A history, and thoughts on NASA’s needed transition, from Edgar Zapata.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Convenient BS
The legacy of Al Gore’s religious polemic, twenty years on.
He, I think more than anyone, was responsible for the politicization of science.
With The Success (So Far) Of Artemis 2
The Current Generation And Space
I've written about this extensively over the years (this, depressingly, is from almost a decade ago: https://t.co/4mnbzkPsvN), but the reason we didn't continue on from Apollo was that we did it the wrong way, the most expensive possible way, because of the "end of the decade"… https://t.co/BjXuPmKvgk
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) April 2, 2026
How Could I Have Been So Foolish?
I've come to realize today, on the dawn of our first return to the Moon in over half a century, how wrong I've been about space policy for the past decades. Seeing the majestic Space Launch System with its mighty SRBs sitting on the pad now, poised to once again take men to the…
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) April 1, 2026
“There Is No Plan”
Some thoughts for the idiots who actually believe this.
Things Are Starting To Happen
— Peter H. Diamandis, MD (@PeterDiamandis) March 31, 2026
The Q4 2025 Rocket Report dropped yesterday and the number that should terrify every government on Earth is not the one going viral.
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) March 31, 2026
SpaceX launched 1,159 of the 1,404 spacecraft put into orbit worldwide in Q4 2025. That is 83% of all spacecraft launched by every nation and… pic.twitter.com/UXq33nfMIC
Libertarianism
How it needs to up its game.
My “Smart” TV
We bought a Vizio a few years ago when the price came down below $1000 for a 65″, for the Superbowl. But I’ve never given it my wifi password; it’s just a monitor fed by my other devices. This is why.
Recognition
Gwynne is on the cover of Time (which of course isn’t as big a deal as it used to be). With the largest IPO in history, we may have reached a cultural point at which, like Cher, she’s just “Gwynne.”
SPACEX: Condensed Gwynne Shotwell TIME interview. The full interview is really good. I suggest you read it. But if you do not have time, here you go:
— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) March 26, 2026
– Merger with xAI: Happened quickly; xAI will largely operate as its own entity with integration over time. Shotwell’s role will… https://t.co/dCRKZ0oY0Q pic.twitter.com/xjIugaNZ5P