He would have been a hundred years old today. Also, it’s the 29th anniversary of the announcement of the Strategic Defense Initiative. “Wouldn’t it be better to save lives than to avenge them?”
[Update a couple minutes later]
Related to last item: Japan prepares missile defense in anticipation of North Korean launch.
[Update a few minutes later]
Back to von Braun: a blog post from Roger Launius.
Started sixty years ago, introducing the American public to the coming age of space. It later led to a series of Disney short animations, shown on Sunday nights.
Heading for a polar “orbit”? Well, if so, at least it won’t overfly Japan.
…is starting to hire again. Not sure what it means.
Some of you may recall numerous comments on statistics and physics here by commenter “bbbeard.” Sadly, I just received notification that he died over the weekend:
Where: Memphis Botanical Gardens (in the Japanese Garden)
750 Cherry RoadMemphis, TN 38117
Phone: 901.636.4106Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Time: Gathering at 10:00am with Service to begin at 10:30am. Lunch to follow, ending at 1:30pm
Donations can be made to either of the following:
Keystone School
119 E. Craig Place
San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: 210.735.4022Donations Link: https://websvr.keystoneschool.org/cc/misc_fund.asp
Or
MIT Department of Physics
77 Massachusetts Ave., Bldg. 4-309
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Phone: 617.452.2807
Donations Link: https://giving.mit.edu/givenow/browse-designations.dyn?categoryId=DP,DPPH
He was a former colleague of mine at the ARES Corporation (though I never worked with him). The comments section here (as well, of course, as his friends and family) will miss him.
What would they look like from the surface?
Because we’re wasting it on party balloons. It really is a critical strategic resource; it’s nuts to be selling off the reserve. It’s vital for a lot of rocketry.
But here’s my question, that a quick search doesn’t answer. With the increase in natural gas production from fracking, are they capturing the helium along with it? Does this solve the problem? Or is the artificially low prices making it not worthwhile to do so? The other question is, are there places where it’s easy to mine in the solar system? For instance, how practical would it be to skim Saturn’s atmosphere for it?
Via Christian Garcia, who has had a change of heart:
I once told a #SpaceX investor that human spaceflight was too complex for a startup. It’s awesome that I was so wrong http://on.mash.to/AzUIQb
Now if we can just turn around Neil Armstrong. I’m encouraged, after seeing him in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. Cernan may be a lost cause, though.
An interesting interview with Jeff Greason by Irene Klotz at Space News.
Michael Listner says it isn’t dead yet.
In a couple weeks, I may be making an announcement that could help kill it, though.