SpaceX explains its rocket using the most commonly used thousand words in the English language.
Category Archives: Business
Dealing With Climate Change
No, it’s not like going on a diet:
Even when people aren’t directly invoking the carbon diet in their language, they often echo its principles by suggesting that everyone needs to cut back. But it falls apart—and starts to seem downright sinister—when you look at its priorities. Most of the world does not need a carbon diet. Three-quarters of the global population uses just 10 percent of the world’s energy, 1 billion people lack access to electricity, and 3 billion cook their food over dung, wood, and charcoal, leading to millions of early deaths. These people are energy starved—and they need a feast, not a diet.
These people are essentially advocating mass murder.
High-Speed Rail
California goes full boondoggle:
IF the internet doesn’t change the way people work, reducing both commuting and the demand for business travel, IF the giant project doesn’t mimic almost all similar projects and develop gigantic cost overruns that make a mockery of the initial cost elements, IF resourceful NIMBY groups and their lawyers don’t find too many endangered species in its path or otherwise tie it up in endless litigation, IF self driving cars don’t make rail travel obsolete, IF the fares aren’t so high even with subsidies that passengers shun it, and IF unlike almost all other passenger rail service in the U.S. it doesn’t lose buckets of money, this project could look like a smart move.
IOW, it’s insane.
The Anti-Biotic Drought
…is over?
The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New England dirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t yet been tested in people, though it cured all mice infected with antibiotic-resistant staphylococci bacteria that usually kills 90 percent of the animals, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. Bacteria appear to have a particularly difficult time developing resistance to the drug, potentially overcoming a major problem with existing antibiotics.
They’re probably a little overoptimistic on that one, but it’s good news in the short run at least.
SLS, And ARM
I can’t even start to describe how insane this is.
How do they propose to do two SLS launches for a mission when they are only planning one every couple years? And why in the world would they need one to launch crew?
How Science Goes Wrong
A good survey from The Economist why we can’t blindly accept the “authority” of “science” or scientists:
Too many of the findings that fill the academic ether are the result of shoddy experiments or poor analysis (see article). A rule of thumb among biotechnology venture-capitalists is that half of published research cannot be replicated. Even that may be optimistic. Last year researchers at one biotech firm, Amgen, found they could reproduce just six of 53 “landmark” studies in cancer research. Earlier, a group at Bayer, a drug company, managed to repeat just a quarter of 67 similarly important papers. A leading computer scientist frets that three-quarters of papers in his subfield are bunk. In 2000-10 roughly 80,000 patients took part in clinical trials based on research that was later retracted because of mistakes or improprieties.
It’s a mess.
Doug Mohney Attempts To Educate Colebatch
The American Spectator has published a response, but Colebatch remains clueless.
It's a strange world in which we have to explain the advantages of private enterprise over Chinese communism to "conservatives" at @AmSpec.
— US Rocket Academy (@RocketAcademy) January 7, 2015
Reusable Rockets
CNES is getting in on the action:
Eymard was asked whether CNES is not in the position of having spent two years to catch up to SpaceX with a lower-cost expendable rocket in Ariane 6, only to find that SpaceX has moved to a partially reusable model that cuts costs even further.
“We don’t want to be in the position of appearing to follow in their footsteps all the time,” Eymard said. “But we admire what they are doing and we think it helps put pressure on all of us to do better.”
SpaceX, Blue, ULA, now the Europeans. But NASA insists on building a giant throw-away vehicle.
It's funny (or sad) that everyone is getting the reusable rocket religion except for NASA, who irrationally gave up on it after X-33 fiasco.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 5, 2015
J. R. Thompson said that "X-33 proved that reusability doesn't work." Which was, of course, totally illogical. It just proved X-33 wouldn't.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 5, 2015
SpaceX is attempting to land a stage, ULA and CNES looking into reusability. NASA continues to build unneeded giant expendable rocket.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) January 5, 2015
“97% Agree”
…is 100% wrong.
Whenever I see anyone use the 97% number, I ignore whatever else they have to say, because they are either clueless, or shameless liars.
Conservative Commentary On Space Policy
My commentary on that stupid misfire at The American Spectator last week.
[Tuesday-morning update]
I have more thoughts over at Ricochet.
[Bumped]