This is pure art.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 1, 2026
Maybe the song will need to be updated to include horses. pic.twitter.com/2Ie55RQScC
Whoa!
Sound synchronized from @NASASpaceflight footage pic.twitter.com/EWr9t8iegP
— Scott Manley (@DJSnM) May 29, 2026
This, on a static fire, is a major setback for commercial space in general, and Blue Origin in particular. More anon.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Eric Berger has the latest.
It strikes me a that this may have been a demonstration of the recently discovered explosive potential of LOX/methane, which Dugway tests showed was equivalent to TNT.
Silver lining: The Space Force just got good data on methane exclusion zones.
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) May 29, 2026
[Friday-morning update]
Stephen Green has the latest at PJMedia.
We’ll see how fast they can recover, but it certainly puts more pressure on SpaceX to get through their mishap investigation and get back to testing.
[Update a while later]
WOW! Remarkable video from 5 miles from the launch pad in Jetty Park. Watch that fireball, and listen around 35 seconds into the video for the massive audible explosion.
— Noah Bergren (@NbergWX) May 29, 2026
📸: John Concilus pic.twitter.com/5Ow9Q6Dd3L
Blue Origin just vaporized a rocket, a launch pad, and Amazon's entire satellite deployment timeline in nine seconds.
— Aakash Gupta (@aakashgupta) May 29, 2026
NG-4 was supposed to fly June 4 carrying 48 Amazon Leo satellites. That mission was the first of 24 contracted Blue Origin launches Amazon needs to build its… https://t.co/Pz2Su6925C
I clipped this from the old 1985 PBS documentary Space Flight. About four minutes. Worth the watch, not just for the footage of the rocket failures, but especially for German engineer Krafft Ehricke's explanation on why the first ballistic missile of the modern age was such a… pic.twitter.com/NlbVileszT
— Brad R. Torgersen (@BradRTorgersen) May 29, 2026
I knew Krafft when I was at Rockwell, because we had him on retainer as a consultant.
[Early-afternoon update]
Eric Berger: Why last night’s event was so catastrophic.
It’s sure a headache for Jared. At this point, Gwynne Shotwell is more important to American space activities than either the NASA administrator or General Saltzman.
[Update a few minutes later]
An aerial survey of the damage:
There's a lot to unpack with LC-36 since New Glenn's explosion last night, so here's a thread on everything I saw from the air this morning:
— Asher B. (@asherbphotos) May 29, 2026
📸 – @LaunchHeavenX https://t.co/gri5w4j3xg pic.twitter.com/ctWtNeVk8a
Sarah Hoyt Is An OWL
That is, an Older, Wiser Libertarian. As am I.
Kids These Days
The problem is that we’re not allowing them to grow up.
How Did Version 3 Do?
An interesting video:
Now that Starship Flight 12 is completed, how did the new V3 Booster performance compare to the older Flight 11 V2 Booster and did the redesign, higher TWR and flight path management really make a big difference?
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) May 28, 2026
I thought we would look at one aspect of the Booster design to… pic.twitter.com/warED6lfmH
Unsurprisingly, the FAA is going to require a mishap investigation before the next flight, but SpaceX is certainly already engaged in it.
The Demonization Of Israel
VDH: Spare us the collective outrage.
“Free Palestine”
What it really means:
“Free Palestine.”
— Rawan Osman روان عثمان (@RawaneOsmane) May 25, 2026
I grew up on those words.
In Lebanon, most people around me wanted a free Palestine for a very practical reason — to send the Palestinian refugees back. The civil war that tore my country apart was ignited in no small part by the Palestinian armed factions who… pic.twitter.com/KTwBrwKbJG
Best Practices
I’m sure you’ll be as unsurprised as I am that when it comes to managing upper stages, China is not following them.
[Update a few minutes later]
Maybe we should make a “Hungry Hippo” version of Starship one day to collect and de-orbit spent rocket stages and other space junk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2026
Why Democrats Need To Call Republicans “Nazis”
As has oft been said: They don’t try to eliminate people because they’re Nazis; they call them Nazis so they can eliminate them.
Democrats NEED to call Republicans “Nazis,” and the inverse is not true because it’s unnecessary.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) May 24, 2026
I’ll explain.
Republicans freed the slaves. Republicans won the Civil War and magnanimously reconciled with the losing Democrats even though they did not need to. Republicans…
The Church Of TDS
The Colbert show, explained:
I am the Senior Vice President of Late Night Strategy at CBS. I am the person who turned a comedian into a priest and charged advertisers to watch the congregation.
— Peter Girnus 🦅 (@gothburz) May 23, 2026
I want to be precise about what I built. Not a comedy show. A permission structure. For eleven years, six million… pic.twitter.com/UnOQ3PGk7O