The truth is, America already has a capable new rocket that dwarfs the capabilities of the Saturn V rockets that took our astronauts to the moon. The Space Launch System will be online and ready later this year.
…Real and robust competition pushes all participants to perform their best. But SpaceX has so far been able to avoid real competition. Without any real requirement that it ultimately succeed, SpaceX has been a technological failure, even while Musk has managed a public relations success and gotten paid based on his public relations campaign, more than actual accomplishment. To make it to Mars we must encourage real competition, not Elon Musk’s fake version of competition where he gets paid regardless of what he produces.
I’m reading a review copy of an interesting new book from Bob Zimmerman on the history of slavery in America. One of the points he makes is that one of the things that created the cultural environment for it was the nature of how the Cavaliers founded Virginia, with the class bias and denigration of physical labor they brought from England.
One of the many reasons I can’t take Democrats seriously on race is the fact that they feel the need to kiss that corrupt grifter’s ring to get their party’s nomination.
I’m taking a red eye to Atlanta tonight to attend it. I’ll be taking laptop, so I’ll probably be blogging, but I’ll have a lot of networking to do there. Also, it will be the first time I’ve ever been in the city. I’ve been through Hartsfield a lot, but never in Atlanta proper.
[Monday noon update]
Arrived about 7 AM, and was able to get an early check in, so I got a few hours sleep.
My first impression is that Atlanta seems to have recovered somewhat from the war, but it’s had 155 years.
He doesn’t realize it, but “anti-space” events are really anti-humanity events. And as always, I am not impressed by people who think they are better arbiters of how other people should spend their money than those who are spending the money.
I’m going to look into this, despite the fact that it’s “smart.” I hate things that are smart. My A/C does not need to talk to the cloud. It would be nice if they’d make a dumb one that was cheaper, but probably smarts don’t cost much.
