Feb. 1, 2013 is the 10th anniversary of the death of the space shuttle Columbia and her gallant crew. I offer the following sentiments, one published about a week later, the other three years ago.

We are called to open up the heavens

How the Space Shuttle Columbia Died

Then there is this, from Kipling:

"We have fed our sea for a thousand years

And she calls us, still unfed,

Though there's never a wave of all her waves

But marks our English dead:

We have strawed our best to the weed's unrest,

To the shark and the sheering gull.

If blood be the price of admiralty,

Lord God, we ha' paid in full!"

There is a price of admiralty for the airless sea of space as well. It will be paid, in part, in tears and in blood.

Ted Cruz gives Chuck Hagel the mother of all rhetorical beatings.

Lockheed Martin to Provide Help to Sierra Nevada for Dream Chaser Spacecraft

Wayne Hale offers lessons from the Columbia disaster. I particularly like the quote, "In God we trust. All others bring data."

Former Texas Rep. Ron Paul Decries American Involvement in Mali

The Renewed Economic Slowdown Shows Re-elections Have Consequences

Will Hagel's Anti-Green Policy Sink His Defense Secretary Nomination?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry touts commercial space in State of the State address

'The Americans': The Cold War from the Enemy's Perspective

Debate Over NASA's Heavy Lift Space Launch System Heats Up

How the Crew of the Columbia Paid 'the Price of Admiralty' Before My Eyes

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Opposes Kerry and Hagel Cabinet Nominations

Sen. Shelby's SMART Flat Tax at Once Logical and Almost Impossible to Pass

Obama and the Democrats Need to Get Over Fox News, Rush Limbaugh

Lee Roop has an Alabama perspective on the WSJ call to cancel the Space Launch system. In the meantime, Rand Simberg offers this: "Unfortunately, it makes lots of sense once you understand that the purpose is not to actually do anything useful in space. That’s just lagniappe, if we’re lucky enough to get it."

One sometimes get the impression that SLS foes really don't think that space exploration constitutes "anything useful in space." I could only wish that they were more honest about that belief

.

Israel Commemorates the Columbia Disaster and the Death of Ilan Ramon

SpaceX's Elon Musk offers space capable lithium ion batteries to rival Boeing

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Proposes Tax Rebate Constitutional Amendment

Why Sarah Palin Remains Relevant in Her Post-Fox News Era

Obama Risks All by Threatening to Blow Up Immigration Reform

'Dallas' Season Two: The Return of the Ewings, the Most Wicked Family in Texas

Weaponizing Cats: High on the List of All Time Bad Ideas

Bipartisan Immigration Plan Best that Can Be Hoped For

Bill for Same-Sex Parents to Be Listed on Birth Certificates Introduced in Texas

Iran Claims to Have Launched a Monkey into Space

I was going to do a take down of "Girls," an HBO show that gives dysfunctional, gross New York women a bad name, but the Maxey Chronicles beat me to it.

Addendum: OK, I lied Ann Marie from 'That Girl' is Far Better Than Hannah from 'Girls'

A Splendid Idea: A One-Week Waiting Period for Laws

Why Obama Doesn't like a Free and Unbiased Media

Cancelling NASA's Space Launch System for commercial space a disastrous idea

This is in response to Commercial Space Exploration Needs an Obama Relaunch

One would have thought that Robert Walker, having been a member of Congress, would have been more politically savvy than to propose such a foolish idea as cancelling the Space Launch System

.

NASA develops lunar mning robot prototype, RASSOR

Tortellini Chicken Soup

After Leaving Fox News, What Next for Sarah Palin?

Pro Nuclear Documentary 'Pandora's Promise' Bows at Sundance

The CW Developing Alien Boy Loves Human Girl in High School TV Show

Texas Sen. Texas Cruz to 'Lead the Fight' Against Assault Weapons Ban

Baker Institute space policy panel offers gloomy assessment for NASA

J.J. Abrams Will Do a Good Job Directing 'Star Wars -- Episode Seven'

Asteroid Resources Could Make Science Fiction Dreams -- and Nightmares -- a Reality

Women in Combat Can Work -- So Long as There is No Gender Norming

Obama Declares War on Science with Bogus Climate Change Claims

NASA to Participate in ESA's Euclid 'Dark Universe' Mission

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center engineers test gas generator for F-1 engine

Edward James Olmos does the Lorne Greene 'Battlestar Galactica' end of episode speech.

Bills Softening Penalties for Marijuana Introduced in Texas

Why Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Congressional Hearings Performance Matters

Trump Buying the New York Times Fills One with Dread and Anticipation

Lone Star College Shooting Highlights Guns on Campus Politics

Virgin Galactic achieves compromise on New Mexico limited liability bill

NASA Begins Development of a Nuclear Thermal Rocket for Deep Space Missions

Obama Embraces 'Peace in Our Time'

Obama Paints Himself into a Corner Over Climate Change and Keystone XL

Jim Parsons of 'Big Bang Theory' Fame Pitches Show About Child Prodigies

Texas Lawmakers Mulling Taxing Electric Cars to Pay for Roads and Highways

Is 'The Following' Too Grim for Network TV?

Texas Should Rebate Its Budget Surplus Back to the People

Deep Space Industries Announces New Asteroid-Mining Venture

Can Sen. Marco Rubio Use Immigration to Become President?

President Obama Rubs Salt in the Nation's Wounds in His Second Inaugural Address

A historian named Dan Lester tries to debunk the idea of human exploration, especially based on historical models of exploration, in Cargo cult exploration. I debunk Lester in Human space exploration: cargo cult or necessary component?

The Filabot is a Machine that Recycles Plastic for 3D Printing

Baxter, the Robot that Can Bring Manufacturing Back to America

Planetary Resources Describes Its Arkyd-100 Space Telescope

Scenes from Alternate Presidential Inaugurations

Ted Cruz Discusses Gun Control, the Debt Ceiling and Chuck Hagel on 'Meet the Press'

Run down Oklahoma space port still lacks a tenant 13 years later

A President Mitt Romney Would Have Been a 'Problem-Solver'

People Who Believe in 'Individual Freedoms and Self Government' Dangerous

The 'Eye Stick' is a Replacement for the Blind Person's White Cane

The Man from Mars -- Chapter Eight

The Hobbit: Bilbo's Contract and the Role of Law in Fantasy Stories

Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg to Produce Eighth Air Force World War II HBO Miniseries

The technology to fake the NASA Apollo moon landings did not exist in 1969

'Fringe' Finishes Its Run with Time Set Right

Tina Fey is Still Haunted by Sarah Palin and That's Too Bad

Boeing Presents a Plan for NASA Expeditions to Mars

Texas Sens. Cornyn, Cruz Examine Galveston Plan for Private Social Security

With the Holidays Over, Time for Bill Maher to Hate on Sarah Palin

Shockingly, New York Cops Not Exempt from 'Common Sense' Gun Laws

Belgium building artificial island to store excess wind energy

Trailer for 'Emperor' with Tommy Lee Jones as Douglas MacArthur is Out

NASA May Include a European in manned flight around the moon

NASA to Abandon Pad 39-A if it Can't Find a Commercial Buyer

Texas Officials React to Obama's Gun Control Proposals

Invoking Hitler in the Gun Control Debate Perilous -- for Both Sides

Rand Paul Apparently Running for President

NASA, ESA Sign Agreement for European-Built Orion Service Module

Iran to make second attempt to launch a monkey into space

Kansas and California Respond Differently to the Texas Economic Challenge

Republicans Must Win the Argument on Fiscal Responsibility

The Solution to Calfornia's Fiscal Woes: Drill, Baby, Drill!

Could a Remake of 'Ben Hur' Really Work?

I should have known that Obama was just appeasing the Galactic Empire when he declined to build a Death Star.

IMPERIAL CENTER, CORUSCANT – The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation would not attempt to build a Death Star, despite the bellicose demands of the people of his tiny, aggressive planet. “It is doubtless that such a technological terror in the hands of so primitive a world would be used to upset the peace and sanctity of the citizens of the Galactic Empire,“ said Governor Wilhuff Tarkin of the Outer Rim Territories. “Such destructive power can only be wielded to protect and defend by so enlightened a leader as Emperor Palpatine.”

Representatives on behalf of the nation-state leader from the unimaginatively named planet refused to acknowledge the obvious cowardice of their choice, preferring instead to attribute the decision to fiscal responsibility. “The costs of construction they cited were ridiculously overestimated, though I suppose we must keep in mind that this miniscule planet does not have our massive means of production,” added Admiral Conan Motti of the Imperial Starfleet.

Emissaries of the Emperor also caution any seditious elements within the Galactic Senate not to believe Earth’s exaggerated claims of there being a weakness in the Death Star design. “Any attacks made upon such a station – should one ever be built – would be a useless gesture,” added Motti.

'Bones' Delves into a Neolithic Hate Crime Or was it Really a Hate Crime?

NASA, Canadian Space Agency Begins Satellite Refueling Experiment

Russia plans three missions fo the moon from new far eastern cosmodrome

Texas Rep. Steve Stockman Threatens Impeachment of Obama Over Gun Control

Implications Profound for Study: Reading Great Literature Strengthens the Brain

Obama Does Not React Well to Criticism; Should Learn from it Instead

I was asked by Yahoo to state in 44 words or less what President Obama show say in his second inaugural address. So, without further ado, An Apology and a Promise to Do Better This Time.

Zach Snyder Developing 'Star Wars' Film Based on 'The Seven Samurai'

Never mind.

NASA Concludes Asteroid Apophis Will Not Hit Earth in 2029 or 2036

Privately Funded Texas High-Speed Rail Project Stymied by Stations Argument

'Game Change' Golden Globes Proves Hollywood's Political Bias

Colin Powell has to Play the Race Card to Defend Obama

How to Make 'Meat Balls Larkin'

'Jurassic Park IV' Coming for a June, 2014 Release

If Virgin Galactic pulls out of New Mexico, Texas may benefit

Wash could not have died in the movie 'Serenity' science suggests

About a year ago I asked Will the Amazon Kindle Lending Library Mean the Death of the Physical Library?. Now San Antonio announces first bookless library

Why Wash could not possibly have died at the end of "Serenity."

Darth Vader starring Arnold...???

The White House declines to build a death star

'Zero Dark Thirty' a Film of the Hunt for Osama Bin Laden

Rice University Carbon Nanotube Breakthrough Has Implications for Space Applications

Poor Penny...

Rick Perry's 2016 Presidential Prospects Have Advantages and Disadvantages

Buzz Aldrin presents the AXE Apollo Space Academy space travel contest

Staving Off Obama Defense Cuts

Bobby Jindal's Tax Reform Could Benefit Louisiana and His Presidential Aspirations

Xlem wins contract for NASA lunar water finding technology

SpaceX and Bigelow Developing Services for NASA's International Space Station

Google Invests $200 Million in Texas Spinning Spur Wind Farm

Dismayingly, the Sandy Hook Elementary Conspiracy Theories Arise

A Donald Trump-Bill Maher Media Feud Would Be Entertaining

Just as I predicted. Let the games begin. And I hope that the Donald gives the money to some faith based charities. Nothing would annoy that odious toad Bill Maher more.

Boeing Presents a Plan for a NASA Return to the Moon

NASA: Cassini discovers ice floes on Titan's hydrocarbon seas

Ted Cruz Already Experiencing Presidential Buzz, but is He Eligible?

Why Mal Reynolds Would Be Disappointed with Nathan Fillion

How to Force Harry Reid to Obey the Law and Pass a Budget

'Justified' Season Four Begins with a 30 Year Old Mystery

NASA Leasing and Selling Unused Launch Pads, Processing and Training Facilities

'Castle' Deals with the Problems of 'Significant Others'

Keystone XL Protestors Briefly Occupy TransCanada Houston Offices

Petition to build a nuclear rocket gains support at White House site

Why Minting a $1 Trillion Coin to Cover the National Debt is Crazy

Something Jim Oberg said put a thought in my head. If the coin could be certified as being made of platinum made in space, maybe it would have some value above that of the metal. Hmmm.

Addendum: Minting commemorative coins from space mined platinum to pay the deficit

Surprisingly, Tax Hikes Make Some Obama Supporters Regret Voting for the President

Star Trek stars 'open hailing frequencies' on twitter to NASA's space station

Leonardo Da Vinci as you have never seen him before

To Prevent Gun Violence, Require Everyone to Own a Gun

Also

Encourage Legal Gun Ownership While Keeping Them from Criminals and the Insane

Previously on '24' Janeane Garofalo Goes Berserk Over Fictional Female Presidents

Neil Armstrong the Center of Controversy Months After His Death

Texas Legislature to Wrestle Over What to Do with Unexpected Budget Surplus

NASA testing method to turn space trash into radiation shielding

Obama Takes Great Risks in Nominating Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense

Why New York Tried to Hide a Pro-Fracking Report

NASA's Kepler Telescope: 100 Billion Planets, Some May Be Other Earths

Dewhurst Confrms Intention to Run for Re-Election as Texas Lieutenant Governor

2016 Republican Nominee Will Run Against Washington, Big Government

The Washington Establishment is Not Suited to Vetting Candidates

'Once Upon a Time' -- Regina's Quest for Redemption Suffers a Setback

The Whole Grain Wrap Diet

The Man from Mars -- Chapter Seven

Writer/Producer of 'Killing Lincoln' TV Drama: Booth was Tea Party 'Poster Child'

New Mexico space tourism dependent on passage of 'informed consent' bill

A White House Petition to Build a Real-Life Spaceship Enterprise

Ted Cruz Spends First Day in the Senate Making News and Making Waves

Gang Rape/Murder in India Like a Scene from a Zombie Movie

Joe Biden Shows How a 2016 Presidential Run Could Be Entertaining Indeed

An animation of the celebrated 'Mythbusters' cannonball accident.

'The Big Bang Theory:' Sheldon Gets Sent to Human Resources

'Killing Lincoln' TV Drama Brings Together Bill O'Reilly and Tom Hanks

Ted Cruz Sworn in as United States Senator Amid Conservative Hopes, Liberal Fears

Northrop Grumman to design lunar lander for Golden Spike

Plan to Capture an Asteroid Finds Favor at NASA

Congress expresses support for core NASA programs in launch liability bill

Al Gore Sells Current TV to Al-Jazeera, Making Him a Hypocrite and a Prostitute

Move to Cut Dedudctions, Tax Rates May Be Too Much for Obama to Swallow

Being Blind in One Eye Can Have Life-Long Effects

Apple applies for patent to store excess wind energy for later use

Select some iconic movies like "Return of the Jedi" and "The Dark Knight" and then introduce Navy SEALs.

Mars's moon Phobos could be explored by spikey 'hedgehogs'

House Passes Bill Renaming NASA Aeronautical Facility After Neil Armstrong

Texas Senators Vote for Fiscal Cliff Bill; Most Texas House Members Vote Against

The Fiscal Cliff Bill Means Less Money and a Lost Opportunity

Sarah Palin Being Tarred with Relatives' Divorces Shows She is Not Irrelevant

Exposing Hollywood Gun Hypocrisy Too Easy -- But Necessary

Study: Future Space Explorers May Suffer from Radiation-Induced Alzheimer's

Court Rules that Texas Can Deny Planned Parenthood Women's Health Program Funding

Why Abolishing the Constitution is a Seriously Bad Idea

For Obama, After Fiscal Cliff Hubris Comes Political Nemesis