Will it expand the crisis?
It sure won’t help.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
The Apollo Cargo Cult
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.
3-D Printing In Space
Has it been overhyped?
Probably some, but it is going to be a very powerful tool.
Safety In Space
“…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!
The New Malaysian Airliner Loss
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.
Six Californias
This Time piece seems to be all ad-hominem snark, and no content. Nowhere in it does he explain why breaking California up would be a bad idea. He also seems to lack a sense of irony. He seems to be one of those fools who thinks that libertarians are going to “run your life” by leaving you alone.
Blackout
The blackest material ever made.
On The 45th Apollo Anniversary
…author says too few people are dying in space.
Spaceplanes
DARPA has announced the winning teams for XS-1. I’m not surprised by Masten/XCOR. They’ve been collaborating for years. I have no inside info, but I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s an acquisition or merger at some point. The NG/Virgin alliance is no surprise, either, given that Northrop owns Scaled. The Boeing/Blue team is more interesting to me. I wonder if it’s away for Boeing to try to become more entrepreneurial?
Engineering And English Majors
It’s a revealing chart, though some of the liberal arts types might not understand it.