Speaking of The New Atlantis, in addition to the Zubrin excerpt, the fall 2007 issue has a lot of space essays to commemorate the half century since Sputnik. It has a classic essay from the early space age by Hannah Arendt on man’s limitations (which I may get around to commenting on later), with several current-day responses, some retrospection from Jim Oberg and (at long last) my review of Michael Belfiore’s Rocketeers
Back In The Sunshine State
You probably figured this out from my last couple postings, but we’re safely back home. We overslept this morning, and almost missed our flight, but made it in the end. And TSA isn’t any better. But at least they have a sense of humor about it: “This week, lipstick is classified as a solid. We don’t know what it will be next week, but this week, it doesn’t have to go in the plastic bag.”
Our Alcoholic Future
I haven’t had much to say about Bob Zubrin’s new book
Lessons From “The Surge”
From Michael Barone.
Lessons From “The Surge”
From Michael Barone.
Lessons From “The Surge”
From Michael Barone.
Are You Better Off?
| Year | US Life Expectancy at Birth |
|---|---|
| 1905 | 47.8 |
| 1975 | 72.5 |
| 2005 | 77.9 |
Five and a half years extra life expectancy after 30 years. Not bad. An extra 30 after 100 years. Nice. I guess the combination of stress, pollution, moral decrepitude, corroded job protections, declining medical care and all the other crises of the day are actually coincident with increased lifespan. Don’t be optimistic about it; it’s not fashionable.
Off Line
Busy packing, and heading off to St. Louis tonight, to visit a few more people, then an 8:15 AM flight from there in the morning. Probably no more posting until tomorrow afternoon, if then.
Compassionate Fascists
Todd Seavey has the effrontery to thoughtfully review Jonah Goldberg’s book
I always thought H.G. Wells
The Empire Strikes Back
Are we nearing the end of COTS? Happy New Year.
It’s probably not too late to do anything about it:
If you’re even half as angry about this as I am, then it’s time to let Congress know that you’re mad as hell and not going to take it any longer. Even if it doesn’t do any good, won’t it just feel grand to let your Representative and Senator know how you feel!? And while you’re at it, write a letter to your local newspaper editor.
If you want to communicate with the Member of Congress who is sponsoring this destructive anti-COTS language, I recommend calling or writing to Senator Barbara Mikulski, who can be reached at:
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
PHONE: (202) 224-4654
Here’s the Space News story from Brian Berger.
I guess I’d be more disappointed if I had had higher hopes for the program. But it was conceptually flawed to begin with, in many ways, and while the people executing it are good people, they had to battle a bureaucracy whose primary focus was on maintaining jobs and Constellation, many of whose cohorts (along with the porkmeisters on the Hill, such Senator Mikulski) no doubt viewed it as both a threat and a distraction.
I don’t know whether or not this effort will save the program or not, but I’m not sure that it really matters. SpaceX always had a plan that didn’t involve COTS, and will continue to move forward without it. Bigelow is continuing to offer his market incentives. The suborbital business will go on in the absence of COTS. As for how ISS is supported, that will continue to be a slow-motion train wreck into the next decade. I think that in the end, it will go off the tracks, as more and more people realize in Washington that the federal human space program is FUBAR, and likely to be replaced by a private one.