Ken Murphy has the latest Carnival of Space up, with an emphasis on women in space, and a lot of ISDC links.
Category Archives: Space
Why Hollywood Sux (Part 34,652)
It’s not bad enough that they are so deficient in creativity that they have to make flicks out of old television shows and comic books. Now they’re reduced to remaking stupid schlock that should never have been made the first time. Behold, what the world has been awaiting–a new version of Capricorn One
On a cheerier note, there’s apparently a much better (to put it mildly–I shouldn’t even be discussing them in the same post) SF movie on the way.
…what I have is a story where businessmen and engineers are the heroes, the protestors are the bad guys, people accept risk willingly and some of them die for it, where they do amazing things and go to astonishing places on their own dime, where nuclear power is good and essential and the motivation is not money or power but freedom and a love of humanity, and where America and all she stands for is a beacon in a darkening world.
It’s a crazy bizarro world of science fiction!
Hollywood would never make anything like that.
Good luck, Bill–we’ll be looking forward to seeing it, and ignoring the other.
More On Patience
Related to yesterday’s post, Dwayne Day weighs in at Clark’s site over their bet, in the comments. And here’s a link to the old Transterrestrial post that documents the wager. I agree with Dr. Day on at least one thing–sushi is preferable to Italian.
Patience
Several years ago (more than I care to think about) we put up a new trellis, and planted a bougainvillea at the entrance to our back yard in southern California. The hope was that the plant would grow to fill in the trellis, providing a beautiful hedge for privacy. Though one of the features of an established bougainvillea is low watering needs, we at first watered it diligently to establish the roots and spur its growth. But it grew slowly, sending out a few tendrils that I attached strategically around the trellis in the hope that it would fill in smoothly and quickly. It took two or three years before it finally blocked the view through the fencing. Now, over a decade later, it grows so vigorously that it has to be trimmed regularly, lest it project thorny branches out into the path where people walk. Despite its slow start, it has a thick trunk, and massive root system, that provides structure and nourishment for now-rapid and unstoppable growth.
It’s a truism in technological progress that we are always overoptimistic in the short term. The corollary is that we tend to be pessimistic in the longer term. Both of these effects are a result of the fact that we tend to think linearly, while life, and growth happen more exponentially–very slow at first, and then growing explosively as they climb the curve.
So Jon and Clark shouldn’t be discouraged at the frustratingly slow progress so far in suborbital activities, and Clark should and will (barring some miracle out of Armadillo or someone this summer) buy Dwayne Day his Italian dinner with cheer and good grace, and make another bet. It’s tragic, of course, that some of those on Jon’s list will not live to see the fruit of their labors, who might have had we been able to make better progress. But we can’t let that discourage us.
We have just finally, after delays caused much more by false perceptions than technological ability, gotten the plants in the ground, and the irrigation is on them, in the form of ongoing funding. Of course, they’re experimental hybrid plants, so it’s hard to know their growth rate ahead of time, or which of them will survive the soil or sun of their location. But over time, some will succeed, and grow, slowly at first, but eventually faster, until they are thriving at such a rate that we will marvel at all the people who said that the soil was barren, and that they would never flower, let alone fruit. And we will marvel from far above them, from the top of our garden that reaches up into the sky, and beyond.
Memorial Service Arrangements
Note: I’ve bumped this post to the top, with an update. It will stay at the top for a couple days, so if you see it first, continue reading past–I’ll still be posting new stuff.
For any of my Huntsville area readers who wish to pay their respects to Darren Spurlock, David Alan Smith of Boeing passes on the following information:
Kelly and her family is planning for a service this Tuesday and Wednesday as shown below:
Tuesday, June 3
Berryhill Funeral Home
2035 Memorial Parkway North
Huntsville, AL
Visitation: 12:00 p.m.
Funeral: 2:00 p.m.Wednesday, June 4
Hermitage Memorial Gardens
535 Shute Lane
Old Hickory, TN
Graveside service and burial: 11:00 a.m.We talked further about those who knew him sharing some remembrances at his service. She and her ministers are very happy to have us do that. Since we don’t have much time I offer the following approach. If you will be able to physically attend and want to say something, please tell me and give me an idea of how long you need. If you have something you would like to share at his service but can not come, I will be glad to act as your surrogate. If you have something you would just like Kelly, Ben (6) and James (3) to have I will compile them electronically. I need those items you would like shared Tuesday by COB Monday. As these boys grow older, it will help them know Darren as the man he was.
Kelly’s public notice on Darren’s death will include the following:
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Mayfair Church of Christ:
1095 Carl T. Jones Dr.
Huntsville, AL 35802However, she very much appreciated our thought to honor Darren through supporting Ben and James education. So as a “work” friend, if you feel moved you can send her a check in her name with the reference to the “Darren Spurlock Education Fund”. She can deposit these in Ben and James college savings accounts.
Kelly Spurlock
[Address deleted because I don’t want to blast her home address on the Interweb, the world being the sad place that it is these days in that regard. Anyone interested can contact me at the email address in the upper left corner of the blog, and I’ll relay it. Actually, I’d suggest that Kelly establish a trust with a PO Box, and a web page to take donations via Paypal–perhaps someone else can help her with this. –rs]
And finally, I can not stress how much a card, note and/or remembrance means to her. Darren touched many lives. Let us show that as a monument to his life with us. Your support, thoughts and prayers for Kelly and the boys are very much appreciated.
David Alan Smith
Advanced Programs, Exploration Launch Systems
Space Exploration, The Boeing Company
If anyone wants to get hold of David and doesn’t have his contact info (which again, I didn’t want to display), again, email me.
[Update, per my comment about not wanting to post Kelly’s home address]
For those of all called to honor Darren’s memory in a way that will positively affect his family’s future, we have established the “Darren Spurlock Memorial Education Fund” for his two boys Ben and James via 529 college savings accounts. To contribute to this account you may:
Make check payable to: College America.
In memo field: Spurlock Education Fund.
Mail to:
First Financial Group
400 Meridian Street, Ste.100
Huntsville, AL 35801Any contribution you send will divided equally into an account for Ben and account for James. And thank you for honoring a beloved colleague and friend.
Losing A Champion
I didn’t see Len Cormier at Space Access in March, though he has rarely missed one in the past. Now via an email from Pat Kelley, I learned why:
I’m sad to announce that Len Cormier is losing his battle with cancer. I spoke with him today, and he’s in a hospice awaiting the end. I’ve had the privilege of his friendship and professional partnership for over ten years, and I hate to see this come to an end before my goal of at least giving him the satisfaction of seeing a project birthed from his incredible intellect at least get started.
Len is not terribly religious, but I know he would not be offended by good wishes, prayers, or whatever means you may choose to honor him. I will miss him.
I don’t know how far from the end it is, and where there’s life there’s hope, so I won’t talk about him in the past tense. But if he doesn’t make it, it will be a damned shame. No one living has been talking about affordable access to space, and worked as hard at it as Len, having been an advocate for almost half a century. He was also one of the gentlest men, in the gentleman sense, that I’ve ever met, always gracious, even in the face of unreasonable criticism and often vituperation.
It’s a tragedy that he is leaving us just as the funding dam is starting to break on the kinds of projects that he has been advocating for so long, and that he won’t see the results. He should go knowing, though, that he played a significant role in laying the ground work for it, and inspired many who will carry on in his stead. Despite his failure to achieve his audacious goals, I think that he’ll be far more than a footnote in the history of astronautics.
[Update a few minutes later]
Another email comment from Rick Jurmain:
Len’s a man with dreams too grand for a single lifetime. That’s as it should be.
Or, to paraphrase Sunset Boulevard: He is big. It’s the space program that got small.
It’s been an honor to work with Len. I’ll remember him.
New Space History
Alan Boyle has a review of what looks to be an interesting book on SpaceShipOne
More ISDC Blogging
Clark Lindsey has some links.
ISDC And Space Tourism
Glenn Reynolds has a summary over at Popular Mechanics. Not much new here for people who followed all the blogging, though.
One Man, One Way
Phil Bowermaster has some thoughts on what I think is actually quite a likely scenario for the first human on Mars. It won’t be done by NASA, though, or likely any government space agency. They simply can’t afford to take the risk when it’s funded by taxpayers, as we’ve seen when the nation gets unreasonably hysterical over astronaut deaths. It will be a privately funded expedition, which will be able to do so without the intrusion of politics.
And of course, this will be more in the nature of such exploration. After all, the vast majority of polar exploration (e.g., Peary, Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton) was privately funded. Once we get the cost of access to orbit down, and establish an orbital fueling infrastructure, it will be quite feasible to raise the money for private adventures such as this.
Sadly, NASA is contributing almost nothing to those goals, instead spending billions developing expensive government-owned/operated launch vehicles and capsules that will likely become obsolete before they first fly.