A review of Ashlee Vance’s latest book. Highly recommended.
Category Archives: Space
Astra Carta
Bob Zimmerman isn’t impressed.
The Global Space Race
Assif Siddiqui says that we need new ways to think about it: “We need to let go of our nostalgia for Apollo and move on and work with different models to the old 1960s space races.”
I’ve been saying this for years.
SpaceX Update
Stephen Clark has moved over to Ars Technica to help Eric Berger cover the increasingly busy space industry. He has the latest on plans for the next Starship attempt.
The Various Takes On The Submersible
Glenn has thoughts.
NASA’s Latest Budget Issue
Now Mars Sample Return threatens the planetary science budget.
I agree that JPL should be soliciting bids from contractors.
The Titanic Submersible
It has ties to space exploration.
There are a lot of parallels with space tourism here. It is a high-risk, high-cost activity for wealthy individuals, that is currently unregulated. It is a visit to a harsh environment (worse than space in some ways), where life support is required, and finite. I hope that this incident doesn’t result in clamoring for regulation, of either submersibles, or space adventures. In the case of the submersible, it’s not clear who would regulate something that’s taking place in international waters.
[Update a few minutes later]
[Noon update]
One of the people on the boat is an adventure addict.
Well, that’s the sort of people who do this sort of thing.
[Wednesday-morning update]
It’s looking more and more like this was negligence, and the people who did it were daredevils.
And then there’s this.
[Bumped]
[Noon update]
The company was warned twice of potentially catastrophic consequences. It will be ironic if Rush is killed by his own decision, but it shows his misplaced confidence in it.
[Thursday-afternoon update]
“They likely didn’t know what hit them.”
[Bumped]
[Update a while later]
Thoughts from James Cameron:
Space-Based Solar Power
For the first time since the 70s, Congress takes an interest.
It’s not a sufficient step, but it’s a necessary one, even if small.
Budget Cuts And NASA
Bob Zimmerman says don’t sweat it.
Is There An Aerodynamicist In The House?
I need someone familiar with both CFD and Method of Characteristics for a NIAC proposal due at the end of the month. This is aviation related, though it could potentially apply to space as well.
[Update on June 14th]
Still looking for one, now with some level of desperation, given that the proposal is due in two weeks.
[Bumped]