We’re driving to Colorado for Thanksgiving, so not much posting before Wednesday. Meanwhile, if you have a subscription, I’m quoted in the Sunday edition of the Times of London. The subject is the race between Jeff’s tortoise and Elon’s hare.
[Update a while later, before hitting the road]
This is the quote from me: “‘It appears Bezos is finally getting serious,’ said Rand Simberg, a space industry consultant. ‘To this point, Blue Origin has looked more like a hobby. Jeff saw himself as the turtle to Elon’s hare — never realising that Elon was really the Duracell Bunny.'”
I actually said “Energizer,” but whatev.
In a race it’s always useful to know which end of the tortoise the head is pointing
…and to all here, a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Hey Rand
Hope you and your family have a great and safe trip.
Happy Thanksgiving.
“Like the Duracell bunny” is a common English phrase in the UK and elsewhere in the world outside of North America. Duracell started advertising worldwide with a bunny “that keeps going longer” in 1973.
It’s another case of “two countries separated by a common language”, except with trademark law for enforcement.
(Energizer noticed the lack of valid registered USA trademark in 1988 and first did a parody ad before securing a USA trademark on the use of a pink bunny that keeps going and going.)
Unlike the children’s fable, the Blue Origin tortoise has chosen a finish line that is 70! times closer than SpaceX’s in terms of round trip times. Blue may be slow and start the race later. But because they designed their upper stage for the Moon and not Mars, they may end up taking the lead in off-Earth settlement.
DevelopSpace.info/72
“Tea, Earl Grey, hot… and turkeys. Lots of turkeys.”
https://twitter.com/OpenAI/status/1727065166188274145