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I make no secret about the fact that I love the Saturn V. It’s the rocket of my formative years. Elegant and powerful, in forty years it remains a technological marvel. It’s now getting a serious second look. No, not … Continue reading
To boldly go beyond Earth’s orbital neighborhood is the next level of courageous, crewed exploration. To make it to that step, we’ll need a spaceship purpose-built with the idea that that crew will be gone for protracted amounts of time and will likely set up camp somewhere else. Continue reading
“NASA’s irrational approach to risk undermines its mission and costs thousands of lives.” Sadly, it’s a direct result of our PR-obsessed, risk-averse society. As callous as it seems, we definitely need to return to looking at the big picture of … Continue reading
OV-103. The space shuttle Discovery. Twenty-seven years of service. Thirty-nine times it lifted off and thirty-nine times it landed safely. All told it spend a year in space and traveled over 238 million km (148 million miles). That sort of use leaves its mark after a while. Continue reading
Some people in congress don’t seem to understand that rocket science is…well…rocket science. It’s not easy. It can be made to look that way, but it really, really isn’t. Continue reading
Because when we invest in science, when we invest in space, when we invest in exploration, we always, always get far more back in return than we put in. And not just in dollars and cents. THIS is why we invest in … Continue reading
To the outside observer, it seems like the U.S. Government treats the funding of NASA with the same care and understanding as they do the United States Postal Service. The outside observer would be wrong; it’s not handled nearly as well. And the USPS is going bankrupt…so that sort of gives you an idea of how bad the problem is. Continue reading
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I’m a bit of a life-long space nerd. (I know!) Obviously, over the years, different launch vehicles have caught my eye. Much like worthy media celebrities, these rocket stars are more than just a pretty face…but the pretty face helps. Continue reading
“Our space program is one of the things that makes us great, that sets us far apart from other productive countries, that makes us respectable, that makes our advice worth listening to.” I was going to write a blog entry … Continue reading
On another site, someone posted a picture of the space shuttle Discovery and noted that it didn’t exactly look showroom clean: Continue reading
Following the failure and crash of a Russian Progress M-12M cargo vehicle, there has been a lot of alarmist rhetoric about the future of the ISS as well as American spaceflight capability. Let’s take a step back to look at the situation without a “sky is falling” mentality. Continue reading
I still say we need to get good at traveling to the Moon first, but Mars needs to be the next stop after…the sooner, the better. The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We … Continue reading
Every time President Obama unveils more details on his vision of America’s space future, I get increasingly sad. In some ways he’s making his predecessor look like a visionary. I think it’s fair to say that Obama’s plan is so greatly in need of visionary correction that even Lasik might not be very effective. Continue reading
Not just a list, but thirteen articles focusing on sometimes surprising elements that had to happen for Apollo XIII to be the “successful failure” it happily became. An excellent read. 13 Things that Saved Apollo 13 | Universe Today.
Not as well known to the public as the astronauts, Herr Wendt was at least as indispensable. SPACE.com — Guenter Wendt, 85, Pad Leader for NASAs Moon Missions, Dies. I also highly recommend his memoir: The Unbroken Chain. It’s getting hard … Continue reading
