Category Archives: Space

Business, Space, Technology and Society

Paul Allen

9 Comments

Rest in peace.

I’m happy that he invested in space, I guess, but there is a long history of wealthy people doing that to little effect, because they didn’t understand either the technology or the business, and they either thought they were smarter than everyone else (because, you know they were rich), or listened to the wrong people. The big difference with Elon and Jeff Bezos is that they were technically competent and quick studies.

I’m a little depressed that so many people my age are dropping like flies.

[Update a few minutes later]

I wonder what this means for Stratolaunch? It never made business sense to me. Will it survive without him?

[Tuesday-evening update]

Bill Gates remembers his business partner, without whom Microsoft would have not existed (for better or worse).

I think history will record him as more of a computer pioneer than a space one.

History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

First Man

31 Comments

Eric Berger liked the movie.

[Afternoon update]
Thoughts from Marina Koren. Despite Gosling’s stupid statement, “it’s not an unpatriotic movie.”

[Late-afternoon update]
Here is Alan Boyle’s review.

[Saturday-morning update]

For those saying they’ll watch it at home, I rarely go to the theater, but this is the sort of film that deserves a big screen.

[Friday-afternoon update]

John Podhoretz hated it.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Soyuz Failure

30 Comments

Yes, I heard, but don’t know details. This should be a precipitating event to accelerate Commercial Crew.

[Update Friday morning]

It was an interesting coincidence that this event occurred in conjunction with the ISPCS, where it was discussed by both SpaceX and Boeing, in response to ASAP concerns.

Neither Mulholland nor Reed suggested that development of their commercial crew vehicle could be accelerated much from their current schedules in response to the Soyuz MS-10 failure, adding they would not cut testing needed to ensure their vehicles’ safety.

“We look at it in terms of, ‘Could I work extra shifts or put extra people on it?’” Mulholland said. “It never crossed our mind to think what could you not do, what scope can you reduce.”

“You have to do the same work. You have to do the right work,” Reed said. “The question is whether there’s a way you can compress that schedule. You don’t look at in terms of cutting out work.”

Silly me, I look at it in terms of are we serious about getting Americans into space on American rockets, or are we not?

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Space and Campaign 2008, Technology and Society

The Anti-SpaceX Smear Campaign

17 Comments

Eric Berger did some digging into it. Looks a lot like Boeing is behind it. Weird that Julian Epstein is involved.

[Update a while later]

In thinking about it, Epstein, with his history of smearing Clinton’s accusers, to the degree he’s involved, is a good person for this smear campaign as well. Meanwhile, Keith Cowing is less than impressed.

[Friday-evening update]

Dave Mosher dug deeper. I don’t have a problem with Hagar; he seems sincere, though I disagree with him, and I’m not sure he fully understands the issue. But it appears that Boeing took advantage of him.

[Bumped]

Business, Economics, History, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Space, Technology and Society

The Return Of The Space Visionaries

1 Comment

About a year ago, I started writing an essay comparing and contrasting Bezos’s versus Musk’s visions for humanity in space. As is often the case, it expanded into a history of space visions in general, and how we’re finally returning to the old ones, after the tragic detour of Apollo. It’s out in the current issue, but unfortunately, isn’t yet available on line. I expect it will be in a few weeks or less, though.

[Update a few minutes later]

This is sort of a space issue. There is a piece by Bob Zubrin laying out his concept for Moon Direct, bypassing what he calls the space toll booth (Gateway), and another by Micah Meadowcroft on how Mars will disappoint.