Category Archives: Technology and Society

Business, Economics, History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

The Apollo Cargo Cult

9 Comments

Over at USA Today, I say that after four lost decades, it’s time to end it:

After over four decades, it is time to stop awaiting a repeat of a glorious but limited and improbable past. We must, finally, return to and embrace the true future, in which the solar system and ultimately the universe is opened up to all, with affordable, competing commercial transportation systems, in the way that only Americans can do it.

I’ll have some other stuff up later, in other venues.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

Safety In Space

4 Comments

“…is not negotiable”?

A bunch of hooey from Doug Cooke.

I love this:

Some critics attempt to trivialize the transition from cargo to human transportation, suggesting that designing a lower-cost vehicle at the expense of crew safety is perfectly acceptable. It is not. In fact, accident investigations and legislation have consistently dictated that crew safety should be the highest priority in the development of any human-rated spacecraft, reflecting concerns from past accidents.

Hey, we have to be stupid. It’s the law!

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society, War Commentary

The New Malaysian Airliner Loss

30 Comments

The Russian rebels have shot down other planes in the past few days, so this was probably inevitable unless the airlines had routed around that region. I assume they’ll start doing so now. What this means for the war remains to be seen, of course. But on the up side, maybe CNN will finally cover Ukraine.

[Update early afternoon]

The Pentagon is apparently claiming that the missile originated from Russian territory.