…of the launch business.
SpaceX has gone through quite a learning process in the past decade, and now they’re poised to take over the industry.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Safe Is Not An Option
Jeff Foust has a review of the book (in the context of last week’s release of the 2013 ASAP report, which I’ve been meaning to comment on), over at The Space Review.
[Update a while later]
And of course the server at The Space Review would go down the day that he reviews my book. I must have crashed it with my link. 😉
SLS
NASA doesn’t plan to use it very much. This isn’t really news, but it’s nice to see them point out the implications:
Given the SLS Block 1 launch processing manifest (4-5 years with little to no activities), there is a potential of not having sufficiently trained personnel. Issue – Yellow (May require personnel with advanced skills not readily available).
As I write in the book, even ignoring the cost implications:
From a safety standpoint, it means that its operating tempo will be far too slow, and its flights too infrequent, to safely and reliably operate the system. The launch crews will be sitting around for months with little to do, and by the time the next launch occurs they’ll have forgotten how to do it, if they haven’t left from sheer boredom to seek another job.
What a mess.
Rosetta
…has woken up:
SIGNAL RECEIVED #AOS European Space Agency has reestablished contact with @ESA_Rosetta 807 million km from Earth #Rosetta
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) January 20, 2014
Congratulations to ESA. I think people were getting nervous in mission control.
Jobs And Technology
A good survey at The Economist on the coming tsunami on unskilled labor, for which no government is prepared. They’re right that the most important thing is to reform K through post-grad education, root and branch, but there are a lot of entrenched interests that will continue to fight that.
Ariane
Looks like they’re in big trouble. It was a business model set up to compete with the Space Shuttle, not a truly reusable vehicle with modern technology. They may continue to get some business for Ariane 5 for political reasons, but I’d say their only chance is back to the drawing board with Ariane 6.
Synthetic Tracheas
The good news just keeps coming, even if not as fast as we’d like.
Unless this sort of thing gets killed off by ObamaCare.
Making Things On The Internet
This is pretty hilarious.
[Update a few minutes later]
Yeah, I should have put up a “slightly NSFW” warning on that.
How Smoggy Is Beijing?
So much so that they’re showing sunrises on outdoor big screens.
The Heinlein Award
Congratulations to Geoff Landis.
I don’t always agree with Geoff, but it’s great to see him getting recognition for all that he’s done over the years.