For those who need a little hurricane humor break, Andrew Sullivan has an interesting little Rorschach from the National Weather Service. It only works if you have a prurient mind, though. So despite the post title, I of course have no idea what the joke’s all about.
Oh, Well That’s A Relief
Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.
Oh, Well That’s A Relief
Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.
Oh, Well That’s A Relief
Some people are making too big a deal of the fact that Rita has dropped from a Cat 5 to a Cat 4. It’s still going to be very bad, even assuming it doesn’t restrengthen.
The Other Space Program
I haven’t read it yet, but Michael Belfiore has an article in Popular Science about t/SPACE. He’s also going to be live blogging the X-Prize Cup for PopSci.
That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me
Byron York writes about Mama Moonbat’s (aka Mother Sheehan) excellent Washington DC adventure.
By how large a factor do the reporters have to outnumber the protesters for the media to realize that this story is long over, swept away with the floodwaters of New Orleans?
That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me
Byron York writes about Mama Moonbat’s (aka Mother Sheehan) excellent Washington DC adventure.
By how large a factor do the reporters have to outnumber the protesters for the media to realize that this story is long over, swept away with the floodwaters of New Orleans?
That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me
Byron York writes about Mama Moonbat’s (aka Mother Sheehan) excellent Washington DC adventure.
By how large a factor do the reporters have to outnumber the protesters for the media to realize that this story is long over, swept away with the floodwaters of New Orleans?
Bailing
JSC is evacuating the Mission Control Center in anticipation of the monster storm that may be about to hit them. One wonders what would happen if there was an Orbiter in orbit right now–I don’t think they could just hand that off to the Russians. It makes one question the wisdom of putting a supposedly vital function in such a vulnerable area. There are good geographic reasons for the location of KSC, and Michoud, but having the manned spaceflight center in Houston is an historical accident, because they got a donation from Rice for the land (and it probably didn’t hurt that LBJ happened to be from Texas).
There is a reason, after all, that NORAD is inside the Mountain, and it might make sense for NASA mission control to be in a similarly-secure place.
On the other hand, it also begs the question of whether or not mission control, sixties style, is really needed, or if it’s just a relic of the way we happened to do it then. That space systems are still designed to require the support of hundreds of people on the ground says that maybe there’s something wrong with the way we design them. And it’s not obvious that the new architecture is going to address that.
That Didn’t Take Long
Rita was a late bloomer (staying a tropical storm long after predictions of becoming a hurricane Real Soon Now), but once she got into the Florida straights and out into the Gulf, she heated up in a hurry. She’s now a Cat 5, with winds in excess of 165 mph. Look out, Houston.