Solving the climate and energy crises: Mine the Moon's helium-3

Recently, U.S. Nuclear Corp. and Solar System Resources Corporation signed a letter of intent that will either change the history of the world or be just a footnote in humanity’s quest to develop clean, abundant sources of energy.

Solar System Resources has agreed to provide 500 kilograms of helium-3 mined from the Moon to U.S. Nuclear Corp. in the 2028-2032 timeframe.

Greta Thunberg’s ad about settling Mars meets Don Draper

Greta Thunberg is either a pint-sized warrior for the environment or the most annoying teenager on the planet for her tireless advocacy for the mitigation of climate change. In her latest foray in service to that cause, Ms. Thunberg’s Fridays for Future campaign released a “satirical ad” that is said to slam the idea of exploring and settling Mars while climate change still threatens the Earth, according to Futurism. The ad dropped, not coincidentally, about the same day NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars.

Bill Nelson to NASA? Rumor mill churns What? A politician and not an aerospace professional? Perish the thought.
Winter storm or not, Texas needs better energy and infrastructure

During the height of the great winter storm of 2021, when millions of Texans were shivering in the dark, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered a hilarious observation on Twitter: “The infrastructure failures in Texas are quite literally what happens when you *don’t* pursue a Green New Deal.”

The UAE's Hope, China's Tainwen-1 and NASA's Perseverance arrives at Mars

Mars has always been a source of wonder for many space enthusiasts. While practical entrepreneurs plan to mine the Moon and the asteroids, others dream of exploring the Red Planet and, eventually, making it a second home.

Rush Limbaugh was like a cool uncle to me

Oddly, it was a liberal friend who introduced me to Rush Limbaugh back in 1990, when the conservative radio talker was just getting started. When I started listening to him, I remember feeling thunderstruck that such a man was allowed to say the sort of things he was saying on the air. I had never heard his like before.

Power went out early Tuesday and we spent 20 hours shivering in the dark in Houston, Texas. But we are back, at least for now.
Luxembourg space programme to work with Nasa on moon mining
Is Spacetime Real?
SpaceX built a true commercial space line for fun, profit and a good cause

The purpose of the Commercial Crew Program, started under President Barack Obama, was to provide a means to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) cheaper than had been the case with the space shuttle system.

So far, the program has succeeded with that goal brilliantly with the advent of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. The commercial spacecraft has already conducted two flights to the ISS with astronauts on board. The first, Commercial Crew Demo-2, took two astronauts to the space station in May 2020. The second, Crew-1, began regular crew rotations to the ISS in November 2020. SpaceX plans more contracted NASA flights to the space station in 2021.

The other, almost unstated goal of the Commercial Crew Program was to enable a truly commercial space transportation industry, one in which private customers would travel to and from low Earth orbit. The goal has started to be met thanks to a number of flights that have been recently announced.

Question asked: Will Biden continue NASA's Artemis program to return to the moon?

Question answered: The Biden administration endorses NASA's Artemis, the Space Force

"One of the nagging questions that have haunted space enthusiasts with the change of administrations has been what President Biden will do with the Artemis program to return to the moon as well as the Space Force.

"One might be forgiven for feeling some concern. Biden has been quite diligent in erasing Trump priorities ranging from energy production to immigration policy at the stroke of a pen. He was part of the Obama administration that abruptly cancelled the Constellation program.

"Now, all doubt has been erased. The Biden administration will not only continue the Space Force, but also the Artemis program. The two historic initiatives started by President Trump will survive into the future."

Thursday, February 04, 2021

Biden will not fix climate change, but the private sector might

After President Biden gave an inauguration speech filled with platitudes about unity, he signed a series of executive orders that ran against that sentiment. Among them was an executive order yanking the permit from the Keystone XL pipeline.

Monday, February 01, 2021