Category Archives: Uncategorized

http://fortune.com/2015/08/14/f-35-joint-strike-fighter/ Thank you Norm Augustine for giving us this piece of junk instead of a base on the Moon. And to continue the earlier letter to Paul: October 21, 2015 at 10:54 am http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151020192331.htm At the beginning of the year I commented on a fairly well known blog about the danger of an asteroid orContinue reading “One Trillion Dollars”

October 20, 2015 at 8:05 am “It is difficult for people to envision the immensity of geologic time, as they tend to reckon time spans in relation to their own lives.” Excerpt from Paul Spudis’ article on Smithsonian site. My own theory is that it is difficult for people to make any decision that doesContinue reading “Another letter to Paul”

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34554517 The rest of the world is going to the Moon while we launch exploding hobby rockets and cheer for Matt Damon. The nation that built the Saturn V has to pay Russians hundreds of millions of tax dollars for a ride to the space station to nowhere that took over ten years and 100Continue reading “Luna 27 and U.S. Failure”

Most Americans are familiar with water towers and these towers are fascinating examples of the necessary minimum dimensions of what could be called a “true” spaceship. The definition of a true spaceship is a craft that can carry human beings on interplanetary journeys while providing an Earth gravity/radiation environment. The last part is what determinesContinue reading “Spaceships”

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/how-blowing-massive-polymer-bubbles-could-help-us-build-structures-in-space Bernal Spheres are on the way. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2015/10/mit-a-manned-mission-to-mars-may-require-a-detour-to-the-moon.html Yes, some have known this since the ice on the Moon was discovered. http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/ The most interesting item I have seen in many, many years. Most people cannot wrap their heads around it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nasa-borucki-climate-change_56036125e4b0fde8b0d14588 “No,” he said. “The possibility of being able to send people, particularly a large number of people, to settle another planet orbiting another star seems extremely small.” I never cease to be amazed me at the lack of imagination among scientists and engineers. Of course this is matched by the bizarro flights of fancyContinue reading “Closed Minds”

“In 1966 Gemini 11 did a tether-generated artificial gravity experiment. A several thousand foot long tether system with equal masses on either end generating one gravity is the solution that people have been doing calculations for since the 1930’s (it was not known if humans would remain conscious without gravity so the tether was aContinue reading “One Revolution Per Minute”

Unfortunately Dr. Spudis closed his discussion board down before I could respond to these replies and comments. So I am going to respond in italics here: October 10, 2015 at 10:41 am “A reusable Extraterrestrial landing vehicle could operate between the Earth-Moon Lagrange points and LEO and between the Lagrange points and the lunar surfaceContinue reading “Responding to the Naysayers”

October 10, 2015 at 8:27 am “The more ambitious your space aspirations become, the more it makes sense to look carefully at using space resources. To me, this gets to the real debate behind the debate. Arguments over whether to use lunar resources or not really break down into one’s long-term desires for space—permanence versusContinue reading “Letters to Paul again”

“-the skills and technologies needed to acquire and use off-planet resources-“to launch tons of water from Earth is to completely miss the point of attempting it—we are learning how to “cut the umbilical cord”- Excerpts from Paul Spudis’ article in Air and Space Magazine. Any dialogue with the NewSpace sycophants presently hijacking the discussion aboutContinue reading “Letters to Paul”