Paul Spudis has a modest proposal for ARM.
But George Turner beat him to it.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Sarah Brightman’s Space Travel
…is good for humanity. I hate the phrase “space exploration” in conjunction with human spaceflight, though.
ISIS’s Plans
I have no problem believing that they plan to kill hundreds of millions of people in the name of Islam. It’s what totalitarians do. As Glenn says, “There are quite a few people in the world who are happy to join a movement that lets them do unspeakable things while being praised for it. The traditional response to such people was to kill them as soon as possible.”
But the Obama administration prefers non-traditional responses.
Tests Of The Dragon Crew Escape System
…have been delayed until “later this year.”
No explanation for the delay.
Republicans Don’t Like The Asteroid Mission
Hey, guys? If you want NASA to go to the moon, here’s a pro tip. Let them spend money on things they actually need to get to the moon, instead of forcing them to waste it on things, like SLS and Orion, that they don’t.
The Martian
An interesting interview with Andy Weir.
The initial windstorm (or, rather, its effects) did seem a little implausible to me, but otherwise (as noted) the book holds up very well, scientifically.
Iran’s Space Program
…has been canceled.
Good.
The Quagmire Of Apollo
Dennis Wingo has a long essay on the history of the US space program, and how we got so far off track. I discuss this quite a bit in the book, but much more in the new one in work.
McMurdo
I’d never really read this before, but it’s an interesting description of the rules there. No home cooking allowed, and alcohol is rationed, which makes sense, I guess. I wonder if some people make their own hooch, though?
Elon’s Satellite Venture
A lot of interesting discussion in comments. I agree that the biggest difference between this and previous LEO satellite concepts is that he’s solved the launch cost problem, or probably will have when he starts to get them to orbit.