An interesting look at the delays for Commercial Crew.
Coming in on chutes is such a 20th-century concept. At some point we will land rockets just as we do airplanes. And if Elon has his way, that point will be within half a decade, at which point, Crew Dragon capsules may come back inside a Starship.
British space lawyer Joanne Wheeler has collected the thoughts of many current space leaders.
I think there are more false lessons from Apollo than valid ones. It really did create a damaging mindset for the next half century, from which we’re only starting to recover.
(Note, the format is a little confusing; the quotes come before, not after the names.)
Thoughts from Laura Montgomery on the constitutionality of it.
So, I just found out that I have until January 31st to submit it for the IISL (International Institute of Space Law) Proceedings. There is apparently a word limit of 5000 words. I just checked, and it’s exactly 4997…
Must be living right.
I’m on a layover in Charlotte, on my way to DC for a few space events and a meeting with my lawyers to prepare for trial. Be good in comments.
[Thursday-afternoon update]
Just got back from DC. Was too busy to blog, but hopefully back to a regular schedule now. I think/hope that was my last business trip of the year.
[Bumped]
Greg Autry and George Nield write that it cannot afford congressional inaction.
It was scrubbed yesterday for weather, but it’s set to launch in a few minutes. It’s an unflown booster, but the cargo Dragon has flown before.
[Update a few minutes later]
Everything looking good through Max Q.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Clean MECO and stage separation. About to do boostback of the booster. Grid fins are deployed.
[Update a few more minutes later]
Another successful landing. I don’t think they’ve had a failure for Falcon 9 since the first success, though they have lost them on Falcon Heavy.
[Update a few more minutes later]
Solar arrays deployed, and Dragon on its way to ISS.
[Late-morning update]
With this launch, SpaceX has hit another milestone.
It won’t change everything.
I’m wondering how and if it will compete with the satellite constellations.
It’s the power supply, dummy.
I do think that ultimately, absent something like anti-matter, or perhaps fusion, beamed power is the solution to opening the solar system. It could either push sails, or provide power for electric propulsion.
I know that posting has been light, but this is the first real vacation we’ve had in a while. We’re in a vacation rental up above Estes Park, within walking distance of the park boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. We’ve been pretty much house bound since the storm, but it’s OK, because it’s a very nice house, and we do have an all-wheel machine to go down the mountain into town if we want to.
Here is the view from one of the balconies.
That’s the continental divide, inside the park. I think that the pointy mountain to the right is Long’s Peak, the furthest-north fourteener.
But I want to give thanks for my health, which considering all the wear and tear of decades, is still pretty good. My back is slowly recovering, and I’ll probably be back to normal by next week. I’m also grateful to live in what I think is still the greatest country on the planet, warts and all, and despite the desires of some to “fundamentally transform it.”
I’m also grateful for my readers, and all of my friends in the space industry, and the ability to start to accelerate our progress in opening the solar system to humanity in the coming years.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.