Dear Moon has been canceled.
This is disappointing, but it’s only a temporary setback. There will be private missions to, around, and on the Moon.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
No Re-Light
SpaceX seems to be focusing on vehicle recovery for now.
This puts off early payload-delivery capability somewhat, but it could still happen this year.
The “Impossible” Burger
A description of its nightmare ingredients.
I have zero motivation to eat that crap.
Lunar Lander Problems
Hubble Trouble
An interesting article (from NPR!) about the internal controversy at NASA over a private rescue mission. No doubt there is some politics in play within the astronaut office.
The Pace Of Vulcan Rockets
The Air Force is growing concerned.
I suspect that ULA has been so focused on competing against SpaceX on price that it’s ignored the need to compete on tempo. The fact that SpaceX reuses its boosters means that its launch cadence is not constrained by manufacturing capacity. I think that ULA made a bad decision in assuming that launch rates would not be dramatically increasing when doing its cost/benefit analysis on reusability.
Mars Sample Return
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Spaceport Vegas?
In theory, Vegas should be an ideal hub for space tourism, but what operators are they talking to? VG doesn’t have enough business to support Spaceport America as it is, and it would be a real punch in the gut to the poor citizens in New Mexico who paid taxes to build it if they pulled up stakes for Vegas. Maybe New Shepard could fly out of there, but it’s not a vehicle with enough tempo to justify it. Is there someone else (finally) working on a practical suborbital vehicle?
Mars Sample Return
A practical but politically incorrect approach from Bob Zubrin.
On The Starship Delays
Articles by a human, and an AI, at Reason. That picture is wild, and bears no resemblance to SLS/Orion.