Category Archives: Space History

History, Social Commentary, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

Loss Of A Pioneer

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Business, Economics, Education, Health, History, Space, Space Education, Space History, Space Science, Technology and Society

ASCEND

I’ve been to many AIAA space conferences over the decades, but this was my first attendance to the new format called ASCEND, in Las Vegas, and I have to say that it’s a huge improvement over the traditional ones. In my experience, the large AIAA conferences on space have traditionally been overwhelming in terms of the number of papers presented, and the high number of them being presented simultaneously, often with very low attendance at any particular one.

ASCEND was in comparison much more focused, with fewer, but higher-quality presentations, and much less frustration at having to miss events due to inability to be multiple places at once. There were also ample breaks from sessions to provide valuable networking opportunities, which has always been one of the more important reasons for in-person attendance.

While there were fewer presentations, there was no reduction in the scope of topics covered. As always, this was not merely a technical conference, but a conference on all aspects of what it is going to take to advance humanity into the solar system, with sessions on: space law; the economics of spaceflight; space transportation; space investment; space history; sustainability in terms of orbital debris and situation space awareness, utilization of in-situ resources for transportation, life support, and space manufacturing; space medicine; space assembly for telescopes and perhaps solar-power satellites; and even sociology for future space inhabitants.

The attendees ranged from students to seasoned industry professionals, not just from the US, but many other countries, with many opportunities for interaction between generations and nations. I applaud the AIAA for creating such an exciting and useful venue for those interested in moving humanity and life off its home planet.

History, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

“The Road To The Stars Is Now Open”

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That was Korolev’s quote from sixty-five years ago, when Sputnik launched.

[Afternoon update]

It’s also the eighteenth anniversary of the flight that won the X-Prize. I missed this at the time, but I’m greatly saddened to learn that my friend (and office mate at Rotary Rocket in the 90s), Brian Binnie, died a couple weeks ago.

I hadn’t realized that he finally published his book. I read and offered to publish a draft of it years ago, but at that time, he wasn’t able to publish it due to constraints from Northrop Grumman. I wonder what changed?

Business, Political Commentary, Space, Space History, Technology and Society

What Was Old Is New Again

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Whoever had the brilliant idea of building a rocket out of 1970s technology apparently was unaware, or had amnesia about all the problems caused by hydrogen with the Shuttle.

[Thursday-afternoon update]

Of hydrogen and humility:

“I would simply say to you that space is hard,” he said at an August 27 briefing when asked what lessons NASA could take from the extended delays in SLS’s development. “We are developing new systems and new technologies, and it takes money and it takes time.”

Yes, space is hard. It’s even harder when you make terrible design choices in order to provide a jobs program for existing workers and contractors. There is little new about either these systems or technologies.

[Bumped]

Economics, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Space, Space History, Space Science, Technology and Society

The Value Of Space Exploration

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An essay:

For its part, Webb suffered repeated delays and cost overruns even before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed work on a number of projects in both the public and private sectors. Initially meant to launch in 2010 at a cost of $3 billion, Webb eventually launched last December at a final cost of more than $10 billion. Similarly, the enormous Space Launch System rocket has cost more and taken far longer to lift off from Kennedy Space Center than originally planned – though NASA now expects to finally launch the rocket that will take astronauts back to the Moon at the end of August or beginning of September.

All the same, criticisms focused on excessive delays and busted budgets tend to fall by the wayside when we see the results of America’s space exploration programs. That’s certainly been the case with Webb, whose first images have received a rapturous reception by the media and public alike. But few people would say that this sense of wonder and inspiration is the reason America invests as much of its national resources as it does in space exploration, and even fewer would say it’s worth the financial costs involved.

One of these things is not like the others. I’m confident that history will record that SLS/Orion played a trivial, if not non-existent role in actual space exploration. And (as always) I would reiterate that out exploration of space will be much more effective when it is rightly viewed as not an end, but a means to a grander goal: the development and settlement of a new frontier, and the expansion of life and consciousness into the universe.