Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Friday, December 28, 2018
Something is happening at the SpaceX space port in Boca Chica in far South Texas that could change the world. Space News reports that a test article of the Big Falcon Rocket’s upper stage, dubbed “Starship,” is under construction at the SpaceX launch facility. The test rocket will be as wide as the operational Starship rocket but not as tall.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Bill Nye, the former “science guy” and president of the Planetary Society, recently declared in an interview that settling Mars and terraforming it into a reasonable analogue of Earth is “science fiction.” Robert Zubrin, the president of the Mars Society who dreams of a Mars frontier as a second branch of humanity and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who wants to build a city on the Red Planet, are apparently living and working in vain.
The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining CaperMonday, December 24, 2018
My advice is to pass the popcorn. This left wing civil war is going to be epic.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Friday, December 21, 2018
In August 1968, the same month that the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was rocked with riots, a young NASA manager named George Low conceived the idea of sending the second manned Apollo mission around the moon.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
When Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry denied that the moon landing ever took place, NASA could have been forgiven if it had ignored him. Much of what comes out of the mouths of celebrities, be they athletes, actors, or musicians, tends to be drivel. However, someone in the new media-savvy NASA correctly determined that the space agency had been handed an opportunity. NASA duly invited Curry to visit the Johnson Spaceflight Center to see some moon rocks and talk to astronauts and scientists about the moon landing and see that it had indeed taken place.
Monday, December 17, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Friday, December 14, 2018
China’s moon program is part of that country’s drive for super-power status. Just as the United States reaped hefty soft-power dividends by beating the Soviets to the moon, China hopes to profit by showing that it too is capable of conducting deep space operations. The fact that Beijing will gain access to the abundant resources of the moon would not be a bad thing either, from China’s point of view.
However, recent developments in China’s economic posture may have long-term effects that would derail that country’s plans to use the exploration and later economic exploitation of the moon for its benefit.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Bill Nelson, the soon-to-be former senator from Florida, gave his farewell speech to the Senate on his favorite subject: how he saved the U.S. space program from ruin. The speech was partly maudlin platitudes, partly name dropping, and partly a good pat on Nelson’s own back. He failed to mention a couple of things, including the fact that NASA is headed back to the moon and that the Obama-era journey to Mars is defunct.
While the senator did touch on his experience as a space junketer, he omitted some crucial details.
Monday, December 10, 2018
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Friday, December 07, 2018
About a week after Mars InSight touched down on Mars, another NASA space probe, OSIRIS-REx, arrived in orbit around an asteroid headed toward Earth called Bennu. The probe will spend the next two years mapping and examining Bennu.
Thursday, December 06, 2018
Wednesday, December 05, 2018
Tuesday, December 04, 2018
The recent flap over the omission of the raising of the American flag on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission in the new film First Man illustrates not only the importance of symbols in our understanding of history but how different people regard the same symbols differently. Some Americans were incensed at the omission of the flag raising at Tranquility Base. The makers of the film insist that their decision not to include that event was an artistic decision and one not meant to denigrate the unique role that the United States played in landing a man on the Moon.
With a number of nations aiming toward the exploration of the Moon, one is reminded that love of symbols such as national flags is not unique to Americans.