…my ass.
It’s an oldie, but a goodie.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
SSTO Hype
I missed this from a couple weeks ago.
They say it’s SSTO, but they talk about it as point to point. Hard to believe that it could handle noise restrictions at most airports.
I haven’t talked to Livingston in years, but maybe worth a call to find out more.
Hard To Believe It’s Been Four Years
Moonfall
Fact checking what sounds like a monumentally dumb flick.
Aerojet
An interesting report on the internecine battle within the company in the wake of the FTC disallowing the acquisition by Lockmart. I found this amusing:
Aerojet has traditionally structured itself as an engineering company with high fixed costs and low margins, Thompson said. But if private equity buys the company, it will want to see more robust financial returns, which could come at the cost of innovation.
“This really comes down to whether the financial interests or the engineering interests within Aerojet prevail in the struggle,” he said. “My heart is with the engineering interests. My brain, which knows the history of these types of struggles, assumes the financial interests will ultimately prevail.”
Yes, for me, the first word that comes to mind when I hear the word “Aerojet” is “innovation.” Not.
To Mars Or Not To Mars?
That is the question at this Oxford debate this evening (in a couple hours, sorry about the short notice).
[Update toward the end of the debate]
As I’ve noted in the past, debates like this are pointless, because they are a false choice based on a false premise. We don’t have to choose between populating Mars and saving the planet; we have abundant resources for both. The false premise is that this is going to be a collective decision whose outcome will be determined by an Oxford debate. People who go to Mars will be doing so with their own money, so people on Earth who oppose it are going to have to make it illegal to prevent it. There is a word for people like that: jailers.
Feds Make Tesla Remove Rolling Stops
Why that’s a really bad idea.
I’m putting this post up late tonight, because we just got back from the launch/landing at Vandenberg. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts tomorrow, because I consider this a very important topic.
I will say, though, that the only moving ticket I’ve ever gotten other than speeding tickets, is for a rolling stop, and I consider it stupid.
Nineteen Years On
Here’s what I wrote on the day Columbia was lost. Scroll down and read from bottom up. There’s more on the previous pages. I think my takes held up pretty well.
The Religion Of “Liberals”
Unlike Gleen Greenwald, I use scare quotes because people who think and behave like this are the farthest thing from actual liberals.
Leaded Aviation Fuel
How to survive the transition to unleaded.
As more airfields adopt this policy, it could cause affect flight plans and significantly impact aircraft owners and pilots, especially those operating high-performance models.
Much like Tesla owners who now plan road trips based on the availability of charging stations along the route, flight plans will need an additional layer of forethought to ensure refueling at an airport still distributing 100LL.
The stakes are considerably higher with aircraft, as one does not simply pull over and wait for AAA to arrive with a portable charger when reserves dip dangerously low.
You don’t say.