An interesting interview on the prospects for NASA and commercial space.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!
OK, not tomorrow, but next Sunday, for the next Starship attempt.
[Monday-morning update
Stephen Clark has the story on what went wrong on previous flights, and what they’ve done to prevent a recurrence.
But I have no idea what the phrase “human-rated lander” means.
The New Naval Challenge
…is command of the seafloor.
A Floor Wax AND A Dessert Topping
It looks like both Cialis and Viagra, but especially Cialis (and the generic versions) are protective against heart disease and dementia. For both men and women. There don’t seem to be any downsides, and they don’t cost that much.
Advanced Directives
Good advice from Blake Powers: Preparedness pays.
At Smallsat
This is my first trip to this venerable conference, which for decades was held in Logan, UT, where the university there, Utah State, was a hotbed of this developing technology as a result of innovative faculty. This year it’s at the convention center in Salt Lake City, and it’s huge, as would befit this burgeoning industry. There’s a cavernous exhibit hall with hundreds of exhibitors.
My concern is that the industry may be in a bubble. I’m seeing several vendors for some of the technologies, and it’s not clear to me that they’ll all survive, or how they’ll compete. But that’s the dynamic nature of new tech.
Commercial Space Station Policy
This is a good change, particularly if it lights fires under other contenders than Vast. But NASA should never have been in the business of “certifying” commercial space facilities. The industry does need to develop some building codes, though.
A Rare Event
Neil de Grasse Tyson says something smart.
I’m so glad we have smart science man to warn us against the dangers of conquering the moon people and taking their cheese https://t.co/ZrFGE6otC8
— Spencer A. Klavan (@SpencerKlavan) August 7, 2025
The Harvard Undergrads
Arnold Kling says to pity them, in the age of AI.
Not sure I can work up that much pity for them, to be honest.
Trump’s Second-Term Space Policy
Yes, it’s an ongoing mess.
[Wednesday-morning update]
Yes, putting a nuclear reactor (in fact, several of them) on the Moon is a great idea, but it’s out of context with the policy mess. If we want to put reactors on the Moon, we have to come up with a scalable, affordable transportation infrastructure to get not only them, but lots of things there. We don’t currently have one, and no one in the administration seems to be concerned about it.