Category Archives: Law

Business, Law, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Elon’s Thursday Starship Presentation

72 Comments

What Eric Berger is hoping to learn.

[Thursday update]

It’s at 2100 EST, on Youtube.

[Bumped]

[Update a few minutes later]

Bob Zimmerman will be live streaming it as well.

[Friday-morning update]

Here is Eric Berger’s report.

What I heard last night that was new to me (maybe he’s said this before) was that it was less than a million per flight on the margin, and it could deliver 150 tons to LEO (I had thought the number was a hundred tons). That’s a fifty percent increase, and a one-third reduction in cost per pound.

[Late-afternoon update]

A report from NASA Spaceflight.

[Bumped]

[Saturday-morning update]

More on Musk at Politico, in which Yours Truly is quoted and cited.

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Social Commentary

The Power Habit

3 Comments

Can politicians quit it?

When the history of the Covid-19 pandemic is written, the names of many drugs — Paxlovid, fluvoxamine, sotrovimab — will be mentioned. But the account will be incomplete if the distorting effect of the most powerful and addictive drug of all, political power, is omitted. The public, out of fear, gave politicians enormous power. What we’re about to see, the world over, is whether they can take it back.

We are in dangerous times.

Business, Law, Technology and Society

Leaded Aviation Fuel

10 Comments

How to survive the transition to unleaded.

As more airfields adopt this policy, it could cause affect flight plans and significantly impact aircraft owners and pilots, especially those operating high-performance models.

Much like Tesla owners who now plan road trips based on the availability of charging stations along the route, flight plans will need an additional layer of forethought to ensure refueling at an airport still distributing 100LL.

The stakes are considerably higher with aircraft, as one does not simply pull over and wait for AAA to arrive with a portable charger when reserves dip dangerously low.

You don’t say.