Thanking SwRI and UCF for planning/hosting conference. Industry facing challenges, though most fun one for Florida. Excited about providing platforms for new areas of research. Investors still skeptical, know that space is good place for innovation, but can’t rely on government. Have to seek opportunities for industry-driven research. Celebrated ten years on orbit of permanent habitation of ISS and more research on Shuttle. Decades of good foundational research, but is it enough? We are believers in NASA and space, but we are the choir and have to not just listen to our own song. Not everyone understands potential in same terms we do, including the average citizen who sees lots of money that gets spent on infrastructure that gets cancelled. Need to expand research beyond peer review to involve industry in more concerted way. Florida ready to stand up to opportunity, will support community in very aggressive way. Have invested $30M in life-science center with hundred thousand square feet of space for animal care/integration for flight. Seen a significant increase in suborbital research interest, want to see a lot of coordination between suborbital and orbital research, from a hundred kilometers to Bigelow orbital facilities. Seeking collaboration on these activities and reaching out to industry for corporate dollars to broaden activities. Announcing that they will be releasing a program for matching funds for corporate investment in the next month. Will join with NIH and other sources for ways to find more bang for the buck. Welcome XCOR’s announcement of flight sales to SwRI. Looking forward to more such deals with Masten and others to operate out of Florida. Hope to spawn many new companies in research and applications, bring benefits back to earth and keep America a leader in space.
Back To Florida
For the first time since I escaped a year and a half ago, I’m flying to Fort Lauderdale tonight, to check up on our rental house in Boca, and then up to Orlando for the suborbital researchers conference. Probably no posting until late tonight or tomorrow.
To Each His Own
I think that this website is fraudulent myself. It’s hard to imagine there aren’t better pictures on the Internet.
Useful Idiots
Then and now. Unfortunately, the supply seems to be endless.
Forbidden Planet
Some thoughts on the SF classic and its implications, both historical and today, from Bill Whittle. And if you haven’t yet, sign up for Declaration Entertainment.
How To Insure Americans With Pre-Existing Conditions
The left won’t like it, though — it doesn’t involve involuntary wealth transfers and perverse incentives.
Having It Both Ways
I think that the administration’s position on DOMA is craven (so what else is new…?).
If they really believe that the law is unconstitutional (a position with which I don’t necessarily disagree), it’s nonsensical, and in fact a violation of the president’s oath of office to uphold the Constitution (which is the highest law in the land), to enforce it. I thought that George Bush should have been impeached not for signing McCain-Feingold, but for doing so while explicitly stating that he believed it to be unconstitutional. This was a blatant violation of his oath of office, though he obviously didn’t realize it. In both cases — this and the Obama DOMA position — it is trivializing the oath for the sake of pandering. In Bush’s case it was to the so-called “moderates” (i.e., mindless, or at least principleless) and in the current president’s case, to his base. It is not up to the other two branches to defer their judgment of constitutionality on untested law to the Supreme Court — they must follow it once such a judgment is rendered, but unless and until it is, they are obligated by their oath of office to follow their own. If the president really believes that DOMA is not only unconstitutional, but that there are really no reasonable arguments on the other side, then he is bound to not enforce it, and to get such a ruling as soon as possible (an eventuality that would be hastened by his inaction in enforcement).
And as is often the case, this is another example of the difficulty of many, even those who should know better, to distinguish between the concept of “constitutional” and “law I agree with.” Roe v. Wade was a judicial travesty, regardless of one’s views on abortion, and we should demand consistency from the administration regardless of our views on gay marriage. The president is bound by his oath to enforce, and even defend, bad laws, but not unconstitutional ones.
Which brings us back to Elena Kagan’s confusion on this issue, and why she was a frightening appointment to SCOTUS. She has it exactly backwards. It would actually be good law to force people to purchase and eat their vegetables, at least in terms of the public health, but it would be a law both totalitarian and tyrannical. And unconstitutional.
More thoughts from Jonah Goldberg (here and here), Shannen Coffen (here and here), and David Bernstein.
[Update a few minutes later]
More at Cato.
Bon Voyage, Discovery
Looked like they had another foam strike at liftoff, though. I guess they’ll take a look at it when they get to ISS.
Persistence
It turns out that it’s difficult, if not almost impossible, to erase all the data from a flash drive.
[Update a while later]
OK, smartpatoots.
Difficult to erase all the data without destroying it.
A Big Suborbital Deal
XCOR and Southwest Research Institute have a major announcement today:
In a first for the reusable suborbital launch vehicle industry, XCOR Aerospace announced today that the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a commercial entity, has purchased six suborbital flights to carry SwRI experiments as pathfinder missions for other SwRI suborbital clients. This is the first such contract SwRI has issued, and XCOR is proud to be chosen for this opportunity.
I hope it’s the first of many such deals, for XCOR and other providers.