Random thoughts on politics, current events, popular culture, and whatever else interests me.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Monday, November 29, 2021
Sunday, November 28, 2021
NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California on Nov. 24. Next fall, DART will move into the vicinity of the asteroid Didymos and its tiny moonlet Dimorphos. Although it does not pose a danger now, it serves as an opportunity: The probe will smash into Dimorphos, increasing the time of its 12-hour orbit by between 73 seconds and 10 minutes. Thus, DART will practice saving the world from an asteroid collision, like the one that ended the dinosaurs.
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Friday, November 26, 2021
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, must think he's the luckiest man alive. Politicians in Washington, especially on the Left, constantly inveigh about how he and other billionaires need to pay their “fair share” in taxes. However, the recently passed infrastructure bill suggests some of those same politicians want Musk to be even richer than he already is. His net worth is more than $300 billion.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Monday, November 22, 2021
Sunday, November 21, 2021
The Russian military tested an ASAT weapon recently, successfully destroying a dead satellite, called either Tselina-D or Cosmos 1408, launched almost 40 years ago, according to Ars Technica. The test created a debris field that directly endangered the International Space Station, including, ironically, two of Russia’s own cosmonauts. The crew of the ISS was forced to take emergency measures, closing hatches between some of the space station’s modules, putting on space suits and boarding the attached Russian Soyuz and American SpaceX Crew Dragon. The ISS crew would be ready to quickly evacuate the orbiting space lab in the event of a catastrophic collision.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Friday, November 19, 2021
Thursday, November 18, 2021
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Monday, November 15, 2021
Sunday, November 14, 2021
NASA recently revealed long-term plans for the Space Launch System (SLS), the monster rocket it has been working on since about 2010. The SLS has cost many billions of dollars, and NASA proposes to launch for the first time in February 2022. NASA would like to commercialize the SLS, fly it once a year for the Artemis Program, and pay half price for the privilege. The space agency wants to do this for at least the next 30 years.
Saturday, November 13, 2021
Friday, November 12, 2021
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Tuesday, November 09, 2021
Monday, November 08, 2021
Sunday, November 07, 2021
Recently, former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on the need, among other things, to develop commercial space stations to replace the International Space Station (ISS) when that orbiting laboratory is due to retire at the end of this decade. He stated, “It is absolutely critical that Congress fund America’s replacement for the International Space Station, which has had humans on board for over 20 years. The Chinese Space Station is on orbit, demonstrating great progress, and attracting international partners. Humanity is only at the beginning of understanding the immense economic, technological, and medicinal value of microgravity, and America is at risk of ceding these capabilities to our greatest competitor.”