Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Monday, January 29, 2024
Sunday, January 28, 2024
On Jan. 19, soon after the Astrobotic Peregrine met its fiery end reentering the Earth’s atmosphere in the skies over the Pacific, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, SLIM lunar lander made its attempt to land on the moon.
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Friday, January 26, 2024
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
The Case For Nukes: How We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificent Future #CommissionEarned
Monday, January 22, 2024
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Recently, NASA announced what many people dreaded but also expected.
Artemis II, the crewed mission to circumnavigate the moon, will be delayed from the end of 2024 to September 2025. Artemis III, the first crewed moon landing in over 50 years, will be delayed from the end of 2025 to September 2026. Artemis IV, which will use an upgraded version of the Space Launch System, is scheduled to fly in September 2028.
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Friday, January 19, 2024
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Monday, January 15, 2024
Sunday, January 14, 2024
America’s first lunar mission in over 50 years started promisingly enough.
During the early morning hours of Jan. 8, a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander into space. The new launch vehicle’s systems, including the BE-4 engines provided by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin, worked nominally. However, the Peregrine experienced a serious glitch that has forestalled any attempted lunar landing.
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Friday, January 12, 2024
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Tuesday, January 09, 2024
The flight of Artemis III is scheduled for September 2026, which is the month of my 70th birthday. Thanks, NASA.
Monday, January 08, 2024
Here is the BBC 5 Live broadcast during which I discuss the Peregrine mission and other things concerning the return to the moon. I am 2 hours 43 minutes into the broadcast.
Sunday, January 07, 2024
Recently, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party issued the report: “Reset, Prevent, Build: A Strategy to Win America’s Competition with the Chinese Communist Party.”
One of its recommendations concerns how the United States military could secure the Earth-moon Lagrange Points — areas where the gravities of the Earth and moon cancel out — against the Chinese.