The comments at Space Politics continue. And (unsurprisingly) Mark Whittington continues to look foolish, because he doesn’t understand either the technology or the politics:

There’s a nice profile of Tim Pickens over at Air & Space. It includes some good X-Prize history, including the ongoing dispute over who built the engine for SpaceShipOne.

A lot of great discussion on Griffin and ESAS over at Space Politics. Consensus is that he and it are a disaster in the making, with the only defender of this ongoing slow-motion train wreck being Mark Whittington, who doesn’t even seem to be aware of the difference between ESAS and VSE. From “anonymous” (who unlike many of the anonymouses here, is the opposite of a moron):

A lot of great discussion on Griffin and ESAS over at Space Politics. Consensus is that he and it are a disaster in the making, with the only defender of this ongoing slow-motion train wreck being Mark Whittington, who doesn’t even seem to be aware of the difference between ESAS and VSE. From “anonymous” (who unlike many of the anonymouses here, is the opposite of a moron):

A lot of great discussion on Griffin and ESAS over at Space Politics. Consensus is that he and it are a disaster in the making, with the only defender of this ongoing slow-motion train wreck being Mark Whittington, who doesn’t even seem to be aware of the difference between ESAS and VSE. From “anonymous” (who unlike many of the anonymouses here, is the opposite of a moron):

It’s hosted this time by Universe Today.

That is, persecution by a “religion.” Keith Henson needs your help:

The petition I asked you to sign asks Schwarzenegger to pardon Keith or commute his sentence. Ask for what you want, but I think she is right that humanitarian and compassionate grounds are best right now, for whichever boon you wish to request.

His full name is Howard Keith Henson, awaiting a hearing in the Yavapai Superior Court, jailed in the Yavapai Detention Center, where last night he was kept awake till 2 while another inmate rolled around in agony from kidneystones, then was taken to the infirmary and given aspirin. Then Keith was awakened at 4 a.m. for blood pressure check and meds–which we’re glad he got, but 2-4 hours of sleep a night in an extremely noisy dormitory, with no contact lens supplies to clean his lenses, and no blanket in a jail where even the young people complain of the cold (over airconditioned in the daytime, down to the 40s at night here in the mountains). His blood pressure has continued dangerously high for some days. The worst thing about Riverside, of course, where he appears to be headed now is not the weather or the lack of supplies (or having to write with only a stub of a pencil because pens or regular-sized pencils are not allowed) but the control of $cientology over the jail there.

I’ve categorized this as “Space” because Keith is one of the founders of the L-5 Society, and it is one of his passions (as well as extropianism in general). Unfortunately, so was taking on Scientology.

[Update a few minutes later]

Emailer Jim Bennett notes:

It’s a good start. But this seems like a good First Amendment case if nothing else – it really doesn’t seem like Keith had very good
legal help.

Is there a pro-bono First-Amendment lawyer in the house? Where the hell (pardon my French) was the ACLU? Too busy fighting creches and ten-commandments placards, I guess…

To Alan Boyle.

Can be found here.

Let’s hope that this isn’t the beginning of a trend:

“After working with [the] Rocket Racing League for the past 17 months, we have concluded that our vision, business practices, and communications standards are incompatible with those of the league,” Robert Rickard, Leading Edge president and CEO, said in a statement. “We had very high hopes for this enterprise and tried very hard to find a common way forward.”

Or if it is, that the RRL makes whatever changes are necessary to keep things together. I should note that I’ve no idea what the creative differences are, so I have no opinions as to who is in the right and wrong here. With this drop out, though, it would be nice to get some more teams signed up to provide confidence in the future viability. Comments from people who know more is welcome. Uninformed speculation is less so.