Thursday, April 29, 2021

Bill Nelson is a born-again supporter of commercial space at NASA
Happiness is creating jobs
Elon Musk says SpaceX Starship SN15 likely to test-launch this week
Statements on Passing of Michael Collins
NASA is now Planning a Mission to go 1,000 AU From the Sun, Deep Into Interstellar Space
Competition delivers the goods and the crew for all NASA commercial space services
China launches core module of new space station to orbit
How Frank Luntz, Chris Christie, and Five Simple Facts Changed Skeptical Trump Voters' Minds on COVID Vaccines
The Flight of the Grey Falcon
Ford's Ever-Smarter Robots Are Speeding Up the Assembly Line
Joe Biden Is the Six Trillion Dollar Man
Government Won’t Fix the Semiconductor Shortage

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

RIP Michael Collins: Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys: 50th Anniversary Edition
Food Network superstar Guy Fieri dives into Houston for surprise visit
Interstellar space probe to boldly go even further
China Prepares to Dominate Earth Orbit
GIADA'S GUIDE TO ROME, ITALY
A cost-effective way to recycle plastic could be commercially available in ‘5 to 10 years’
New “Genomic Microscope” for the Microbiome Discovers Carbon Dioxide-Eating Microbes Living in Superheated Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
Battle of the billionaires: Jeff Bezos' rocket company protests SpaceX's latest NASA contract
A Brother on the Moon
Florida’s School Voucher Expansion
Newsom’s Guide to Ban Fracking
Florida: The Emerging Super State

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Site of Julius Caesar’s Assassination Will Be Transformed Into Open-Air Museum
Bill Nelson is a born-again supporter of commercial space at NASA

During the Bill Nelson nomination hearings for NASA administrator, the nominee, a former senator, broke with some of his previous positions on space policy.

The one thing that raised a lot of eyebrows was Nelson’s enthusiastic support for commercial space at NASA. He expressed approval of the commercial crew program that is sending astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). He claimed in his opening statement to have always supported commercial space. He even supported the recent selection of SpaceX’s Lunar Starship as the first crewed moon lander in 50 years.

NASA’s Mars helicopter completes second, higher flight
A SpaceX advisor and other industry figures explain why the company's NASA partnership signals a new space age as they prepare for the Artemis mission
Why is it So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?
The Green New Deal will impoverish America
Why Are Leaders Defending Ma'Khia Bryant's Knife Fight As Normal And Okay?
Biden’s Dismal Start

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

NASA is neither parochial nor patriarchal

A response to New NASA Administrator Should Reject Its Patriarchal and Parochial Past

Exxon pitches $100B carbon storage project
Who Will Control the 21st Century? Whoever Controls Space
Has the Biden administration abandoned the idea of a moon base?
No, You’re Crying About a Helicopter on Mars

When Ingenuity took off this week, I thought of the boat. You know the one. Giant, stuck, blocking traffic in the Suez Canal for days. As my colleague Amanda Mull wrote last month, the story of Ever Given exposed all the messy substratum of the shipping industry, “the persistent frailty of the global system on which corporations have built our physical world.” The boat also seemed, for many people, like the perfect encapsulation of how bogged down they had felt during the coronavirus pandemic. The story of the little Mars helicopter feels like the opposite. We do not see the technical challenges and failed test runs that took place on Earth, only the beautiful, butterscotch-colored expanse of Mars. Ingenuity is very much unstuck, and its historic flight feels hopeful because it has coincided with a different moment for Americans: the thaw of spring, the steady distribution of vaccines, the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale dies at age 93

A lot of accolades are popping up for the former vice president and failed presidential candidate. I cannot forget or forgive Mondale's relentless and remorseless jihad against space exploration, especially that conducted by humans. He was past master of the discredited tactic of suggesting that money spent on space should be better used on social programs. He also used the deaths of the Apollo 1 astronauts for political gain. In my opinion, Mondale's greatest gift to his country was losing to Reagan in 1984 in a 49-state blowout. Thus, the cause of liberalism was set back decades until it was revived by Barack Obama.

Space Junk Removal Is Not Going Smoothly
A Brother on the Moon
How to Land on an Alien World
ExxonMobil’s Plan to Capture Carbon
The Battle Over an Alzheimer’s Treatment

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Has the Biden administration abandoned the idea of a moon base?

The Biden administration has released the details of its proposed fiscal 2022 budget. The language concerning NASA in general and Artemis in particular is of interest.

While the overall NASA budget will be increased by $1.5 billion, the Artemis program will get a paltry $325 million boost. However, part of the language about Artemis is concerning.

The language does not mention the idea of a lunar base, which is part of the current Artemis program. The phrase, “a series of crewed exploration missions to the lunar surface and beyond” might suggest that the Biden administration is thinking of a succession of short-term lunar expeditions, on the model of the Apollo program, rather than a permanent lunar outpost, on the model of the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA exploring plan to build telescope on dark side of the moon
Mars didn't lose all of its water at once, based on Curiosity rover find
The Last Moonwalker and Other Stories
NASA Picks SpaceX For Moon Mission; 'Writing Is On The Wall' For Boeing Rocket
NASA says its Mars helicopter is ready for a historic first flight
This Billionaire Investor Thinks Elon Musk Will Be A ‘Trillion Dollar Man’

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Why We Should Be Spending More on Space Travel
Why venture? A memo for the Biden Administration
A Moonshot to inspire: Building back better in space
Astrobotic selects Falcon Heavy to launch NASA’s VIPER lunar rover
Why does Rep. Johnson oppose NASA's commercial human landing system?
What Biden's Budget Means For NASA And Its Mission To The Moon
Rashida Tlaib calls for 'no more policing, incarceration, and militarization'
Gabriella's Holy War
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity: What you need to know before its first flight
The Spacewalk From Hell
This AI Could Help Wipe Out Colon Cancer

Monday, April 12, 2021

Pentagon scientists reveal a microchip that senses COVID-19 in your body BEFORE you show symptoms and a filter that extracts the virus from blood
Why is NASA sending a woman to the moon?
SpaceX Pioneered Reusable Rockets. Rocket Lab Is Trying to Do It Too.
NASA’s next lunar rover will run open-source software
Did invention make us human?
‘WE COULD PROBABLY BUILD JURASSIC PARK,’ SAYS CO-FOUNDER OF ELON MUSK’S NEURALINK
Early findings show new drug could be ‘gamechanging’ for brain cancer treatment
Does the Universe have Higher Dimensions?
Gabriella's War (The Vampire Gabriella Book 4)
Biden's policies are playing into Trump's hands
Is American Religiosity Really Falling?
The Filibuster Made the Civil Rights Act Possible

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Why does Rep. Johnson oppose NASA's commercial human landing system?

Washington Post reporter Christian Davenport reported on Twitter that Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) has sent a letter to the White House demanding that the decision of which companies developing a Human Landing System (HLS) should be funded for the second phase be deferred.

Why Amazon Workers Rejected Unionization
Acting NASA Administrator Statement on Agency FY 2022 Discretionary Request
‘Suspicious’ blackout strikes Iran’s Natanz nuclear site
World’s First Laser Developed to Shoot Space Junk Out of Orbit
Famed Egyptian archaeologist reveals details of 3,000-year-old "lost golden city"
Nocturne: A Novel of Suspense
Electric trucks can totally compete with diesel trucks — they just need fast chargers
Democrats Appear To Be Confused About What Infrastructure Is
Greg Gutfeld Muscles in on the Ratings of Late Night Talk Shows

Saturday, April 10, 2021

The PRO Act contains a provision similar to California's disastrous AB 5 labor bill
Bernie Sanders goes after Elon Musk for wanting to explore space
Solar-to-Hydrogen Tech Sees "Remarkable" Efficiency Jump
'Lost golden city' found in Egypt reveals lives of ancient pharaohs
‘Indiana Jones 5’: Phoebe Waller-Bridge Lands Female Lead In Next Installment Opposite Harrison Ford
Amazon Workers Reject a Union
A Brother on the Moon
Monkey plays Pong with brain implant from Elon Musk’s Neuralink
UAE announces the Arab world’s first woman astronaut
General Atomics wins DARPA contract to design nuclear reactor to power missions to the moon

Monday, April 05, 2021

Sneaky New Bacteria on the ISS Could Build a Future on Mars
We finally have a vaccine that works against HIV (in early tests)

Me soon after I received the second shot.

These startups are solving Amazon’s potty problem, helping delivery drivers find relief on the go
The company racing to free US from reliance on China for electric cars, wind turbines, and satellites
Russia continues discussions with China on lunar exploration cooperation
What will rise across toll road from Tesla gigafactory? Sources say a SpaceX facility is planned
Dark Hunt (The Vampire Gabriella Book 2)
IF ALIENS LANDED TOMORROW, COULD WE COMMUNICATE WITH THEM?
Should Stephen Hawking have won the Nobel Prize?
It Takes Lots of Permits to Save the Planet

Sunday, April 04, 2021

Bernie Sanders goes after Elon Musk for wanting to explore space

Musk triggered Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with a one sentence tweet about his space ambitions, “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”

Musk has become the coolest capitalist alive, not only for his ambition to build a city on Mars, but for creating a rocket company, SpaceX, to give that dream form. Sanders, the “democratic socialist” senator and twice-failed presidential candidate, was not impressed.

How long would it take to walk around the moon?
First X-rays from Uranus Discovered
Dark Sanction (The Vampire Gabriella Book 1)
Biden Administration and Iran: Secret Deals and Appeasement Back on the Table?
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Gets Set for Historic First Flight on Another World
The Marine Corps Is About to Reinvent Itself—Drastically