Then And Now

Who’s got it right, the Mike Griffin of today, or the Mike Griffin of five years ago?

In the 1950s and 1960s, the term “man rating” was coined to describe the process of converting the military Redstone, Atlas, and Titan II vehicles to the requirements of manned spaceflight. This involved a number of factors such as pogo suppression, structural stiffening, and other details not particularly germane to today’s expendable vehicles. The concept of “man rating” in this sense is, I believe, no longer very relevant.

Does he still agree with this congressional testimony?

Now to be fair, he may not be saying that Atlas isn’t safe enough–he expresses interest in using it for COTS. The problem, as Jon Goff points out at the Space Politics thread, is that he’s chosen an architecture that replicates Apollo, which requires a large CM and SM on a single launch. If one is willing to break these up into separate launches, an EELV can handle it easily. But instead of spending his budget getting flight rate up and launch costs down, and doing the R&D necessary to learn how to truly become spacefaring (e.g., space assembly, docking/mating, propellant storage and transfer), he wants to relive the days of von Braun.

If This Isn’t Fascism…

…what is it?

Toward the end of his speech, Dr. Suzuki said that “we can no longer tolerate what’s going on in Ottawa and Edmonton” and then encouraged attendees to hold politicians to a greater green standard.

“What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there’s a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they’re doing is a criminal act,” said Dr. Suzuki, a former board member of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

[Afternoon update]

Apparently, such is the threat from global warming that we’ll have to sacrifice democracy on its altar:

[T]he authors conclude that an authoritarian form of government is necessary, but this will be governance by experts and not by those who seek power.

Well, that’s a relief.

Actually, there’s a bunch of good stuff like this over at Jonah’s Liberal Fascism blog today. Just keep a scrollin.’ Including Joshua Lederberg’s thoughts on letting scientists run things.

If This Isn’t Fascism…

…what is it?

Toward the end of his speech, Dr. Suzuki said that “we can no longer tolerate what’s going on in Ottawa and Edmonton” and then encouraged attendees to hold politicians to a greater green standard.

“What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there’s a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they’re doing is a criminal act,” said Dr. Suzuki, a former board member of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

[Afternoon update]

Apparently, such is the threat from global warming that we’ll have to sacrifice democracy on its altar:

[T]he authors conclude that an authoritarian form of government is necessary, but this will be governance by experts and not by those who seek power.

Well, that’s a relief.

Actually, there’s a bunch of good stuff like this over at Jonah’s Liberal Fascism blog today. Just keep a scrollin.’ Including Joshua Lederberg’s thoughts on letting scientists run things.

If This Isn’t Fascism…

…what is it?

Toward the end of his speech, Dr. Suzuki said that “we can no longer tolerate what’s going on in Ottawa and Edmonton” and then encouraged attendees to hold politicians to a greater green standard.

“What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there’s a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they’re doing is a criminal act,” said Dr. Suzuki, a former board member of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

[Afternoon update]

Apparently, such is the threat from global warming that we’ll have to sacrifice democracy on its altar:

[T]he authors conclude that an authoritarian form of government is necessary, but this will be governance by experts and not by those who seek power.

Well, that’s a relief.

Actually, there’s a bunch of good stuff like this over at Jonah’s Liberal Fascism blog today. Just keep a scrollin.’ Including Joshua Lederberg’s thoughts on letting scientists run things.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!