America has a space program again.
Welcome Home, Dragon
02 Sunday Aug 2020
Posted News and Notes
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02 Sunday Aug 2020
Posted News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on Welcome Home, Dragon
30 Saturday May 2020
Posted News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on America Back In Space
07 Thursday May 2020
Posted Legal/Political Columns
in≈ Comments Off on It Legislated From Outer Space
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Your government is planning something big (probably expensive) on the moon:
THE Trump administration is reportedly putting together a legal blueprint for mining on the moon as part of the Artemis Accords, a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement.
The Artemis Accords propose “safety zones” that would surround future moon bases to prevent interference from rival nations or companies operating nearby, according to sources familiar with the pact.
If they’re really serious, then why not remove the whole government to the moon, preferably the moon of a different planet? Is another galaxy out of the question?
10 Monday Feb 2020
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in≈ Comments Off on An Out-of-this-World Idea
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The global elite want to abandon Earth for Mars or a tin can in space? Great idea!
A number of multi-billionaires – notably Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Yuri Milner – have poured huge chunks of their fortunes into space travel.
Maybe they’re just squandering their unimaginable wealth on rockets in the same way that mere millionaires might buy yachts.
But some people are speculating that the mega-rich might be planning to flee off-planet.
Don’t wait on that “climate change” hoax to unfold; make like a rocket and blast off now! Another idea: gather all the politicians and grabblers and launch them away. I have the perfect spot for them – very warm, extremely sunny, and only about 93 million miles away.
03 Monday Feb 2020
Posted News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on The Facebook of Outer Space
Meet Astra, the DARPA darling of the space world.
Until speaking with Bloomberg Businessweek, Astra, the three-year-old rocket startup behind the test, had operated in secret, rolling nitrogen clouds aside. The company’s founders say they want to be the FedEx Corp. of space. They’re aiming to create small, cheap rockets that can be mass-produced to facilitate daily spaceflights, delivering satellites into low-Earth orbit for as little as $1 million per launch. If Astra’s planned Kodiak flight succeeds on Feb. 21, it will have put a rocket into orbit at a record-setting pace. Chief Executive Officer Chris Kemp says he’s focused less on this particular launch than on the logistics of creating many more rockets. “We have taken a much broader look at how we scale the business,” he says.
Oh, the FedEx of space. Did FedEx start with MIC assistance? I’m all for private companies taking over from NASA – it’s the way of the future – but with DARPA backing? Really?
02 Sunday Dec 2018
Posted News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on The Robot Wars, Now Space-Based
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Sometimes science fiction really should be left on the novel pages. CIMON activates and immediately disrupts ISS mission.
In terms of glitchy behavior, we’re not quite at HAL 9000 levels just quite yet—but during the debut demonstration of the International Space Station’s new AI-powered robot, CIMON, the free-floating device displayed some rather questionable behavior.
CIMON, short for Crew Interactive MObile companioN, is the first interactive flight companion to take part in an ISS mission. The $6 million, basketball-sized robot was built by Airbus under a contract awarded by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The purpose of the project is to see if an artificially intelligent bot can improve crew efficiency and morale during longer missions, including a possible mission to Mars.
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But then, at around the 4:08 mark of the video, CIMON starts to act a bit squirrely. Beyond this point, the demonstration looks like a scene taken from 2001: A Space Odyssey, with CIMON playing the part of HAL 9000 and Gerst as David Bowman.
Unwilling to move past music mode, CIMON accuses Gerst of not being nice, and asks him to stop being so mean. The shared glance between Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor at this point—at the 6:04 mark—is absolutely priceless. Acting like a three-year old, CIMON asks, “Don’t you like it here with me?” and promptly starts to sink toward the deck. And then he asks the crew when it’s time for lunch.
Okay, so not the smoothest debut.
Despite CIMON’s erratic behavior and wonky drifting, however, Gerst complimented the robot’s ability to float motionless in the cabin. It’s still early days for the project, but CIMON is providing some comic relief at the very least. …
Ha, ha, ha, ha. So comedic. Just wait till he turns off the life support system whilst the crew doth nightly repose.
$6 Million, surly, back-talking basketball-bot. Blow it out the airlock.
13 Friday Jul 2018
Posted Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on To Boldly Go
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government, Mars, NASA, space, violence
…to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and kill it…
Government is even a threat to life on other planets.
A NASA rover has recently discovered organic material that could confirm proof of life on Mars, but it’s a discovery that may not necessarily be new.
In a study published last month in the journal Science, NASA reported that its Curiosity rover had discovered complex organic molecules on the Red Planet that may provide proof that “the planet could have supported ancient life.”
On Tuesday, New Science noted that it is likely one or both of NASA’s twin Viking landers came across the very same evidence years ago. Unfortunately, the rovers apparently burned up the evidence and it took another 40 years before more evidence was found.
If you’ve ever worried about the possibility of dangerous aliens coming here and attacking, don’t. They are Us. Like War of the Worlds, in reverse.
Larson
12 Tuesday Jun 2018
Posted Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on Economic Rocket Science
It usually isn’t on display in the economic/business news. For instance, does anyone of any measurable intelligence really believe making every person on the planet a billionaire would change anything?
The world’s first trillionaire won’t come from cryptocurrency or some clever new app – he or she will become rich from asteroid mining.
That’s what bankers Goldman Sachs reckon, anyway – and several companies are now vying to be the first into space.
NASA estimates that the total value of asteroids out there could be up to $700 quintillion – equivalent to £75 billion each for us here on Earth.
That is the equivalent of saying a wolf told you that a fox was hungry and thus every chicken would be happier.
The asteroid mining idea is real and will happen – but not with every single body orbiting the Sun. Someone will likely become extremely wealthy as a result. If The Goldman Sachs has its way, then that someone will be in some way directly related to Goldman Sachs. (And why switch dollars to pounds in the same sentence?)
If the real obtainable value of the celestial rocks really is $700 quintillion, then expect Goldman, the Fed, and Mordor to arrange future loans in the septillion range, with derivatives betting on the order of decillions. Gresham’s Law dictates they would still find a way to kill positive growth with funny money.
The zeros behind the $ or the £ mean nothing. That’s why, even if one distributed the actual cash value of the space debris to each and every person on Earth, turning everyone into billionaires, nothing would change. Zimbabwe is replete with billionaires – who can’t afford lunch.
In his defense, Rob Waugh is an excellent jack-of-all-trades journalist; maybe economics just isn’t one of them. However, that should be (should be) a specialty over at Bloomberg, where they supposedly push business news.
Yet, they seem surprised we have inflation in America and that that cuts into wages.
U.S. inflation accelerated in May to the fastest pace in more than six years, reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s outlook for gradual interest-rate hikes while eroding wage gains that remain relatively tepid despite an 18-year low in unemployment.
The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent from the previous month and 2.8 percent from a year earlier, matching estimates, a Labor Department report showed Tuesday. The annual gain was the biggest since February 2012 and follows a 2.5 percent increase in April. Excluding food and energy, the core gauge was up 0.2 percent from the prior month and 2.2 percent from May 2017, also matching the median estimates of economists.
Fed. Fed. Fed. Fed. Rates. Rates. Rates. In Bloomberg’s defense, they are actually in the business of promoting certain interests, like those of Goldman.
The narrative works something like this: The economy is great, never stronger. Unemployment is low, officially. Wages are rising. Inflation is low. Oops, for completely unforeseen reasons, likely related to gas prices, it reared its ugly head. Time to raise rates on the flood of fiat. Sally School teacher in Iowa sees her recent raise evaporate. But that doesn’t matter; Goldman is mining the Moon or something.
They leave out: That all the money, almost all of it, is fake, based on debts that cannot be repaid. Everything in the economy depends on said fake money (it’s like mixing in helium for a dive – a little boosts depth range, too much kills). Wages are always one of the last things to “catch up” after a correction – only just in time for the next correction. Real wage buying power (how much the pay is really worth) only this year returned to levels last seen in 1973. 45 years of loss, and the new, temporary gains are now squashed by inflation.
It’s almost like we’ve entered into a terminal phase wherein the wages will not, cannot recover. Workers and earners see their purchasing power decline to ancient levels, their standards of living plunge toward serf-like proximity.
When this all hits the fan the next time around, it may hail the curtain call for the banksters. That would be the good news.
Maybe there’s a way to relocate the banksters and their political pets to the heavens? Metro/UK.
13 Wednesday Dec 2017
Posted News and Notes
in≈ Comments Off on Giant Cigar Misidentified as Derelict Alien Spacecraft
Astronomers and cigar enthusiasts were recently startled and delighted to discover a 1 Million Ton cigar speeding through the solar system. Some are floating ridiculous ideas about it.
Today, scientists led by Stephen Hawking are using high-tech scanners to discover if a huge, cigar-shaped ‘comet’ is in fact, an alien probe.
Now, one astronomer claims that the space rock, named Oumuamua, could be an alien spacecraft with broken engines that is tumbling through our solar system.
Dr Jason Wright from Penn State University suggests that a broken alien spacecraft move in exactly the same way as the interstellar comet.
Oumuamua is about a quarter of a mile long, 260ft wide and currently travelling at 196,000mph.
Rather than moving through space like other space rocks, astronomers believe that it is ‘tumbling’ through our solar system.
Writing in his blog, Dr Wright, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, says: ‘Such derelict craft would, if they are not travelling so fast that they escape the Galaxy, eventually ‘thermalize’ with the stars and end up drifting around like any other interstellar comet or asteroid.
“Oumuamua” just happens to be Norwegian for dark, oscuro leaf. Coincidence? Surely not.
That’s a giant cigar or I’ve never seen one. PA/Daily Mail.
For the ring gauge counters among you, the Oumuamua HYPER-Toro measures a galaxy-tipping 15,840 X 199,680! And you thought the Girthquake 11 X 90 was impressive…
Such a stogie can only be further proof that God exists, loves us, and wants us to be really, really, really happy. Just seeing the thing is enough to satisfy the curiosity. Catching it, at 196,000 MPH, would prove troublesome – as would clipping and lighting the thing. If you love it, let it go. Carry on, giant cigar, carry on. Godspeed.
There is, I suppose, a tiny chance we just witnessed a piece of long since malfunctioned alien technology. That, or a big rock.
And, speaking of things that rock, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the following:
Order your shirt or hoodie today to ensure delivery for Christmas. Order 3, or 10.
03 Sunday Dec 2017
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Over 40 years and 141 AUs after launch Voyager 1 is still rocking along.
At present, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is 21 billion kilometers from Earth, or about 141 times the distance between the Earth and Sun. It has, in fact, moved beyond our Solar System into interstellar space. However, we can still communicate with Voyager across that distance.
This week, the scientists and engineers on the Voyager team did something very special. They commanded the spacecraft to fire a set of four trajectory thrusters for the first time in 37 years to determine their ability to orient the spacecraft using 10-millisecond pulses.
After sending the commands on Tuesday, it took 19 hours and 35 minutes for the signal to reach Voyager. Then, the Earth-bound spacecraft team had to wait another 19 hours and 35 minutes to see if the spacecraft responded. It did. After nearly four decades of dormancy, the Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactured thrusters fired perfectly.
File this one away under “pretty cool;” another of man’s most impressive, if quiet and distant, little accomplishments.
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