Is it about to pop? It’s going to be very ugly.
Category Archives: Economics
Traffic Jams
Smart cars have the potential to solve them.
Another thing they’ll do is to all start moving when the light changes, so we won’t wait until the car in front of us moves.
The Volokh Conspiracy
They’ve left the WaPo and moved to Reason. Eugene explains why.
The California Fires
Were they caused by climate change?
Ummmmmmm…no.
No, Jerry Brown, it's hilariously stupid to think, let alone say that December wildfires are "the new normal" in California based on a single year.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) December 12, 2017
SpaceX
This could be a momentous week for them. It looks like the number of flights this year will be 18. But a pad that can do a launch a week can do fifty flights a year, all by itself.
[Update a while later]
It’s also a big week for Rocket Lab, and Blue Origin. While I’m sure they’d like to get into business as soon as possible, I can’t help but think there’s a little extra pressure for Blue to fly the new New Shepard ahead of the suborbital conference next week in Colorado. They’re clearly now the leader in that market.
[Update a few minutes later]
Rocket Lab has scrubbed, and Doug Messier (who could use some financial support) has that and other stories, including a solution to the mystery of who Space Adventures was going to fly around the moon.
[Noon PST update]
Blue has scrubbed for the day as well, no word why yet.
Artemis
A description of Andy Weir’s lunar settlement.
The Mars Race
This is hilarious. Muilenburg thinks (or at least claims to think) that Boeing is going to beat SpaceX to Mars. With SLS.
Do it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2017
[Update a while later]
Boeing also isn’t going to land a rocket on Mars without near total funding from NASA, which has already paid more than $10 billion for development of the SLS and has no actual funding to implement a humans-to-Mars exploration plan. SpaceX will also need some government funding if it is to develop its “Big Falcon Rocket” to reach Mars, but Musk has laid out plans for commercial applications of his launch system that could offset some of its cost. (The SLS rocket has no known customers aside from NASA).
What is particularly puzzling to us is why Boeing and SpaceX are arguing about Mars. These two companies, who compete directly for NASA and other government contracts, are in a far more immediate and real race to reach the launch pad in the commercial crew competition. NASA has had to rely on Russia to get its astronauts to the International Space Station since the space shuttle’s retirement in 2011. Both Boeing and SpaceX are building capsules that will launch crews from Florida.
The companies have both seen slips in their schedules for the first crewed flights. They have launch dates now set for 2018, but there is a general expectation that further delays are likely—both due to development problems and changing requirements from NASA. Regardless, the company that eventually breaks NASA’s Russian dependence will win a public relations boon beyond compare for an aerospace company.
“Do it,” we say to Dennis and Elon.
Indeed.
Car Safety
How much it’s changed in sixty years.
My grandmother hated to wear a seat belt; she was afraid it would trap her in the car in a crash. I always felt unsafe without one.
Space Futures
A new collection. I’m working on a piece with this theme for The New Atlantis, I guess I should read it.
Out Of Town
I was driving up to San Francisco yesterday, and today I’m at the Foresight Vision Weekend. There was a session on longevity (including cryonics) this morning, and now there’s a panel on blockchain and it’s potential applications. One of the panelists says that one app he’s woring is with a company that wants gas stations in space. I’ll have to talk to him later.