Go read this action alert, and call your senator if they’re on the appropriations committee.
Category Archives: Space
The NRC Report On Human Spaceflight
Well, it’s out, and depressingly familiar. There seems to have been very little imagination, and its authors seems stuck in the sixties. It’s basically Apollo to Mars.
Joel Achenbach has the story. I’m glad that at least they’re pointing out the safety issues with flying SLS so rarely, but a bolder report would have discussed what a disaster the program will be cost wise. I’ll have to read the report to see if they addressed the real issue, which is launch costs, but since they seemed to get all their input from NASA, I suspect that it will be completely ignored.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here‘s Eric Berger’s take.
Gwynne Shotwell
She’s discussing the future of American launch right now, live.
Peter Glaser, RIP
I don’t see any details, but apparently he died late last week. I hadn’t seen him in a couple decades, but I know that he’d been ill for quite some time. I imagine many younger people in the space movement haven’t heard of him, but he was one of the luminaries back in the seventies, creating the potential economic driver for O’Neill colonies. Anyway, John Mankins seems to have taken up the baton from him for space solar power.
The Dragon Unveiling
I was there. I’ve had a cold for a few days, so it got a little grueling toward the end (not much in the way of seating for four hours) but it was pretty impressive, as you’ve probable seen from pictures and video. Alan Boyle was there, and has already posted the story.
[Friday-morning update]
Megan Geuss was there last night too. Here‘s her report.
Suspended Animation
Thoughts from Clark Lindsey on the latest developments.
Safety Is Not The Highest Priority In Human Spaceflight
I’ve started an on-line petition. I hope that the astronaut office will weigh in.
[Update a while later]
Due to some unhappiness about having to deal with Facebook (and a politically problematic petition site), I’ve set up a new one at the web site for the book. So please sign over there, and pass the word.
The Dragon 2 Unveil
It’s happening at 6 PM PDT in Hawthorne on Thursday. I (along no doubt with a lot of other media) just got an invite.
Virgin Galactic’s Public Relations
Doug Messier has an open letter to them.
I have a bad feeling about this. But I don’t think that the fate of the industry rides on either their success, or failure.
A Space Cherry Tree
Of course, as they note, this is interesting, but not really a scientific result, since there is no control. It could be something big, or a fluke.