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.
Thoughts from Clark Lindsey on the latest developments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Defense News has a hit and a miss. First, the hit:
…And after SpaceX unveils the manned version of its previously unmanned Dragon spacecraft this week, NASA should accelerate development of the project
Yes, though unlike me, they don’t actually propose how to do that.
Here’s the miss, and it’s a big one:
and revive the Space Launch System to put super heavy payloads into orbit.
What does “revive” the SLS mean? I thought it was ahead of schedule? That’s what its proponents keep telling me.
And what “super heavy payloads” are there that need to be put into orbit? What does this have to do with dependence on the Russians? This recommendation seems to be a complete non sequitur.
Who is? The Russians, or NASA?
I gave him a copy of the book last weekend at ISDC. I just got an email telling me that at his own book signing in Colorado yesterday, he mentioned it, and that he was reading it.
So I’ve got that going for me.
Elon is accusing ULA of bribing an Air Force general with a job, in return for the no-bid contract.
He’s probably right, but those things are always hard to prove.
Meanwhile, Paul Brinkmann at the Orlando Sentinel seems to mistakenly believe that the new engine development has something to do with NASA and SLS.