My thoughts Muslim outreach, Rush Limbaugh, and the difficulty of having an intelligent discussion on space policy (or policy in general) over at Ricochet.
SpaceX’s Reusable Rocket
Will it revolutionize spaceflight? A report at Technology Review from Michael Belfiore.
Live From Space
Starts in forty minutes or so. This is sort of like the Apollo days, when the news networks would go live to the spacecraft. There’s a lot more to see at ISS.
Certification Versus Licensing Of Space Vehicles
A new journal paper on the subject. One of the authors is the head of FAA-AST. I haven’t read it yet.
Note that this is a different discussion than whether or not AST should be regulating passenger safety. It’s a discussion of how to regulate, not what to regulate.
“The Constitution Is 400 Years Old”
A compendium of Sheila Jackson Lee’s greatest hits.
Remember, her constituents continue to re-elect her. This is a sign that too many people are voting.
Michael Totten’s New Book
It’s a zombie novel
Defending Earth From Asteroids
My former colleague from the Aerospace Corporation, Bill Ailor, gave a FISO presentation the other day. Clark Lindsey has the story.
Nancy Pelosi
I hope she remains this delusional right through the first Tuesday of November.
“I think the Republicans are wasting their time using that as their electoral issue, and they will find that out,” she said.
Pressed by a reporter whether Democrats should shy away from the issue on the campaign trail, Pelosi didn’t hesitate.
“No, absolutely not,” she said.
Pelosi has long argued that the healthcare law will become increasingly popular as more people recognize the benefits.
She’ll probably argue it to her grave, hopefully at least her political one.
The NASA Budget
It’s killed off the only hope of the agency getting beyond low earth orbit, at least for now.
Arguably, there is no greater enabling technology to be achieved with less overall investment than cryogenic propellant storage and transfer. While we currently have the ability to conduct long term deep space missions using storable hypergolic propellants, their relatively low performance is a critical limiting factor in both robotic and crewed space missions. Developing and demonstrating the ability store high performance cryogenic propellants in space for long periods of time without significant boil-off is nothing less than a necessity for long term exploration. Taken together with the closely related challenge of transferring cryogenic propellants from one container to another in zero-g, as well as accurately measuring the amount of fluid in a storage vessel, the net result is leveraging effect with stunning capacity. In fact, as the Augustine commission determined,
“In the absence of in-space refueling, the U.S. human spaceflight program will require a heavy-lift launcher of significantly greater than 25 mt capability to launch the EDS and its fuel. However the picture changes significantly if in-space refueling is used.” Furthermore “Studies commissioned by the Committee found that in-space refueling could increase by at least two to three times the injection capability from low-Earth orbit of a launcher system, and in some cases more. Thus, an in-space refueling capability would make larger super-heavy lift vehicles even more capable, and would enable smaller ones to inject from low-Earth orbit a mass comparable to what larger launchers can do without in space refueling.”
For a nation and an agency serious about exploring space, it is difficult to think of a single justifiable reason why proceeding with an orbital demonstration of this enabling technology should not be a priority. It is very easy to come up with an unjustifiable reason however. It represents a viable alternative to SLS.
Yes.
Frontiers Are Settled
And often abandoned. Just like many mining towns in the West.