It’s baaaaaaack.
I had lunch with Tom Colvin from the Science and Technology Policy Institute last month in DC, and he was interested in what the current prospects for this are, to provide an input to the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. I put him in touch with both John Mankins and Pete Garretson, so we’ll see if anything comes of that.
Ummmmm…no.
The media hysteria is also mistaken (as always) in imagining that NASA human spaceflight has (and has ever had) much to do with science.
Dwayne Day dumps cold water on all the hysteria about it. I agree.
NASA starts at page 97.
It’s the beginning of the end for SLS. NASA wants to do Europa on a “commercial vehicle,” plans for Block 1B are “deferred,” and they propose commercial providers for getting to and from the moon itself, which means that SLS has nothing to do except the Gateway, and it can’t do the Gateway without the new upper stage planned for Block 1B.
It will be interesting to see the Congressional response. One thing it does do is continue to flow the wasteful funding for Block 1 to the right zip codes, so Congress may not care. Culberson is gone now, and if this budget passes with that wording, it would end the legislative requirement to use SLS for Europa.
[Update a few minutes later]
This budget is basically an implicit admission that SLS serves no purpose other than to ship taxpayer funds to the right zip codes. Even Gateway doesn't need it. Which means that the need for the Gateway itself goes away, since its primary mission was to give SLS something to do. https://t.co/oohwiukMwS
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) March 11, 2019
This is an OMB proposal. Bridenstine had to provide lip service to SLS to get confirmed. I wonder what he’ll say when he gets called on the carpet by Congress?
[Tuesday noon update]
Yes, Dr. Stofan, NASA could get to Mars sooner, but it doesn’t need more money, it just needs to spend the money it gets more sensibly. They could get to Mars in five years if they could use the SLS/Orion budget for something useful.
[Bumped]
[Update a while later]
Space Launch System recap over the last two years:
* Delayed from 2018 to 2021
* A single flight in Block 1 configuration to indefinite amount
* All upgrades deferred
* Europa mission moved because of delays
* Gateway moved to private rockets— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) March 11, 2019
But other than that, it’s had a great two years.
Some thoughts on the tradeoffs with animal cruelty. I would love to get pork in a cruelty-free way, and I’d vastly prefer factory-manufactured steak and bacon, if it was indistinguishable in every way from that obtained by killing cattle and pigs.
[Update a while later]
This seems related, somehow: Vegan “pork” rinds.
I disagree with this, though:
Apparently, the gourmands have discovered pork rinds. Yes, the deep-fried, not at all good for you, salt-laden, very high fat, treat found rarely if ever outside the US South or (as chicharones) where there is a sizeable Mexican consumer pool.
They’re actually quite keto, because low carb (close to zero). There’s nothing wrong with high fat, as long as it’s not seed oils.
The collapse is near.
Via Stephen Green, who writes: “We’re watching the last chapter of Atlas Shrugged play out in Venezuela in realtime.”
Yes, it was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not a how-to manual.
[Update a few minutes later]
Aaaaand the water plants have shut down.
[Update mid-afternoon]
Trump’s biggest challenge: Educating the kids on socialism. We shouldn’t have to do this, but the schools clearly haven’t. And unfortunately, that’s no accident.
Kamala Harris says we can create it.
These leftists, continually in denial about human nature, have no sense of self awareness.
The bullies are running it. And ruining it. We’d been thinking of retiring there, but we’re rethinking that now.
In New Zealand. Entirely by women. Hey, more power to them.
An alternate, and more realistic version of the Green Leap Forward.
Two points: I fear the day that we won’t be allowed to drive, except in special circumstances (like amusement parks).
Point Two: I suspect that a lot of current auto traffic will move to the air, with the advent of Urban Air Mobility, particularly if the vehicles can be powered from the ground (e.g., Jeff Greason’s and Dan DeLong’s Electric Sky is working on such a concept). Airbus has an interesting concept of moving passengers via passenger modules that are moved from one vehicle type to another, like cargo containers, in which you’d share a pod with people from your door to an aircraft, to a long-range aircraft, to another aircraft, to the other door. That’s a lot more interesting and flexible concept than high-speed rail.