Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Saturday, March 08, 2025
Friday, March 07, 2025
Thursday, March 06, 2025
Wednesday, March 05, 2025
Tuesday, March 04, 2025
Monday, March 03, 2025
Sunday, March 02, 2025
Musk has expressed his desire to redirect NASA to a neck-or-nothing lunge toward Mars, leaving all other priorities, including a return to the moon, on the back burner. This desire seems to have had an effect on Trump, who mentioned Mars but left out the moon in his inaugural address.
Saturday, March 01, 2025
Friday, February 28, 2025
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Monday, February 24, 2025
Sunday, February 23, 2025
Let’s get the first question out of the way quickly. Asteroid 2024 YR4, a 50- to 90-meter-wide Earth-approaching object, is likely not going to hit our planet in 2032. But, since the odds of it increased to 3.1 percent and then fell back to 1.5 percent, the media has suddenly taken notice. No doubt, the odds will fluctuate over the next several years.
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Friday, February 21, 2025
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Monday, February 17, 2025
When I see a picture like this, it is impossible not to feel energized about the future. I think it is so important for people to understand the profound implications of sending humans to another planet:
- We will develop groundbreaking technologies in propulsion, habitability, power generation, in-situ resource utilization, and manufacturing—unlocking mission optionality from the Moon to Mars and beyond.
- We will create systems, countermeasures, and pharmaceuticals to sustain human life in extreme conditions, addressing challenges like radiation and microgravity over extended durations.
- These advancements will form the foundation for lower-cost, more frequent crewed and robotic missions across the solar system, creating a flywheel effect to accelerate world-changing discoveries.
- The pioneering science, technology, and knowledge we gain will benefit life on Earth—economically, technologically, and socially—for all humankind.
- This achievement will enable humanity to survive beyond Earth, serving as a hedge against catastrophic events that have shaped our planet’s past and will inevitably happen again. It is a critical step in overcoming the Great Filter.
- While peaceful exploration and discovery remain the ultimate goals, space is also the strategic 'high ground'. It is America’s responsibility to lead—to ensure national security, maintain competitiveness and secure our place in this rapidly approaching & exciting future.
Achieving such an outrageous endeavor--like landing American astronauts on another planet—will inspire generations of dreamers to build upon these accomplishments, set even bolder goals, and drive humankind’s greatest adventure forward
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Now, with a change of presidents and a new, reformist NASA administrator nominated and about to go through the confirmation process, the space agency has reiterated its desire to save the VIPER with a commercial partnership. It is requesting more comprehensive plans to fly VIPER to the moon with a deadline of Feb. 20. NASA will make a final decision in the summer.
Brought across to undeath in the 15th Century, the Contessa Gabriella Doria has walked the night, feeding on the blood of the living. However, on occasion, she had faced foes far more formidable and certainly more evil than a vampire.
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Friday, February 14, 2025
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Monday, February 10, 2025
Sunday, February 09, 2025
Recently, President Donald Trump fulfilled another campaign promise by ordering the Defense Department to develop a plan for what he calls an “Iron Dome for America,” named after the wildly successful Israeli missile defense system.
Saturday, February 08, 2025
The United States and Japan intend to continue their strong partnership in civil space and on aeronautics, science, and human exploration, including on the upcoming Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station that includes U.S. and Japanese astronauts as well as lunar surface exploration on future Artemis missions.
Friday, February 07, 2025
Thursday, February 06, 2025
Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Tuesday, February 04, 2025
Monday, February 03, 2025
History Buffs: Gladiator II Impressions
The movie is OK as a movie, though it suffers due to a lack of Russell Crowe. As history, though...
Sunday, February 02, 2025
President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address was filled with equal parts soaring rhetoric about the future and snarky condemnation of his predecessor. An example of the former concerned the president’s space policy.
“And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars.”