I’m sort of on vacation this week. I gave a talk in Omaha on Friday as part of a space panel with General Kwast and Joel Sercel, on the economics of space, to a Free Market Forum sponsored by Hillsdale College. It seemed to go well, and seemed to be an eye opener for many in the audience, so it was great to preach to someone other than the choir.
We’re in Michigan now, visiting family and checking out the fall colors for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately, I’m also boning up for my deposition next week in DC by Mann’s lawyer. So I’ll keep an eye on things, and post if something noteworthy happens, but consider this an open thread for now.
I took a ride in an airplane today, for the first time since early March. We’re in Kansas City, driving up to Omaha tomorrow for an event where I’m speaking on Friday. Posting may be light.
I wonder at what point the company will just pull the plug on Starliner? They’ve been spectacularly unimpressive, Andy Pasztor’s worship aside.
I mean, if Starship goes to orbit before they have their crewed test flight, even NASA has to say, OK, maybe we don’t need a backup from them for Dragon.
I’m giving a talk on the economics of spaceflight on Friday in Omaha. Does anyone have a chart showing the cost per flight as a function of flight rate for both expendables and reusables? Doesn’t need to have citable numbers in it, just looking for something conceptual.
I approve. But Bonnie’s point is well taken. No woman should want to be selected for a mission simply because of her genital configuration. And of course, I think that Artemis is the Lady Ghostbusters sequel to Apollo.
A commenter suggests that BO could pick up some of the people that Bigelow laid off. Maybe, but in thinking about it, I think that Bigelow’s “expandable” concepts have possibly missed the train, in the coming age of cheap launch, the large fairing of Spaceship, and orbital assembly.