MarsBlog.net

I’m off for the holiday weekend, and then a short trip. Posting will be mostly nonexistent until next Thursday.

Posted on August 29th, 2003 under Meta. Comments Off

Rand Simberg points to a brief article by Ronald Bailey at ReasonOnline: Making Spaceflight Too Safe?

Reading this, I’m reminded of a quote which I’ve quoted here before:

Deep in the sea are riches beyond compare, but if you seek safety, it is on the shore.

Rereading my earlier post, I realized that I failed to make the connection to private efforts. Bailey makes this connection, pointing out that a new generation of safer spacecraft will only come about through competition in the marketplace:

The CAIB has identified technical safety problems, and they will be fixed. But the report also recommends that NASA create “an independent Technical Engineering Authority” that would be in charge of shuttle safety. Adding a new managerial layer of scared, risk-averse bureaucrats is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We all know what really works?competition.

Competition focuses the minds of even the stodgiest technocrats. So let’s end NASA’s monopoly on human space flight. Let the private sector design, test and fly innovative, cheaper, and yes, safer spacecraft.

Amen. It’s time to turn over LEO to the startups.

Posted on August 28th, 2003 under Columbia Accident. Comments Off

As noted before, we tried a few new things this time around, and I had some other ideas for the future. (Follow the “CONTINUED” link…there’s pictures!)

(more…)

Posted on August 28th, 2003 under Mars Society. Comments: 1

The Kenner Star Party was a success…people were lined up for three blocks at one point, and the museum folks had to post someone at the end of the line to turn away anyone else who showed up. Far better attendance than I would have expected.

LAMS President Craig Dooley and I set up a table near the exit, with several new display items. The table paraphernalia looked better than ever, but there is still room for improvement (more on this to come). We had a lot of folks who were mildly curious and a few who were really interested. Craig and I also made several contacts with other space organizations, which may get us more exposure in the future.

The highlight of the evening was being asked by the local CBS affiliate to appear on camera live, and give a short plug for the Mars Society. I saw the spot later on, when the news repeated, and boy, did it look completely different from the other side. I was on for about thirty seconds, all but about five of which was voice-over. It seemed more like five minutes, and that I rambled so much that the reporter had to cut me off, but in reality it was quick, to the point, and I didn’t do anything to make a fool of myself (or don’t think that I did, anyway).

All in all, a good experience.

Posted on August 27th, 2003 under Mars Society. Comments Off

I’m off to the Kenner Star Party (which is at 7:30 — I seemed to have forgotten to mention that earlier) to run the LAMS booth, so I’ll post more later on.

For now, Phil at The Speculist has an interview with MS head honcho Bob Zubrin: The Case for Mars Revisited.

I really need to add Phil to the blogroll…

Posted on August 27th, 2003 under Mars Society. Comments Off

On second thought, maybe my recommendations for giving good presentations weren’t so good.

Posted on August 26th, 2003 under Mars Society. Comments: 1

As you probably already know (this being posted late in the day) the CAIB report has been released.

Should make for some interesting reading…when I actually have the time to read it. Meanwhile, Rand Simberg, who is far more capable of this than I, will be posting commentary on it as he reads.

Update: I know this is a trivial observation, but in flipping through the introduction, I’m impressed with the quality of photographs chosen from STS-107. Some, including the final liftoff, the Sinai, and the Moon on Earth’s limb, are stunning.

Posted on August 26th, 2003 under Columbia Accident. Comments Off

Don’t like your old showerhead injector? Tired of combustion instability? Looking for a way to deep throttle on ascent (wink wink, nudge nudge)? Try pintle injection!

[Thanks to Dominic Pledger for inspiring this topic]

Posted on August 25th, 2003 under Rocket Science. Comments: 1

The Kenner Daily Living Science Center will be hosting a star party this week, in honor of the Mars opposition.

The Pontchartrain Astronomy Society will be sponsoring a Mars program, and there should be plenty of scopes for checking out our red neighbor.

[Thanks to Rich Wright for the tip.]

Posted on August 25th, 2003 under Space Science. Comments Off