…is due to expire, and it’s not really on the radar.
I’d let it die and start over.
Our Future In Space
Lee Billings reviews what looks to be interesting new book
Social Media In Iran
The leader’s bizarre Twitter feed:
Iran’s ruler is doing what the Soviet Union used to do and what Hugo Chavez did more recently. Both used the West’s language of human rights as weapons against the West while resisting everything Western human rights activists stand for. Partly they were just being cynical, and partly they were pointing out the West’s supposed hypocrisy.
You could argue that I’m just doing what Khamenei is doing by saying the other guy has no clothes, but there’s a difference, and it’s crucial. I actually care about human rights, not just for Americans, but also for Iranians and everyone else. Plenty of Iranians care about human rights, too, but it’s safe to say that pretty much none of them are fixtures in the Iranian government.
He thinks Americans are stupid. And of course, he’s right, at least about the ones with whom he’s “negotiating.”
Police Unions
It’s not just police unions — public-employee unions in general are an abomination. The teachers’ and prison-guard unions are a huge part of the disaster that is California government (not to mention its educational system). Roosevelt had the right idea in wanting to make them illegal.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Want a lawless police force? Federalize it.
Al Sharpton is an idiot, and should be an embarrassment to any news network, but it’s MSNBC.
Back In LA
It was great to see everyone at Space Access after the hiatus last year. It was also nice to see quite a few enthusiastic young people. More thoughts anon, but I’m beat from the drive, and insufficient sleep.
Communicating With Cats
This seems to be my experience, except that our current cat almost never talks. I think it may be a genetic defect (she also has a kink in her tail). Her communication is almost entirely non verbal.
Amending The Space Act
Dana Rohrabacher has introduced his proposed legislation to amend the Space Act, in order to redirect NASA toward space settlement and development.
An All-Beef Diet
Here’s a family that would drive the FDA and food nazis nuts. They’d probably call Child Protective Services. But the kids look pretty healthy to me.
Space Access
I’ve arrived at the conference. Looks like a great turnout, and a lot of familiar faces. A lot of seem to be getting older. Will Pomerantz gave an overview of future plans for Virgin Galactic, and took a lot of questions at the end. Still unclear what the future of propulsion is for SS1, though he said he thinks that they’re going back to rubber. Follow Doug Messier (@spacecom) for more details. Many of the questions were his.
Blue Origin
Powered by a BE-3 engine, the spacecraft flew to 307,000 feet, the edge of space, and returned smoothly to the ground. The company said it was able to recover the reusable spacecraft./blockquote>
I believe that the BE-3 is the smaller version of the BE-4 that will power the new ULA rocket. So it’s a LOX/LNG vehicle. They didn’t recover the propulsion system, but don’t seem concerned about it. Like SpaceX, now that they’re flying again, they’ll continually improve. A very auspicious event as I get ready to drive to Phoenix this morning for the Space Access conference, which starts this afternoon.