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.
…will only go to the moon if they’re selected by NASA.
They may have no current plans to send the spacers into space, but that could change with the advent of Starship.
[Sunday-morning update]
Sorry about the missing link. I’m surprised that no one mentioned it sooner.
There was a little more damage than expected.
But it sounds like it’s not a big deal.
It’s getting early rave reviews.
Combining hypersonics with directed-energy for drag reduction?
…is women.
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.
Blue Origin is considering getting into the game.
[Mid-morning update]
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.
[Update a while later]
More progress: Flaps, and a first glimpse of Super Heavy.
This may be a sign of life in the Venerian clouds, but not necessarily.
I do think that Venus gets far too little attention. Maybe this will spur more action in that regard.
[Wednesday-afternoon update]
This is a six-year-old article, but it’s relevant. Seeing what it looks like at the one-bar level of the atmosphere should be a high priority.
[Bumped]
[Sunday-afternoon update]
Bob Zubrin: Let’s explore the Venerian atmosphere with solar balloons.
[Bumped]