Dennis Wingo has the 2014 edition. Long but worth a read. I disagree with him on the first flight for commercial crew. I think it may happen as soon as next year.
Category Archives: Space
New Pressure To Accelerate Commercial Crew?
Someone needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that “as soon as possible” could be within a year, if they accelerate the docking system, and they could fly someone in ten days, if someone decided it was important.
SpaceX Versus “Boeing”
The headline of this good National Journal article on yesterday’s Senate Appropriations hearing is very misleading. One would think from it that’s it’s about the commercial crew competition between Dragon and CST, when in fact it’s about the competition between SpaceX and ULA for milsat launches. I assume that the copy editor screwed up, not the author. Anyway, note the typical socialist argument against competition that Dick Shelby uses.
Space Tourism
Eileen Collins explains why it will be successful.
Our Space Dependence On The Russians
I say it’s time to end it, over at PJMedia.
National Security Launchers
A live blog of the Senate hearing, with Elon Musk and Michael Gass. ULA is running scared, and Shelby is running interference for them, spouting economic lunacy.
Elysium
A brief review of the stupid movie by Lileks:
I made two attempts this weekend to watch “Elysium,” but was hampered by the fact that it was stupid.
There’s actually a little more, but that’s the bottom line.
If Russia Refuses To Fly US Astronauts
My response:
If we really wouldn't fly crew on Dragon as is today, it just shows how unimportant we think that ISS is. @PopMech
— SafeNotAnOption (@SafeNotAnOption) March 3, 2014
Desperation Mars
Commentary on the latest pathetic attempt to justify SLS.
SLS At A Gun Show
A long-time reader relates a sad anecdote:
I went down to the Louisville, KY Militaria Show of Shows, and on Saturday I also went to the National Gun Day Show in the same complex(I collect antique firearms). After purchasing two old rifles, near the far side of the hall, was a table asking people to sign a petition calling for Obama’s impeachment. What was striking was that in addition to impeaching Obama, the table had a sign asking people to reject cuts to the NASA budget, specifically the SLS. Reading the form, I saw that agreeing that Obama should be impeached went along with increasing the funding for the SLS. (It also included the usual pro-gun rhetoric, needed for a gun show). I asked the people about that, and got into a discussion about the SLS aspect. From what I made of the table renter’s comments, he wants an end to SpaceX and other private sector space businesses, giving all the money to NASA. I was civil, with some effort, since he didn’t have much in the line of facts to back up his arguments on the SLS side, and started getting into personal insults. The “high” point was when he said that if I wasn’t pro SLS, I was anti-gun. This despite my carrying two rifles, a pass from the SOS, and showing him my NRA card.
He wanted me to stay and
be insultedargue some more, but I was exhausted from two days of the shows, so I just walked away.I’ve gone to over 50 shows in the last year and a half, since I got back into the firearms community after my father died and left his firearms to me. Large and small, I’ve never seen someone pushing the SLS. I’ve talked to a few people that support the new space companies, but incidental to the firearms being offered for sale. This guy was more passionate about the NASA cuts than the impeachment or the 2nd Amendment.
Sigh. Fortunately, he probably is a bizarre outlier.