Year: 2016

Rocket Lab delays first rocket test flights

12:42 am

Rocket Lab has revealed that it will not conduct its first test flight of its new Electron rocket before the end of the year.

Rocket Lab originally scheduled road closures for test launches between November 17 and December 24. The company is now planning to conduct the first test flight early next year. Rocket Lab media spokeswoman Catherine Moreau-Hammond said the team had worked tirelessly this year, and with the holidays fast approaching they felt it best to allow everyone a decent break. Ms Moreau-Hammond said this would also alleviate some pressure on Mahia, which experiences a considerable population spike through the Christmas holidays.

This is a new company, a new rocket, a new launchpad, in a new country inexperienced in rocket launches. It is therefore not surprising that things have been delayed.

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Back from Death Valley

12:20 am

I have returned from Death Valley after a wonderful five days exploring four different canyons in this quite amazing place. I will do some catch up posting tonight and tomorrow, as well as post a description, with some pictures, of my experience rappelling down some of the rarely visited canyons of the park.

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John Mellencamp – Longest Days

6:01 pm

An evening pause:

Nothing lasts forever
And your best efforts don’t always pay
Sometimes you get sick
And you don’t get better
That’s when life is short
Even in its longest days

I find it interesting that these thoughts have only been real and strong for me during the first and last thirds of my life. I definitely pondered such thoughts in my middle years, but they had no real meaning. In the middle years things seem to continue the same for so long, which means the concept of aging fades from view. However, when we are young and when we are old the fact that we age and change is very evident, and so, the beginning and end of life becomes much more real.

Hat tip Insomnious.

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Off to Death Valley

8:01 am

For the next five days I expect to be completely out of touch with the internet universe. I and a bunch of friends are heading to Death Valley to do some canyoneering. We intend to explore a number of the slot canyons there that are rarely visited.

It might be possible to get internet access, but I am not betting on it. We will be camping in some remote areas. And despite this, we also plan on Thursday to put together a potluck turkey dinner for everyone to eat. Should make for the most interesting Thanksgiving I have ever had.

Thus, I wish now to extend to all my readers the happiest and most grateful Thanksgiving. May the coming year bring you joy and celebration, as well as many good surprises that make your lives better.

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New Defense directive permits concealed carry on bases

9:52 pm

Change: A new Department of Defense directive, issued last Friday, now permits soldiers and recruiters to carry concealed weapons while at work.

U.S. military personnel can now request to carry concealed handguns for protection at government facilities, according to new Defense Department directive issued last week in response to a series of deadly shootings over the last seven years. While service members already were authorized to carry weapons as part of specific job responsibilities, the new policy allows them to apply to carry their privately owned firearms “for personal protection not associated with the performance of official duties,” the directive says.

It is interesting that this directive was issued while Obama was still president. Apparently, the Trump victory gave those in charge in the Pentagon the courage to make it happen, knowing that Obama would have no power over them stop it, and knowing that Trump was likely to endorse it.

I remain unsure what kind of president Donald Trump will be. What does seem to be happening is that his victory is empowering a lot of people to defy and push back against the leftwing political culture that has ruled the U.S. since the 1960s in ways I have never seen. Should be an interesting four years.

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A lawsuit that could end all federal gun regulations

7:54 pm

Link here. The case is new, and involves the manufacture of guns by a private citizen wholly within a single state. He was convicted of violating federal laws, even though the state itself, Kansas, had recently passed a law that specifically outlawed federal prosecution for anyone “owning firearms made, sold and kept in the state.”

The only federal challenge to the constitutionality of National Firearms Act to date was U.S. vs Miller in 1939, which was uncontested when neither the defendant nor his attorney showed before the federal court. As a result, we’ve never had these federal gun laws challenged on the fundamental level.

If Cox and Kettler’s attorneys see this challenge through the courts, we can expect it to arrive before a U.S. Supreme Court in several years time. It will be a high court shaped by the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the organization that spent more money than any other to help him win the Presidency, the National Rifle Association.

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Donor pulls funds from Hawaii college for Trump protest

7:48 pm

Pushback: A donor to arts department of the University of Hawaii has pulled more than $40,000 of funding after the department chairwoman organized an anti-Trump rally.

It is pretty clear from the article that the chairwoman was doing the protest on her own time and was not violating any rules of the university. The donor simply felt that if she could express her political opinions to which he disagreed, so could he.

Link fixed!

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SpaceX wins NASA satellite launch contract

6:28 pm

The competition heats up: NASA has awarded SpaceX the contract to launch its Earth science satellite, Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT).

This sentence from the press release is puzzling:

The total cost for NASA to launch SWOT is approximately $112 million, which includes the launch service; spacecraft processing; payload integration; and tracking, data and telemetry support.

Since SpaceX touts a launch price for its Falcon 9 rocket as $62 million, I wonder why this launch will cost NASA almost twice as much. Was there so little competition in the bidding that SpaceX could bid higher and thus get more money? Or is NASA so disinterested in saving money that it left itself open to overpaying for something that everyone else gets for far else?

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