Mark Hickey wrote:
Orval Fairbairn wrote:


The bureaucrats at McMurdo are simply being jerks of the first order!
How many people on this planet benefit from such obstinate behavior?


Those who would otherwise follow in Johanson's footsteps and set out
on a mission without planning proper contingencies. I for one
wouldn't want to see the base personnel and resources diverted to
subsidize poor planning of those who are in over their head,
encouraging even more "extreme adventurers" to try something dumb.

I for one hate that trite phrase "I for one".

This guy isn't some doofus who strapped on a pile of helium balloons on
his lawnchair and tried to go into orbit. He's out there taking
homebuilding and private aviation to the next level, pushing what humans
can do, even if they don't have a billion dollars of government funding
behind them. I rank him up there with the X Prize contestants.

They should have left him alone with the gas source, and told him they
were going to lunch and they'd be back in an hour.

Mark Hickey