A detailed look at how the budget deal effects the NASA budget.
A detailed look at how the budget deal effects the NASA budget.
As Messier notes, the budget is generally flat, with little significant change either up or down.
Author: Robert Zimmerman
A House investigation has found that the Obama administration acted to make the sequestration cuts as “painful as possible” for rural schools.
A House investigation has found that the Obama administration acted to make the sequestration cuts as “painful as possible” for rural schools.
I have made no excuses for Chris Christie and the abuse his underlings heaped out in New Jersey against innocent citizens. It was wrong, and it makes me much less likely to support Christie in future campaigns. At the same time, it is also important to note that this one event pales in comparison to the number of similar abuse-of-power stories I’ve noted coming from the Obama administration. When it comes to improperly using the power of government to hurt innocent citizens, Obama and his underlings make Christie look like an amateur.
After drilling four shafts and sending in one man to look, engineers still don’t know what is blocking the giant tunnel drill Bertha in Seattle.
After drilling four shafts and sending in one man to look, engineers still don’t know what is blocking the giant tunnel drill Bertha in Seattle.
The next step, not simple, is to send workers to inspect the drill face itself.
The House is about to vote on a trillion dollar spending bill that no one has really read.
This sums it up: The House is about to vote on a trillion dollar spending bill that no one has really read.
It might include some specific cuts, but in general this budget plan is a surrender to more spending.
The only real solution to this madness, however, really rests with the voters. The spenders in both parties have to be fired, and the only way to do that is to fire them. Sadly, I see no sign of that happening in the hardcore Democratic states such as New York, California, and Illinois, to name just a few. There, the voters are so partisan that they’d rather die than vote for a Republican. And die they will.
Among Republican voters at least there is pressure from the right to spend less. To make it effective, however, the voters still have to do some firing, as far too many Republicans elected officials are willing to go along to get along.
On the air tonight
I will be appearing with David Livingston on the Space Show tonight, beginning at 7 pm (Pacific). The show is webcast live as well as podcast. Feel free to call in and ask questions or make comments.
Should be fun, especially considering the good start private space has had in 2014.
The sound of pi
An evening pause: The sound of pi.
A federal court has thrown out the net neutrality rules imposed by Obama’s FCC appointees, stating that the commission had overstepped its authority.
The law is such an inconvenient thing: A federal court has thrown out the net neutrality rules imposed by Obama’s FCC appointees, stating that the commission had overstepped its authority.
Have you noticed how the left always comes up for these meaningless terms — “net neutrality”, “single payer”, etc — any time they want to expand their power over our lives?
Twenty fascinating photos from history.
Another innocent patient, having lost his insurance due to Obamacare, is now threatened with death.
Finding out what’s not in it: Another innocent patient, having lost his insurance due to Obamacare, is now threatened with death.
I cannot be more accurate. Read the story. The man is not getting treated because his policy was cancelled because of Obamacare.
Thank you Obama and the Democrats. I am so glad you care.
And there’s this horrible story of a disabled family now out of luck: “We did not put ourselves in this situation,” she told The Daily Caller. “The government put us in this situation.”
And we have only just begun. Stay tuned from more horror stories as Obamacare spreads its wings over the entire healthcare industry this year.
Astronomers have identified a star they expect to go supernova very soon.
Astronomers have identified a star they expect to go supernova very soon.
[SBW2007] 1 (or SBW1) is located 20,000 light-years from Earth and features an enigmatic double-ringed planetary nebula. The rings are gases that have been blasted from the outermost layers of the blue supergiant star in the nebula’s core. The star, which was estimated to be 20 times the mass of the sun before it became unstable, is going through its final death throes before a supernova is initiated. But don’t worry, the supernova would be a safe distance from us, although it will put on an exciting light show.
There is no way to predict when the supernova will occur. On the timescales of stellar evolution, it could happen tomorrow, or in a thousand years. For the full Hubble image go here.
This story is significant in that it shows how much knowledge has been gained in astronomy since Hubble’s launch. In 1987, when Supernova 1987a exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud, astronomers had not identified even one progenitor of any supernova, and did not have any clear idea what kinds of stars produced these gigantic explosions. Today, they have identified more than a handful, and are even beginning to pinpoint candidates, such as the star above, that could be the next stars to go boom.
SpaceX has signed a contract with a Japanese commercial satellite company.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has signed a contract with a Japanese commercial satellite company.
The story was first reported on Friday, but I was busy this weekend and forgot to post it. Key quote:
The launch contract award for JCSAT 14, a communications satellite owned by Tokyo-based SKY Perfect JSAT Corp., adds another mission to SpaceX’s backlog, which stands at nearly 50 missions worth nearly $5 billion, according to a company press kit.
As SpaceX rolls these missions out and the money rolls in, it will insure the likelihood that they will build the Falcon Heavy as promised. And when they do, they will have created a heavy lift rocket and done it for pennies, compared to the costs spent on numerous government projects attempting to do the same.
“Over the weekend, it seems as though the national media finally figured out what most ObamaCare critics have predicted all along.”
“Over the weekend, it seems as though the national media finally figured out what most ObamaCare critics have predicted all along.”
And what did these giants of intellectual thought finally figure out? They discovered, as conservatives have been trying to explain for four goddamn years, that Obamacare is a insane mess, it doesn’t work, it is raising costs, it is preventing people from getting health insurance, and it should never have been passed in the first place.
What a shock!
The Spanish language Obamacare website is unreadable to Spanish speakers.
Incompetence beyond belief: The Spanish language Obamacare website is unreadable to Spanish speakers.
The site, CuidadoDeSalud.gov, launched more than two months late. A Web page with Spanish instructions linked users to an English form. And the translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated — the name of the site itself can literally be read “for the caution of health.”
“When you get into the details of the plans, it’s not all written in Spanish. It’s written in Spanglish, so we end up having to translate it for them,” said Adrian Madriz, a health care navigator who helps with enrollment in Miami. [emphasis mine]
I normal expect the government to do a poor job in most things, but this level of idiocy astonishes even me. For example,
As for the language, Plaza, the New Mexico professor, said a recent examination by her research students concluded that the translations were done “by a computer-generated process” and came across as awkward.
“There are problems with the verbs and word order that make sentences hard to understand,” said Plaza, who helped develop an audio version to help residents in New Mexico sign up. “Sometimes,” she added, “it’s just the terms they use.”
The website translates “premium” into “prima,” but that Spanish word is more commonly used to mean a female cousin, Plaza said. A more accurate translation, she said, would be “cuotas,” ”couta mensual” or “costo annual.”
It is a good thing the Democrats have demanded Obamacare go into effect right away, as they are also the ones in charge of implementing it.
China’s rover and lander on the Moon have both been successfully reawakened after hibernating through the two week long lunar night.
China’s rover and lander on the Moon have both been successfully reawakened after hibernating through the two week long lunar night.
Cygnus was successfully berthed to ISS today.
Cygnus was successfully berthed to ISS today.
This is the first operational station resupply mission carried out by Orbital Sciences under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA calling for at least eight flights and delivery of 40,000 pounds of cargo and supplies.
The Cygnus captured Sunday will remain attached to the space station until mid February. At that point SpaceX will step up with launch of a Dragon cargo ship around Feb. 22. It will be the third operational resupply flight by SpaceX, which holds a $1.6 billion contract to deliver more than 44,000 pounds of supplies over a dozen missions.
SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third powered test flight today.
The competition heats up: SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third powered test flight today.
On release, SS2’s rocket motor was ignited, powering the spaceship to a planned altitude of 71,000 ft. – SS2’s highest altitude to date – and a maximum speed of Mach 1.4. SS2’s unique feather re-entry system was also tested during today’s flight. Two important SS2 systems, the RCS [reaction control system] and thermal protection coating, were tested during today’s flight in preparation for upcoming full space flights. The spaceship’s RCS will allow its pilots to maneuver the vehicle in space, permitting an optimal viewing experience for those on board and aiding the positioning process for spacecraft re-entry. The new reflective protection coating on SS2’s inner tail boom surfaces is being evaluated to help maintain vehicle skin temperatures while the rocket motor is firing.
Seven months after the IRS scandal broke, the FBI has finally contacted some of the conservative groups that were harassed by the tax agency.
Seven months after the IRS scandal broke, the FBI has finally contacted some of the conservative groups that were harassed by the tax agency.
“After seven months of no contact from federal investigators, a small number of our clients recently received a request for an interview from the FBI,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice, which represents more than three dozen groups.
He said the clients were evaluating FBI’s request but were troubled by the revelation of Ms. Bosserman’s political leanings. “This development creates a serious conflict of interest and raises more questions and doubts about the Obama administration’s promise to get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.
The last paragraph refers to the fact that Barbara Bosserman, the person named by Obama to lead the FBI investigation, is also a big time donor to Obama’s campaign. The conservative groups have very legitimate reasons not to want to talk to the FBI under these circumstances, as anything they say might instead be used against them by this very partisan use of government power.
We must once again contrast how Obama has dealt with this admitted misuse of government power with that of Chris Christie. Tells us a great deal about Obama, doesn’t it?
One health insurance company has now announced that the mix of old/sick and young/healthy buying insurance under Obamacare is far worse than expected.
Repeal the damn law! One health insurance company has now announced that the mix of old/sick and young/healthy buying insurance under Obamacare is far worse than expected.
In other words, the only way the company can make a profit is to raise its premiums so high — in order to pay for the costs of its mostly sick customer base — that no one will be able to afford to buy the insurance.
But then, none of this is a surprise to conservatives. You can’t outlaw Adam Smith’s laws of economics, as Obamacare tries to do. All that will happen is that you will distort the market enough to destroy any businesses in it. Just ask anyone who lived in the communist bloc in the 20th century.
Congress has now officially renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.
Congress has now officially renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center in California after Neil Armstrong.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday (Jan. 8) passed a bill that redesignates the space agency’s Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California the “NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.” The legislation continues to honor the facility’s displaced namesake by renaming the surrounding area the “Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range.” The U.S. House of Representatives earlier introduced and passed a corresponding resolution in February 2013. This was at least the third time since 2007 that Congress has sought to name the flight research center for Armstrong.
On Thursday, the bill was presented to the President to be signed into law.
It still seems unseemly to me to remove the honor from Dryden. I would rather give Armstrong a better memorial, on the Moon.
Astronomers announced today the discovery of several dozen stars which are traveling so fast they will escape the Milky Way galaxy.
Astronomers announced today the discovery of 18 sunlike stars which are traveling so fast they will escape the Milky Way galaxy.
These sunlike stars are in addition to another 20 blue giant stars that are also traveling at escape velocity.
The origin of all of these new stars is completely mysterious. The theory had been that such stars got their speed boost by being flung past the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A* (pronounced “A-star”). These new stars, however, come from other directions, and in fact appear to have even come from outside the galaxy’s main disk. Thus, astronomers are baffled as to what caused them to be traveling so fast.