This story is very misleading, in that it implies that the only problem with first-stage vibrations was astronauts’ inability to read displays. The solution described here does nothing to address the actual structural issues in the second stage that the resonance creates. That was no five-dollar fix.
Category Archives: Space
Mojave Air And Spaceport
Behind the scenes, with Michael Belfiore.
Fast-Forward Radio
I’ll be on tomorrow night with Brian Wang, to discuss moon colonies.
Campaign Lunacy
Jeff Foust has a comprehensive story about the space-policy discussion in the Florida primary over the past week.
We Need Real Rocket Science
…to solve the Russian spaceflight problems. Thoughts from Jim Oberg, over at The Space Review.
Rick And Gus And Dick
One of the candidates for the nation’s highest office offers an imaginative space initiative and the other candidates poke fun at it. I don’t know which is worse: offering a goal with no resources or belittling the idea of having goals at all. Personally I am disgusted with the whole process – and the polls tell me that I am far from alone. I wonder what Gus and Dick and Rick would have thought of that, too.
It is clearly presumptuous on my part to imagine what those heroes who made the supreme sacrifice would want. But they were all on record, before they died, giving voice to what they wanted. That record is one we can listen to, read, study, and evaluate.
Without exception, they were going into space because they thought it was worth the cost, worth the risk. They saw the future out there.
As I said, Romney could have criticized Newt’s plans without sounding like such an empty man.
John Carter’s Long Road
…from the Civil War to the silver screen. Might be worth seeing in a theater.
By the way, we had a discussion at dinner Sunday night as to whether Cowboys And Aliens is the worst movie ever made. It’s pretty bad, but that’s very high bar.
It’s The Way Our Fathers Did It
So obviously, it’s the only way that it can be done:
All planning must be timid and scoped to be within the limited capabilities of what was done by past over-priced government projects. If I bought a Ford Pinto, I cannot buy a new car next time. I have to plan on car trips with the assumption that I must always own a lemon.
Quoting Homer Simpson (and apparently Lawrence Krauss)
“You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.”
Trying to change this mindset is a never-ending battle.
Return To The Moon?
It’s not that loony.
Did Newt Wreck The Space Program?
He sure made it a lot harder to have a serious discussion about it. And for some reason, most reporters just find it impossible to describe history accurately:
President George W. Bush planned a return to the moon, but didn’t give the program the resources advocates hoped for. President Obama scrapped Bush’s plan in favor of promoting a private sector future farther out in space, but also cut back dramatically in the face of a budget crisis.
Sigh. The administration proposed a budget increase for NASA. But instead Congress, on a bipartisan basis, added in an unneeded rocket development while cutting funds for anything useful. Because it’s all about jobs, not doing anything in space.