raise enough money to counter the...

If you want to see what stifling free speech really looks like, examine the case of Simon Singh.  I had the honor of seeing him speak at the Museum of Natural Science here in Houston once, so I'll get my own bias in his favor out of the way up front.  He's a real scientist and a brilliant communicator, kinda like Britain's Neil deGrasse Tyson.Singh recently published a book with Edzard Ernst, the first Professor...

The AP reports that the US has agreed to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland in 2010 and is in talks with the Polish government to include them in plans to develop a ground-based variant of the successful SM-3 ship-based anti-ballistic missile.US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Alexander Vershbow seemed particularly enthusiastic about the latter."We are very interested in the possibility that Poland would be the host country for one of the two land-based...

I was involved in the Young Astronauts Program, Space Camp, and other NASA-related outreach programs growing up.  Exploring space has always been my driving passion and I am fortunate to have had the support from my family and my teachers to pursue that dream.One of the reasons why I'm proud to be a part of the ISS National Laboratory Office team now is our education and outreach mission.  It's important to me to help inspire...

Rather than just look to our country's past accomplishments as justification for continuing the space program, I'd like to take some time to explain why I think our future depends on it.  Science & EngineeringIn the present day and more immediate future, scientific research on the International Space Station is greatly expanding now that assembly is largely complete.  On the ground, we can only escape the pervasive acceleration of gravity for very brief periods of...

We're not even a year into this administration and I'm already beginning to feel burned out.  It seems like the far left and the far right are screaming at (and past) each other so loud that any rational discussion is stillborn.Obama's health care proposals don't bend the cost curve in the right direction because they put the cart before the horse in mandating coverage before addressing cost.  (Funny how increasing demand without a concurrent change...

Given the uncertainty surrounding the direction of the human space exploration program these days, a group of young professionals here at JSC assembled with the guidance and support of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and local aerospace executives to begin an advocacy campaign and get the word out on why we think human spaceflight is important. The Young Professionals branch of the Citizens for Space Exploration now has a website that I must highly...

As a systems engineer who helps put science experiments on the International Space Station, I certainly have a vested interest in whatever the White House decides will be the course of the human space flight program.  In my heart, I believe in the importance of exploration and that the continued survival of our species will be ultimately dependent on our ability to become a truly spacefaring species.  That's the long-term view, though.  We face some...

This is the eighth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Much like the assassination of Kennedy and the destruction of Challenger, this day is the one that my generation will say "I remember where I was when..."   I was in my senior year at Texas A&M.  My alarm clock went off just long enough for me to hear a blurb about the "events in New York City" and the tone of the DJ...

Though I don't necessarily agree with some of the political goals of President Andrew Shepherd in the modern classic, The American President, I have always loved that film for its expression of what American politics OUGHT to be.The character of Lewis Rothschild, played by Michael J. Fox, is worth the price of admission alone.  After weeks of character attacks by the President's opponent with no comment from the White House, Lewis makes an impassioned plea...

I've always had a lot of respect for Senator Bob Dole.  He is an honest-to-God WWII hero, with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with the combat "V" - for his valor in attempting to assist a downed radio man.  In his service as a Congressman and Senator, he was widely regarded as a man able to bridge the moderate and conservative wings of the Republican Party.  Since his retirement (and loss in the...

Proponents of "enhanced interrogation techniques" point to the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as evidence that the methods work.  However, as today's article by the Washington Post explores, the situation is more complicated than just that.Yes, KSM was uncooperative and gave deliberately misleading information immediately after his capture.  Yes, KSM appears to have become a powerful asset for the Intelligence Community after waterboarding and sensory deprivation.  However, we must not make the mistake of assuming...