An interesting interview on the prospects for NASA and commercial space.
Category Archives: Business
“Journalism” School
“Why I left it.”
Much of the blogosphere (including this blog) emerged at the turn of the century because of this.
Racial Discrimination
Why it’s so institutionalized in higher education.
It’s non-White Supremacy.
The Higher-Ed Bubble
Another sign that it is probably popping: Gen Z grads can’t get jobs. The scam has been particularly brutal on that generation. It won’t end well.
At Smallsat
This is my first trip to this venerable conference, which for decades was held in Logan, UT, where the university there, Utah State, was a hotbed of this developing technology as a result of innovative faculty. This year it’s at the convention center in Salt Lake City, and it’s huge, as would befit this burgeoning industry. There’s a cavernous exhibit hall with hundreds of exhibitors.
My concern is that the industry may be in a bubble. I’m seeing several vendors for some of the technologies, and it’s not clear to me that they’ll all survive, or how they’ll compete. But that’s the dynamic nature of new tech.
Howard Stern
The sad, pathetic end.
I was never much of a fan.
Commercial Space Station Policy
This is a good change, particularly if it lights fires under other contenders than Vast. But NASA should never have been in the business of “certifying” commercial space facilities. The industry does need to develop some building codes, though.
The Harvard Undergrads
Arnold Kling says to pity them, in the age of AI.
Not sure I can work up that much pity for them, to be honest.
Trump’s Second-Term Space Policy
Yes, it’s an ongoing mess.
[Wednesday-morning update]
Yes, putting a nuclear reactor (in fact, several of them) on the Moon is a great idea, but it’s out of context with the policy mess. If we want to put reactors on the Moon, we have to come up with a scalable, affordable transportation infrastructure to get not only them, but lots of things there. We don’t currently have one, and no one in the administration seems to be concerned about it.
Why And How To End SLS Now
My long awaited (at least by me) study for the Reason Foundation is now online.
[Friday-morning update]
The best word to describe NASA’s lunar program is “delusional.”
[Bumped]
[Update Saturday morning]
A nice summary of the policy paper.