NASA’s next space telescope may not be executable in its current form.
As noted in comments, making it a tech demonstrator effectively puts it on the chopping block next time it overruns. I think that NASA has to start with a clean sheet of paper how such instruments should be designed and built, in the coming age of low-cost launch and space assembly.
Replacing carbon “pollution” with light pollution. This is a much more serious problem than people realize. Most kids probably don’t even know what a dark night sky looks like.
I keep forgetting about them. It looks like they’ll be a player in suborbital soon, just not for human spaceflight. I expect I’ll see Russ and others at the suborbital research conference in Broomfield in December.
Gwynne Shotwell provides a preview. The plan is to continue to pick up the pace. Note that now she’s saying 2024 for BFR debut. That seems conservative, and more realistic.
It’s a couple years old, but it’s that time of year again for instructions on how to discuss Star Wars over dinner with your ignorant rebellion-supporting uncle.
And speaking of Thanksgiving dinner, here is my recipe for cornbread, sausage, wild-mushroom and pomegranate dressing.
As I tweeted to Ron (he hasn’t responded), my concern is that, being derived from soy, it won’t have the same nutritional value as actual beef.
RIP, Lutz Kayser.
I don’t know if anyone’s written a definitive history of OTRAG, but it did inspire (at least for a while) John Carmack and Armadillo.
Eric Berger has the video of the landing test.
The big deal about this is its potential for an ambulance from orbit, with its lower entry acceleration, and ability to land near a hospital. It will be a very useful capability.
DARPA wants to disrupt it. It could certainly use it.
They’re getting better:
The new device reflects a wave of rapid progress in metal 3-D printing, suggesting that the technology is moving toward becoming a more realistic manufacturing tool. Last month, researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced they had developed a new method that created stainless-steel parts three times as strong as any previous 3-D-printed steel parts. That means mission-critical parts can be created using 3-D printing without worries about compromising structural integrity. Startup Desktop Metal, meanwhile, is helping to overcome the speed barrier. Its production machine, available for purchase next year, makes metal parts 100 times faster than a laser-based 3-D printer.
Cool.