I haven’t been a member in many years (I don’t know when I dropped, but it was probably in the late eighties) because for a long time I’ve viewed them as either part of the problem, or irrelevant (for instance, Aerospace America just seemed to be a font of conventional industry wisdom). But they continue to bug me to reup, and I’m thinking that it might actually be useful for me to do so, but if so, at this point in my career, I would only do so as a fairly senior type, for which one has to have sponsorship (according to my understanding). Is there anyone out there that would like to take this on?
Category Archives: Space
Forty-Two Years Ago
Hard to believe it’s been that long (doesn’t seem that long ago that I attended a celebration in Hollywood thrown by Ron Howard for the quarter-century anniversary), but today is the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. Wednesday is Evoloterra, so it’s a good time to plan a get together with family and friends to celebrate. Bill Simon and I, the principal authors of the ceremony, will be discussing it on The Space Show on Monday afternoon.
Jerry Pournelle
…is interviewed by Instapundit.
A couple points. The SRBs are more than two pieces — they consist of seven segments. And I think that American entrepreneurs/adventurers will be back on the moon before the Chinese are.
[Update early afternoon]
Here’s the Youtube version for those who don’t subscribe to Pajamas TV.
An Agency That Has Too Much Money
Res ipsa loquitur.
This isn’t going to be helpful in NASA budget discussions going forward.
[Update the next morning]
The Adaptive Curmudgeon is teed off at NASA. I think he’s got the wrong culprit, though — the problem is really on Capitol Hill. If Congress wanted NASA to do anything different, it would give them different direction and funding.
On The Chopping Block
(My CEI colleague) Iain Murray says that part of a budget deal should be to eliminate the Department of Commerce.
It’s not actually the first one I’d go after (I’d get rid of e.g., Education, Labor and Energy first), but I understand the potential appeal. But it does serve many necessary functions that would have to be redistributed elsewhere. For instance, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) wouldn’t find a comfortable home in the State Department, nor would NOAA or the weather service. Granted, the latter is kind of a mess right now, in terms of not getting needed new satellites up (particularly now that we’re headed into the heart of hurricane season), though it’s not clear whether that’s NOAA’s fault, or NASA’s, which actually manages the development of the satellites. Also, giving over the commercial export list to the State Department could make ITAR even more of a disaster than it already is. It would also raise the issue of finding a new home for the Coast Guard (and the Space Guard, if we ever get one).
There is a reason that Commerce has been around a lot longer than the three agencies I mention above as better targets — if it didn’t exist, we’d probably have to invent it in some form. And unlike education, energy, or labor, we actually do have a Commerce Clause in the Constitution (flawed and overstretched though its interpretation has become).
Was The Shuttle Worth It?
Thoughts on MSNBC from Dave Brody.
On The Radio
I’m going to be on The American Conservative Radio Show tonight, at 10 PM EDT, talking space policy. Here’s a link for those who want to listen in.
A Profile Of Bob Zubrin
“Our Biggest Bridge To Nowhere”
Gene Healy doesn’t think much of the manned space program.
Calling My Representative
I’d like to call my representative and tell her to help fix the NASA appropriation disaster, but I don’t have one, because she resigned a few months ago.
There’s a special election to replace her tomorrow, though, and I want to encourage everyone to vote for Craig Hughey, a libertarian/Tea-Party type who managed to come in second in the free-for-all primary a few weeks ago, which pits him against the long-time LA County political hack (from a long-time family of political hacks), Janice Hahn. It should be a walk-in for her, given the way the district is carved to favor Democrats, but it’s actually a close race, partly because of internecine bitterness from the Democrats who supported Debra Bowen, but who came in third due to nasty attacks by the Hahn campaign. It’s entirely conceivable that Bowen supporters will either sit out the election, or actually vote for Hughey, in the hope that Bowen will get another shot at the seat next year (it’s unclear what redistricting will do, particularly in light of the new, supposedly less partisan plan to do so). Zombie has a lot more detail on the race, and Jim Geraghty has the rundown on the Hahn corruption, including her aiding and abetting LA gang members. On the other hand, she and her supporters may have turned off the black community in LA as well.
It will be very interesting to see the outcome, but as Geraghty notes, the weird circumstances won’t really tell us anything about general Republican prospects next year, even if Hughey pulls it off.
[Update a while later]
Taking a vet’s name in vain?