America has been trying to go back to the moon for 50 years. Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon #CommissionEarned

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Artemis 1 is a triumph for NASA and the world

NASA’s heavy lift Space Launch System (SLS) has certainly faced criticism. It is too expensive and too complex. The SLS is also not a sustainable rocket for sending people back to the moon.

All of those criticisms are valid. However, NASA’s monster rocket has just sent an uncrewed Orion space capsule around the moon. The launch of the Artemis 1 mission is an eloquent answer to the critics, at least in the short term.

She has walked the night for over 400 years. The Gabriella Novels #CommissionEarned
What if we never stopped going to the moon? Children of Apollo #CommissionEarned

Friday, November 25, 2022

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Challenger debris discovery reminds us that space exploration can cost lives

Recently, a group of divers looking for the wreckage of World War II aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean came upon some of the debris of the space shuttle Challenger. The discovery reminded us of the disaster that happened before the eyes of the world on Jan. 28, 1986. It also reminded us that the cost of space exploration is measured in lives lost as well as money spent.

Saturday, November 19, 2022

I'm informed that science fiction author Greg Bear has suffered a massive stroke and will be taken off life support soon. All prayers for him, his wife Astrid, and their entire family.
Why is Ed Markey threatening Elon Musk?

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is the latest left-leaning politician to become annoyed with Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter. The tiff started with a Twitter exchange. It may end with a blatant abuse of power.

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Artemis I Paves the Way Back to the Moon by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

Sunday, November 13, 2022

NASA war-games an asteroid impact disaster and it goes badly

NASA and a number of other federal, state and local organizations war-gamed an asteroid impact on Winston-Salem, North Carolina, according to Scientific American. The scenario depicted an asteroid measuring 70 meters in diameter being detected shortly before it entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The asteroid would explode eight miles above the city with a force of a 10-megaton nuclear bomb. The explosion would lay the city and surrounding areas waste, with casualties in the thousands.

The exercise presented a number of sobering conclusions.

At a rigged press conference the day after the midterms, President Biden praised election integrity, mocked Republican ‘red wave’ that didn’t happen and was given a list of 10 friendly reporters to call on. I was not one of them
Out of this world! NASA launches a huge flying saucer-like inflatable heat shield into space – and it could help humans land safely on Mars one day

Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Dems’ disastrous crime fail, Libs’ hysteria over Twitter and other commentary

“NASA generates $71.2 billion in total economic output, maintains 339,600 jobs across the nation and generates close to $7.7 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues,” cheers Mark Whittington at The Hill. Since its 2021 budget was $23.3 billion, that’s a “hefty return on investment.” But non-financial payoffs are bigger: In winning the race to the moon, the Apollo program hastened the collapse of the “Soviet Union because it spooked the Kremlin about American technological prowess.” Now a successful Artemis Alliance uniting US allies in a space exploration could create “a prosperous, peaceful world” and also prevent a “Chinese space hegemony.” Add the gains for science, and the benefit from supporting NASA “is the long-term increase of knowledge, prosperity and peace for the human race.”

Sunday, November 06, 2022

How much does NASA return to the American economy?

NASA recently released its second annual economic impact report, laying out how much money the space agency returns to the American economy. The three chief takeaways are that NASA generates $71.2 billion in total economic output, maintains 339,600 jobs across the nation and generates close to $7.7 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. The economic benefit created by NASA is spread out over all 50 states. Considering that NASA’s fiscal 2021 budget was $23.3 billion, the space agency seems to have a hefty return on investment.

However, as impressive as these figures are, do they represent the true value of the part of the federal budget that NASA spends? That is only the case if one thinks of the space agency as a jobs program, something that may impress members of Congress but likely doesn’t excite the rest of us.

Hubble vs. Webb: New NASA telescope reveals never-before-seen details from the early universe, within 400 million years after the Big Bang
Sen. Mark Kelly was against the Artemis return to the moon before he was for it

Kelly has a problem concerning space policy, especially the Artemis return-to-the-moon program, that speaks to his character. To put the matter bluntly, Kelly was against the Artemis program before he was for it.