Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Space History, Space Science, Technology and Society

Ending Apolloism

14 Comments

I’ve posted an update on my SLS Roadblock project, for those interested. The document itself can be found here. I’ll be interested in feedback.

[Tuesday-morning update]

Related: Growing a spacecraft for artificial gravity.

Half a million dollars. 0.03% of what we’re spending annually on SLS/Orion.

[Tuesday-morning update]

I’ve fixed a few problems with the document, including some missing figures, so you might want to refresh or download again.

History, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Free State Of Jones

7 Comments

Patricia and I went to see the movie yesterday. I agree with the critics that it was too long, and tried to pack too much history in a single movie (though it could have been tightened up just with some editing). Here’s a typical review.

For those unfamiliar with Reconstruction, it was nice to see that they didn’t try to whitewash the Democrats. But this is a point that I haven’t seen anyone else make:

I’d also note that, sad as it was that they received no help, Sherman was right; southeast Mississippi was not strategic at that point, after the fall of Vicksburg, and he couldn’t spare the resources for it.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Journey To Nowhere

Preserving the status quo.

Reading my Twitter feed this morning, with all the excited tweets from the NASA Social in Utah over “the most powerful rocket EVAR” has been quite depressing. It’s sad that people don’t understand what a load of bull they’re being fed.

[Update a while later]

Here’s an example of stenographing of NASA propaganda:

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!