The BBC has a cool article about the relative feasibility of using a low-orbit solar array as a source of renewable energy here. A recent study by the Pentagon concluded that a solar array in space was close to being technologically feasible, and robotics should soon make the building of large structures in space safer…
Category: Space
China to be on Moon before U.S.?
CNN reports that Michael Griffin, NASA’s administrator, told an audience in Washington D.C. that: “I personally believe that China will be back on the moon before we are.” … “I think when that happens, Americans will not like it. But they will just have to not like it.” No, I expect that we wouldn’t like…
Space Non-Race
I received an email from a friend today that made the following claim: Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting in August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure…
Spacewalk – Cool!
You’d think that knowing men could do something as freaking cool as this would this whole religious war thing in its proper perspective, wouldn’t you?
Exploring Mars
Wow! Read Bruce Murray’s editorial on what NASA’s mission should be. I wish I could have said it as well. The one thing Dr. Murray left out was the utter failure of the government to allocate an appropriate amount of funds to the space agency. Judging from the priorities of Congress, it’s apparently a better…
Columbia Report In: NASA Criticized
The verdict on the Columbia accident is in and reactions vary. Some seek to glorify NASA’s past achievements, while others pretend to know better. It’s still my opinion that NASA has been starved from a budgetary perspective and that failed missions and lost personnel have been the inevitable result. While it’s amusing to wonder what…
Time for Shuttle to Retire
Regarding the Houston Chronicle’s July 10 editorial, "BREACH OF CONFIDENCE / Astronauts can’t explore space on a wing and a prayer": If more people had known about the shuttle’s problems, something might have been done differently – maybe. But the shuttle is the best that 1970s technology had to offer and nothing more. Its original…
Columbia Report In: NASA Criticized
The Houston Chronicle says that astronauts can’t explore space on a wing and a prayer. Sure, they’ve got a point. If more people knew more about the shuttle’s problems, something might have been done differently. Maybe. What’s more to the point is that the shuttle is the best that 1970s technology has to offer and…
James Hogan on the Columbia Accident
Here’s what the excellent sci-fi writer James Hogan has to say about the Columbia. Mr. Hogan’s a bit of a devil’s advocate when it comes to common wisdom and mass media reporting; however, that doesn’t make him wrong.
A Brave, Classy Woman
For the wife of the shuttle Columbia to say “fix it and fly again” is amazing. What class and vision. She’s a remarkable person. For those who don’t know, I’m a big proponent of scientific research in general and NASA in particular. To me, it’s not surprising that we’ve had another shuttle accident. Funding for…