RIP.
He was the test pilot for XCOR’s rocket planes. It’s sad that he (nor anyone else) ever got to fly the Lynx.
Category Archives: Space
Starship Update
What’s new on ship 30 (and possibly 29 as well).
[Thursday-morning update]
Meanwhile, over at NASA, the agency seems peeved at its Inspector General, as Artemis delays continue to seem inevitable.
There was never any prospect of a serious human lunar program from NASA until it is allowed to end its dependence on SLS/Orion.
The Orion Heat Shield
NASA still doesn’t understand the root cause.
Once SpaceX works out the heat shield problems on Starship, it won’t really matter.
Dealing With China In Space
Greg Autry discusses his new book (with Peter Navarro).
A Propellantless Drive?
As usual, it’s unlikely that this will pan out, but it’s certainly worthy of further investigation.
Lunar Elon
He seems to be much more ambitious than Congress or NASA is. If this happens, it will become apparent to all how absurd and pointless SLS/Orion are.
The Space Regulation Mess
Jeff Foust has a good description of the current state of play.
I think that this is bogus: ““The FAA, Department of Transportation, has been doing human spaceflight safety for many years…”
The FAA has never been responsible for human-spaceflight safety. In
fact, under the learning period, it has no legislative authority to do so. It has never done mission assurance for either satellites or participants. Does Rich DalBello really subscribe to this statement?
It also begs the question that any federal agency should be responsible for the safety of commercial spaceflight participants, either on the way to orbit, on the way back, or in space. The debate we should be having is not which agency, but whether the federal government should have responsibility at all at this point in time. I don’t see how Article VI requires it. I’m tempted to write an op-ed.
Confessions Of A Rocket Boy
Glenn Reynolds remembers Estes rockets. I share his hope that the new space age is motivating boys (and girls) to do more of this and less social media.
End Of An Era
Less than half an hour to the final flight of the Delta family.
It was a workhorse for decades, but it’s now obsolete technology.
Boeing
It was even worse than we knew.
And yes, the “suicide” does look very suspicious. After reading this, there is little I’d put past these “leaders.”
[Evening update]
On the other hand, how can a lot of these stories about wheels falling off, or engine parts falling off, or engines catching fire, be attributed to Boeing? They don’t build the engines. These kinds of things have to be attributed to the operator. Which says that the whole industry is fucked, probably because DEI.