A meditation on the Assembly, Test, and Launch Ops part of a mission.

We& #39;re in the middle of adrenaline-boosting ATLO with @MissionToPsyche. We& #39;re doing well, but every day brings new challenges, and so I& #39;ve been thinking...

#PI_Daily /n

1. Despite our best efforts and systems ATLO is always a series of rushes and trades and schedule slips - why? Because we are not great predictors.

2. We& #39;ve been doing our best all along, but now there is a deadline, launch, beyond which nothing can slip. It& #39;s like ocean waves piling up against the seawall.

3. So I wonder, if we can& #39;t predict the time, cost, mass, power of building a spacecraft, how can we predict things like the economy or society?

4. Societal and economic predictions can often be spun, or updated, or ignored when the time comes, but with engineering, your work is tested in the most rigorous way. There& #39;s no hiding a failure.

Final: Space is hard, and risks are high, and all this is especially why we SHOULD take them on. Being held to this level of excellence makes us better.

Go, Psyche!