The Economist has a good roundup of what’s going on in the private spaceflight business. They’re pretty optimistic (appropriately, in my opinion).
Even Handed
For those who think that Intelligent Design is a “conservative” (as opposed to a religious) fetish, Anthony Dick has a review of what sounds like an interesting documentary, Flock Of Dodos, over at National Review. No new arguments in support of science, but he puts forth the old ones well.
What, Me Worry?
Well this certainly inspires confidence in the ability of the federal government to protect me:
How much do you think Osama bin Laden would pay to know exactly when and where the President was traveling, and who was with him? Turns out, he wouldn’t have had to pay a dime. All he had to do was go through the trash early Tuesday morning.
It appears to be a White House staff schedule for the President’s trip to Florida Tuesday. And a sanitation worker was alarmed to find in the trash long hours before Mr. Bush left for his trip.
Well, it seems to be at least as effective as TSA at the airports.
Buzz Aldrin Speaks
at the Texas Space Authority organizational meeting tomorrow in Austin. I am too. Email me at dinkin@space-shot.com or comment if you think we can do something for you from a business angle or want to see my slides.
— Update —
Buzz continues to promote Starcraft Boosters and his plan for many space adventurer orbiters on the same launcher. He asserts that orbital is “so hard that only 3 governments have done it”. That was also true of people to 100 km before Rutan won the Ansari X Prize. Number of governments that can go to 100 km without losing money=0. Number of governments that have a reusable craft that can fly again in less than a week to 100 km=0. He views suborbital as a dead end. He is still promoting lotteries to fund spaceflight. I asked him to join forces once skill games can finance orbital flights and he agreed.
I bet Buzz $20 that orbital craft would emerge without government funding.
Boyle Reports on Big Space Contract
Alan Boyle reports at MSNBC.com that “several” vendors are in negotiations for $500 million in commercial orbital transport service (with the same acronym as commercial off the shelf):
Oklahoma-based Rocketplane Kistler and California-based Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, acknowledged that they were finalists. Other sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the official NASA reticence, indicated that the Virginia-based t/Space consortium, California-based SpaceDev, Texas-based Spacehab and Andrews Space in Seattle were also on the list.
Before being bought by George French, owner of Rocketplane (whose flights I am offering as a prize at Space-Shot.com), Kistler had an agreement with NASA which was unawarded after an objection from SpaceX. In this competition, there are many strong companies and the winner may have a march on orbital adventure travel competition. I hope the winner chooses a fixed price agreement so it will maintain the discipline to compete in the private markets too.
It’s The Women, Stupid
Bernard Lewis says that women hold the key to winning the war against the Islamofasciomisogynists.
It’s The Women, Stupid
Bernard Lewis says that women hold the key to winning the war against the Islamofasciomisogynists.
It’s The Women, Stupid
Bernard Lewis says that women hold the key to winning the war against the Islamofasciomisogynists.
The Age Of Emotion
Thomas Sowell asks if thinking has become obsolete.
I doubt if this is a new phenomenon. I suspect that it’s been a problem down the ages, as have many aspects of human nature.
[Update a couple minutes later]
More evidence for my proposition.
A Blooming Islamic Reformation?
Maybe. In Morocco: