War Commentary

“The Unholiest Of Marriages”

People (unconvincingly, to me, and probably to anyone who’s not suffering selective amnesia about the runup to the war) accuse George W. Bush of shifting justifications after 911, but how about shifting justification for 911?

…bin Laden’s justifications for 9/11 are continually moulded and shaped by Western media coverage. At first – on 28 September 2001 – he disavows responsibility for the attacks, instead trying to pin the blame on some dastardly conspiracy within America itself: ‘The United States should trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself

War Commentary

“The Unholiest Of Marriages”

People (unconvincingly, to me, and probably to anyone who’s not suffering selective amnesia about the runup to the war) accuse George W. Bush of shifting justifications after 911, but how about shifting justification for 911?

…bin Laden’s justifications for 9/11 are continually moulded and shaped by Western media coverage. At first – on 28 September 2001 – he disavows responsibility for the attacks, instead trying to pin the blame on some dastardly conspiracy within America itself: ‘The United States should trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself

Social Commentary

A Pack, Not A Herd

I heard on the radio that when the plane went down off Miami Beach this afternoon, a flotilla of private boats were on it almost immediately to try to find survivors. It’s similar to what happened in 911, when a large number of people spontaneously evacuated lower Manhattan across the rivers to New Jersey and Brooklyn.

Unfortunately, this time, even as rapid as the response was, it looks like the people were beyond saving.

[Update at 7:30 PM EST]

Here’s a link from a local blogger.

Space

Ten Minutes To Go

Hopefully, until the beginning of a new era of lower-cost spaceflight.

[Update just before scheduled launch]

On a fifteen-minute hold for winds. It looks like Clark Lindsey is on the telecon.

I would assume that the count clock will remain stopped at fifteen minutes until the winds die down. They have about an eight-hour launch window.
[Update at 2:27 EST]

Kwaj Rockets says that the mission is aborted (I assume that means for today), but no one else has confirmed that yet.

[Update a minute or two later]

Clark Lindsey confirms. And it’s not just weather:

A structural problem has been found in the first stage and will require repair. So launch is scrubbed till next year. RATS!!

Rats, indeed. Better safe than sorry, though.

How is it that they discover a structural problem with the first stage only fifteen minutes prior to launch?

[Update at 4:20 EST]

Here’s a report from Alan Boyle.

This seems pretty serious to me. If they discovered that there structure couldn’t handle fully-fueled tanks in a static one-g environment, then how could it possible have handled launch loads? Sounds like they had negative design margin at first glance, though we won’t know more until they tell us. Fortunately, it’s on the first stage, so if they end up having to add weight to it to beef up the structure, it won’t have as big a payload impact as it would if it were up higher.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!