…passes the House.
Unsurprisingly, Marcia Smith has the story. Probably more thoughts after I read it myself. But this concluding statement is evergreen: “A long and difficult appropriations seasons seems inevitable.”
Category Archives: Space
Commercial Crew Emergency
Contact your representative tonight or early tomorrow and tell them to support full funding for Commercial Crew. The House is going to be voting on the appropriations budget.
Kickstarter Progress
Well, that was a nice bump. John Walker just kicked in a grand. That puts me over 10% of the goal on the first full day. Not sure how many more of those I’ll get, though.
[Update a while later]
I’ve gotten a couple emails wondering if there’s some way to contribute anonymously. Unfortunately, I don’t think Kickstarter allows that. I can understand how there would be a lot of people who’d like to support it, but would suffer repercussions if they did so publicly. However, if I get funded, I’d be happy to take more money under the table for equivalent rewards, and just keep track of it myself, instead of Kickstarter. That would have the additional advantage of eliminating the take from the middle man (7-8%).
A “Design Peculiarity”
That’s an…interesting phrase for the cause of the Progress mission failure last month. Doesn’t that sort of imply a need for a redesign?
Clearing The Road To Mars
OK, here we go. I’ve launched my new Kickstarter. Spread the word.
Henry Vanderbilt
My deepest condolences on the recent loss of his father. Among other things, he certainly raised a son who’s been a stalwart in trying to get us off the planet.
Space Access Update
The latest version is out, describing the current hijinks in Congress:
Full-throttle political support for full-funding Commercial Crew at the requested $1.24 billion is a top (if not the top) political priority for this year. Down-selecting to one vendor to save money over the next two years would add multiple unacceptable program risks and lead to long-term monopoly pricing. Successful flight before the end of 2017 already apparently involves optimistic assumptions about not needing the full $300 million in NASA-required-extras contingency funding. NASA says that any shortfall from the $1.24 billion level this year risks further program delays, and our look at the numbers seems to bear that out.
Yes, as Bolden said a few weeks ago, they can’t accelerate it with more money, but they can delay with less, and they seem determined to do so.
[Early evening update]
OK, here‘s an even more recent update.
Space Blogging
I won’t bother to link to individual pieces, but Jon Goff seems to have been blogging up a storm over the past few days.
Kickstarter Video
Try, try again. I’ve punched up the audio in this version, though it still sounds like I’m in an empty lecture hall.
[Update a while later]
I think I’m ready to launch the project (and Kickstarter says I can do it at any time), but here’s the draft page, if anyone wants to provide feedback before I do so.
The Bleed Hole In Aircraft Windows
Explained. Ideally, you’d have a similar setup for a spacecraft, but it would add weight. Lynx is single pane, AFAIK. I don’t know about SpaceShipTwo.