Space

How Far We’ve Come

Back before the 2004 election, there were rumors that the Bush administration was considering withdrawal or renegotiation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which briefly encouraged me. Alas, the pebble disappeared into the pond with nary a ripple.

Now, apparently the administration is instead pushing the Law Of The Sea Treaty. Andy McCarthy is appropriately appalled:

Our current threat environment, coupled with the abysmal performance of international institutions, cries out for a re-thinking all these multi-lateral commitments. Negroponte and England’s claim that we need to ratify LOST in order to demonstrate our commitment to “the rule of law” is absurd. The American people, who do more for the people of the world than any nation in history, have a rule of law; it is known as the Constitution. It allows us to make agreements as needed with nations based on our mutual interests (and it is worth noting that most of the benefits under LOST are already honored under other treaties and international law

Space

Wrong Lessons Learned

In light of the latest assembly mission to the ISS, Clark Lindsey points out one of the many absurdities with the ESAS approach:

I’ve noted before that I find it odd that a fundamental goal of the Constellation project design is to minimize in-space assembly. This is a task in which NASA has actually become quite good. If NASA went to the next stage and combined its in-space operations capabilities with fuel depots and a space tug, it would have the tools and skill sets to do some amazing stuff, especially if it worked in close cooperation with private ventures like Bigelow.

Unfortunately, as with building Ares 1/5 instead of using existing (e.g. EELV) or nearly ready vehicles (e.g. Falcon 9, K-1), the aim seems to be to time warp back to 1972 and continue on to Apollo II, ignoring much of what was learned and developed subsequently.

Indeed.

Political Commentary

Statue of Liberty Security

I visited the copper statue in New York harbor yesterday. Nearly six years after New York was attacked, security is very high. Prior to boarding the ferry for Liberty Island, one must undergo a metal detector procedure. Once on board one is told to report anything suspicious. On route, one is escorted by a Coast Guard boat with two mounted machine guns. Liberty Island is a misnomer. To see the Statue, one must wait in yet another security line and get sniffed by smell detectors from GE. No cameras or cell phones are permitted to be used in the security area. After a two hour security wait one can witness that she has walled out tourists with bulletproof glass. No tourist can climb higher than her feet. Like the green coat of corrosion on the Statue, Liberty Island and its gateways have acquired security tents antithetical to the freed woman with broken shackles at her feet.

Her inscription is also an anachronism. We are stuck in an anti-immigrant rut as we were in World War II when citizens and resident aliens were detained on nearby Ellis Island, former gateway to 12 million Americans.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

No. The torch is extinguished. The golden door is shut. Keep your tired, poor, wretched, homeless and tempest-tost. We are a new self-important Land of storied pomp that has forgotten its genesis.

I deem her the Statue of Security.

History

“Tear Down This Wall”

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

History

“Tear Down This Wall”

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

History

“Tear Down This Wall”

It’s been twenty years since Ronald Reagan stood by the Brandenburg Gate and demanded the beginning of the liberation of eastern Europe. Only two and a half years later, the wall came down. I remember listening to radio reports about it, and for one of the few times in my life, I had a very real sense of history being made.

[Update in the afternoon]

Apparently, it was neither the first, or the last time that Reagan called for the wall to come down. It was almost a lifetime habit, right up until it actually fell.

Space

Ares In Political Trouble?

This wouldn’t surprise me, if true:

No one seems to be all that fond of continuing the development of Ares 1 (a government-owned solution) or the cost of developing something that already exists i.e. something you can buy now (EELVs). Of course, much can change between now and the election – and who will run NASA in 2009. But the writing on the wall is starting to become rather clear.

Political Commentary

Reagonomics Is Coming!

To France. And what happened to the Dems, who are all the time telling us that we should be doing things the way the Europeans do?

The Democrats are stuck in a punitive, soak-the-rich time warp with class warfare written all over it.

Despite all the current polls, I still believe their Walter Mondale approach to taxes and their McGovernite soft-on-the terror war approach is a losing combination that will doom the Dems next year.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!