Justin Kugler knocks down the latest bit of media space mythology.
Category Archives: Space
Seven Years Ago Today
I should have posted this earlier, and it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, but I drove up to Mojave on the twentieth of June, 2004, to see the first flight of SpaceShipOne into space. I put up several blog posts about it, starting with this one. Just consecutively click on the next post (at the top of the page) to see them all, along with links to other posts.
In Which Someone Really Does Want To Spend More Time With His Family
Mark Kelly is retiring from NASA. I wish him and his wife well.
NASA Is Going To Explore Deep Space
Just ask Broccoli Man.
Former Astronaut Bernard Harris
An interesting interview. He’s being a little too politically correct here, though:
…in the 21st century we need teachers who teach math and science to have expertise in math and science. So there needs to be an upgrade there, and refocus on how much we value those teachers. As you know, in this country, we don’t pay our teachers all that well. We need to rethink that.
The problem isn’t that we don’t pay teachers well, at least on average. The problem is that we don’t pay the valuable ones enough, and we pay the worthless ones far too much, thanks to the unions. We need to be able to adequately compensate the teachers who have actual useful knowledge to impart, and get rid of the ones who don’t. This would all start by eliminating the worthless, or to be more accurate, negative-value, “education” major.
The Unexpected Space Debate
I have a new piece up at the Washington Examiner on Monday night’s space questions.
The Hundred-Year Starship Study
Clark Lindsey has been covering the DARPA teleconference.
Seeking Volunteers
…at Tea Party in Space.
It’s a great cause.
The Other Shoe About To Drop
You remember that letter from Senators Boxer and Feinstein? ATK and Orrin Hatch aren’t going to be very happy with another one coming out tomorrow, from a surprise source (though it’s not that much of a surprise when you think about it). The divide-and-conquer strategy against the porkers is working.
[Update a while later]
No need to wait for tomorrow — I have the scoop over at Competitive Space.
Bitterness, And Denial
The end of Constellation brings out the same flawed arguments in comments.
Yes, if one poured enough money into Constellation, no doubt it could have been made to “work,” if by that you mean get a few government employees to the moon at a billion dollars a ticket. It never had a prayer of contributing to the opening up of space to the rest of us, any more than Apollo did.
And unfortunately, while the name might be gone, the program zombies on until we can kill off the Senate Launch System and Orion-by-another-name.