Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Bill Nelson is a born-again supporter of commercial space at NASA
During the Bill Nelson nomination hearings for NASA administrator, the nominee, a former senator, broke with some of his previous positions on space policy.
The one thing that raised a lot of eyebrows was Nelson’s enthusiastic support for commercial space at NASA. He expressed approval of the commercial crew program that is sending astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS). He claimed in his opening statement to have always supported commercial space. He even supported the recent selection of SpaceX’s Lunar Starship as the first crewed moon lander in 50 years.
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Friday, April 23, 2021
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
No, You’re Crying About a Helicopter on Mars
When Ingenuity took off this week, I thought of the boat. You know the one. Giant, stuck, blocking traffic in the Suez Canal for days. As my colleague Amanda Mull wrote last month, the story of Ever Given exposed all the messy substratum of the shipping industry, “the persistent frailty of the global system on which corporations have built our physical world.” The boat also seemed, for many people, like the perfect encapsulation of how bogged down they had felt during the coronavirus pandemic. The story of the little Mars helicopter feels like the opposite. We do not see the technical challenges and failed test runs that took place on Earth, only the beautiful, butterscotch-colored expanse of Mars. Ingenuity is very much unstuck, and its historic flight feels hopeful because it has coincided with a different moment for Americans: the thaw of spring, the steady distribution of vaccines, the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale dies at age 93
A lot of accolades are popping up for the former vice president and failed presidential candidate. I cannot forget or forgive Mondale's relentless and remorseless jihad against space exploration, especially that conducted by humans. He was past master of the discredited tactic of suggesting that money spent on space should be better used on social programs. He also used the deaths of the Apollo 1 astronauts for political gain. In my opinion, Mondale's greatest gift to his country was losing to Reagan in 1984 in a 49-state blowout. Thus, the cause of liberalism was set back decades until it was revived by Barack Obama.
Monday, April 19, 2021
Sunday, April 18, 2021
Has the Biden administration abandoned the idea of a moon base?
The Biden administration has released the details of its proposed fiscal 2022 budget. The language concerning NASA in general and Artemis in particular is of interest.
While the overall NASA budget will be increased by $1.5 billion, the Artemis program will get a paltry $325 million boost. However, part of the language about Artemis is concerning.
The language does not mention the idea of a lunar base, which is part of the current Artemis program. The phrase, “a series of crewed exploration missions to the lunar surface and beyond” might suggest that the Biden administration is thinking of a succession of short-term lunar expeditions, on the model of the Apollo program, rather than a permanent lunar outpost, on the model of the International Space Station (ISS).
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Friday, April 16, 2021
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Monday, April 12, 2021
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Why does Rep. Johnson oppose NASA's commercial human landing system?
Washington Post reporter Christian Davenport reported on Twitter that Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) has sent a letter to the White House demanding that the decision of which companies developing a Human Landing System (HLS) should be funded for the second phase be deferred.
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Friday, April 09, 2021
Thursday, April 08, 2021
Wednesday, April 07, 2021
Tuesday, April 06, 2021
Monday, April 05, 2021
Sunday, April 04, 2021
Bernie Sanders goes after Elon Musk for wanting to explore space
Musk triggered Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with a one sentence tweet about his space ambitions, “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”
Musk has become the coolest capitalist alive, not only for his ambition to build a city on Mars, but for creating a rocket company, SpaceX, to give that dream form. Sanders, the “democratic socialist” senator and twice-failed presidential candidate, was not impressed.