Sunday, September 30, 2018

Saturday, September 29, 2018

HOW SEN. BILL NELSON LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THIS NASA ADMINISTRATOR

"The Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness recently held a hearing entitled, “Global Space Race: Ensuring the United States Remains the Leader in Space.” As is his privilege as the ranking member of the full Senate Commerce Committee, Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, attended the hearing.

"Nelson was seen schmoozing with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, the sole witness, before the hearing and participated for just a few minutes during the proceedings before departing for some other appointment.

"Nelson also left an opening statement that had some very interesting things to say about Bridenstine."

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Japan lands on an asteroid

The Japanese have achieved a space first: exploring an asteroid up close.

The Japanese Space Agency probe, the Hayabusa 2, arrived in the vicinity of an Earth-approaching asteroid called 162173 Ryugu in June. The mission achieved a greater milestone on Sept. 21 when it deployed two “rovers” on the surface of the asteroid that are currently hopping about, taking images and temperature readings.

Above and Beyond Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Documentary HD





I saw this gem of a documentary by Steven Spielberg's younger sister last night. Well worth it.

Monday, September 24, 2018

What if we never stopped going to the moon? Children of Apollo

Friday, September 21, 2018

NEW ‘FIRST MAN’ TRAILER TRIES TO REPAIR THE FLAG FLAP DAMAGE

“First Man,” the upcoming movie about Neil Armstrong and the first landing on the moon, touched off a bitter battle in the culture wars when it was noted that the iconic flag raising on the lunar surface had been deliberately left out.

SpaceX's trip around the moon could be the greatest private voyage in history

The moment that Yasaku Maezawa bounded into view during the SpaceX-sponsored press conference, the world knew that a different kind of space traveler had appeared. “I can now say it,” Maezawa proclaimed with enthusiasm. “I choose to go to the moon!”

Addendum: SpaceX’s Moon Trip Is the Ultimate Artist Residency

Late Show Conspiracy Theories With Neil deGrasse Tyson





Neil deGrasse Tyson vs. moon landing hoax conspiracy theory.
From the Hill: How ice on the moon can get us to Mars

It’s finally confirmed: Water exists on the moon.

The importance of water on the moon, some of it easily extractable, cannot be overstated. Water mined from the moon need not be transported from Earth at great expense. The water can be used for drinking, agriculture, and other purposes by future lunar settlers.

Even more important, water can be refined into liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the components of rocket fuel.

Nazi vs Vampire

Monday, September 10, 2018

From the Washington Examiner: Is space exploration racist?

Recently a writer named Caroline Haskins published a piece in the Outline, a New York-based media platform, with the somewhat provocative title “The Racist Language of Space Exploration.”

The piece has elicited much eye-rolling on social media and at least one rebuttal in Reason Magazine. The arguments in the article will be all too familiar to those who were forced to read “A People’s History of the United States” by the bad historian and Marxist scholar Howard Zinn while in school.

'If anyone can Maga, it is Nasa': how First Man's flag 'snub' made space political again

The money quote: "Mindful of its global audience, Hollywood has been steadily de-Americanising space.

Saturday, September 08, 2018

From the Hill Newspaper: Remembering the man who sold the moon: Paul Spudis

If, as many hope, President Donald Trump’s push to return Americans to the moon comes to fruition, the NASA portion of the Lunar Base will be named the Paul Spudis Lunar Science Center if there is any justice. If any one person can be said to have caused America to once again, for the third time in a generation, set out for the moon, it is Dr. Paul Spudis, who recently died suddenly from complications of lung cancer.

Thursday, September 06, 2018

MAKERS OF ‘FIRST MAN’ FORGET THE FIRST RULE OF HOLES

One of the more amusing aspects about the flag flap from “First Man,” the upcoming biop of Neil Armstrong, is how the filmmakers seem to have forgotten the first rule of holes: When one is in a hole, stop digging.

'First Man' a disgrace to patriotic Americans

"But historically speaking, taking out the U.S. flag from the very scene that blasts “American Exceptionalism” at a time of Cold War racing against the evil Soviets is not only a snub to those tied to this great patriotic moment in time — but it’s almost a gift to today’s Russia. It sends the message that this country has so far moved past the U.S.-U.S.S.R. days of frigid relations, foreign subterfuge and spy-versus-spy-type behaviors that today’s America is willing to go the extra mile and drop that whole silly pride-in-nation thing."

Sunday, September 02, 2018

I hear that the Village Voice has gone belly up, which is too bad because the Personals section was a hoot. Here is one story where the Voice attacked me in print, something I also cherish.
Opponents of space exploration come crawling out of the woodwork

While most people seem to approve of President Trump’s renewed push for space exploration, starting with a return to the moon and then going to Mars, either believing it to be either a priority or at least important things to do, according to a Pew Poll, not everyone agrees. The opponents of exploring the heavens, who have been with us since the dawn of the space program, have started coming out of the woodwork like unquiet ghosts to annoy the living.