Marcia Smith has a good description of the highlights, including the discussion on space safety on Tuesday afternoon, at which I felt like the elephant in the room that no one talked about. It was an excellent conference.
Category Archives: Space
Grounding Private Space
Three ways it could happen through red tape.
Congress Versus Commercial Space
Bob Zimmerman says that the former “hovers over [the latter] like a vulture.”
While there are no doubt many in Congress with that attitude, I was actually encouraged by Chairman Palazzo’s remarks this morning at the Space Transportation Conference, in which he expressed support for an extension of the “moratorium” because it will “stifle innovation” to overregulate at this point. (Note: At the hearing yesterday, he used the phrase “learning period,” as industry does. It’s possible he used the “m” word because he was reading from notes put together by staffer that hadn’t gotten the memo.)
Off To Mordor On The Potomac
On a plane heading to Reagan Airport, and the Space Transportation Conference. I’ll check in later.
[Afternoon update]
Arrived at my hotel on upper Connecticut Avenue.
Another Book Review
From John Walker.
He found a misspelling that I’ve been missing. Guess it will have to remain for the next revision (the first one will be available this week).
Virgin Galactic’s Engine Issues
George Whitesides responds to Tom Bower’s accusations (sort of), and Doug Messier analyzes.
I’ll simply repeat my long-standing belief that hybrids have been dramatically overhyped. If VG is smart, they’ll be trying to migrate away from them as quickly as possible.
Falcon 9-R
Photos taken by several local people from a public road in the vicinity of the test site – some of which were provided to L2, while others were posted openly on the internet – provide a glimpse of the landing leg structures that appear to be closely based on the hardware that SpaceX is expected to employ when they actually fly with legs on a Falcon 9.
…limitations at the Texas site result in an AGL (Altitude above Ground Level) ceiling for Grasshopper of 2,500 feet.
Once GH2 arrives in New Mexico, it will be able to fly to much greater altitudes.
Gywnne said at ISPCS in October that they hoped to be flying out of New Mexico by the end of the year, so it looks like they’ve slipped that schedule. I was going to ask her at a meeting I had with her a couple weeks ago, but we were interrupted before I had a chance.
High-Risk Sports
Some ruminations on the possibility of death. As I note in the book, many extreme sports, not just motorsports, carry such danger, but it’s not regulated by the government. The commercial space industry will need to develop its own standards for different risk levels and activities.
Book Reviews
Just a reminder, we only have two of them at Amazon, so for those of you who have read it, it would be nice to see some more, even if they’re not five stars (as the first two are).
We’re Number One
The book is now the top-listed seller at Amazon in Air and Space Law