A description of the dirty secrets within.
Category Archives: Economics
How The Democrats Lost Their Way
It’s a garbage party, run by garbage people.
[Update a couple minutes later]
The campaign that wasn’t about Trump.
Elon’s Voting Recommendation
He’s not wrong, and it’s a good message for independents.
A Tragic Anniversary
Remembering the billions of victims of communism.
[Update a while later]
In a timely interview, thoughts on America’s decline and history, by Professor Paul Rahe.
The Left Were The Mad Scientists
…and we were their lab rats.
This reminds me of the old Soviet joke about the schoolkid:
“Teacher, is it really true that Marx was the greatest scientist in history?”
“Yes, Pyotr, it is true.”
“Then why didn’t he try this crap on rats first?”
[Friday-morning update]
The Elevator Doors In “The Shining”
That’s what Joe Rogan thinks that the mid-terms may be like for the Democrats.
Let’s hope.
SpaceX is Now Building A Raptor Engine A Day
The latest on the progress from Eric Berger. Compare and contrast with AJR and the RS-25.
Why I’m Voting Republican
[Update early afternoon]
43 other things that the Democrats are requesting amnesty for.
Return Of Falcon Heavy
Eric Berger wonders if it was a mistake.
As he notes, it was just overtaken by events.
But this is a fundamental flaw in how NASA does planetary missions:
And yet the Falcon Heavy has not spurred the development of a rash of new science missions. NASA simply has not set up the science community to take advantage of a low-cost, heavy lift rocket, said Casey Dreier, space policy director for The Planetary Society. “The incentive is just not there for scientists,” he said.
Primarily, mission planners and scientists are concerned about keeping the cost of the spacecraft down, and controlling its mass. The decision on a launch vehicle is typically left to NASA and its Launch Services Program. The Falcon Heavy really has not been around long enough to shift that calculus. Dreier said there is a chance that the larger Starship vehicle—which will dramatically change mass and volume constraints for science missions—could eventually change how NASA selects science missions.
I think that in general they would be much better off if the program manager was simply allowed to choose their own launch system as part of the program within their budget, rather than having to work within the constraints of the one chosen for them by NASA. And of course, it would have paid off much sooner in the case of Europa, because no sane program manager would have chosen SLS for it, if they had to pay for it.
Space Solar Power
A thread on the current state of affairs.
I saw Phil Saturday at New Worlds.