Bob Clark has some politically incorrect thoughts on how to get back to the moon.
Category Archives: Space
Tom Clancy, RIP
He was an early New Space investor, in Rotary Rocket. Stephen Green has some thoughts.
The SpaceX “Second-Stage Explosion”
The company says it didn’t happen.
Super Sunday For Commercial Spaceflight
My piece on Orbital’s, SpaceX’s and ILS’s trifecta is up now at PJMedia.
The Russian Space Program
Leonard David has a glowing review of Anatoly Zak’s new book.
[Update a while later]
Here’s another review, from Jeff Foust.
The SpaceX Press Conference
Elon is saying that the mission was completely successful, but they lost the first stage. First relight to gentle the entry was successful, but the second one to come into the ocean resulted in an exceedance of attitude control authority for roll. Centrifuged propellant shut down engine prematurely. But they’re getting all the pieces, so they’ll be able to figure out how to fix for next time.
[Update a few minutes later]
First and second stage engines performed better than predicted. Pad also worked well.
[Update a few minutes later]
Second stage shut down prematurely, but didn’t affect mission, apparently. They know why and will fix for next flight. Next two flights won’t attempt first-stage recovery, in order to maximize payload for customers. [All via @Jeff_Foust]
Next recovery attempt will be on CRS-3. Vehicle may also have landing legs (implies attempt at flyback to land, not ocean — today’s flight must have inspired confidence).
[Update a while later]
I mistyped above. The second stage didn’t shut down prematurely, it had a problem with restart. But I think it was just a test of the vehicle, and didn’t affect the primary mission.
The Falcon 9 Launch
Spectator video from the highway east of the base.
Eight Minutes To Launch
Things are looking good for a Falcon-9R launch from Vandenberg. I’ll be watching for it from the balcony in Redondo Beach.
[Update a while later]
Looks like everything went perfectly. Just waiting to hear if they had a successful relight and splashdown of the first stage. We didn’t see it from our place, though. Not sure if the house next door was blocking, or what. Next time we’ll go to the beach.
Engineering Less-Than 101
This is dramatically oversimplified. It only works for mechanical engineering.
Bill Gates’s Nuclear Ambitions
I’m not a huge Bill Gates fan, but he certainly gets this important issue. Cheap energy is the key to reducing poverty. As long as government policies aren’t insane, of course. And we need it for space as well. The lack of progress in space nuclear reactors for the past half century is appalling.