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As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

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Biden fires Boeing on SLS; gives job to Acme

In an interesting announcement today, the Biden administration fired Boeing as the prime contractor for SLS and gave the job to a well-known southwest company dubbed Acme.

Anticipating critical comment, White House spokesmen pointed out that Acme had a long history of use of solid-fuel rockets for crewed applications, “without loss of human life or serious injury” despite some less-than-fatal mishaps.

…The spokesperson also added, “It should be noted that Acme’s products have never killed anybody. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Boeing.”

Before you comment, make sure you read the article at the link closely, and also click on the two links in the article to get some detailed background on Acme, from some original sources.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

20 comments

  • Ron Desmarais

    I had to check to see if today was April 1st not March 1st :-)

  • Jay

    Ron,
    I did the same thing!

  • Lazarus Long

    I saw that coming a mile away. Reminded me of –

    “Acme Aerospace poster” (google it)

  • Thank you for your speedy, fast-breaking news coverage. I’m sure it will not blow up in your face. Or move so fast you go over the cliff. Or…

  • Ray Van Dune

    Late breaking: the mystery of the selection of ACME despite its lack of aerospace credentials may have been solved. Apparently the well-known company Blue Origin has purchased the ACME brand, seeking to leverage the thousands of (short) ACME flights to bolster the meager BO portfolio. The Board of the new company will consist of Sen. R. Shelby, J. Bezos, and renowned test pilot W. E. Coyote. Despite attempts by Coyote, industry acceleration specialist R. Runner (birdus velocitas) could not be reached for comment beyond the obligatory “meep-meep”.

  • Jerry E Greenwood

    You’re a month early! That having been said which of the maj. Networks will run with this got to be the first!

  • Spectrum Shift

    Has Biden been watching Saturday morning cartoons again?

  • Call Me Ishmael

    “without loss of human life or serious injury”

    Rampant speciesism! Coyote Lives Matter!

  • Col Beausabre

    This is actually used as a teaching tool in various law schools

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1990/02/26/coyote-v-acme

  • john

    It’s still not going to work.

  • Alton

    Lol. I needed that boost!!!

  • wayne

    “Road Runner Theme– Live”
    Barbara Cameron (1926–2013)
    The Cape Coral Jazz Festival.
    (jazz arrangement by Doug Cameron)
    https://youtu.be/2jtwgg5vEaE
    2:40

  • Problem is, ACME has a reputation for leaving their customers hanging …

    … in midair. Next to a cliff.

  • On a related note … had not the Karens of the 1970’s discouraged the viewing of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons, our younger generations would have seen how Wile E’s cousin Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog strike the right balance between on-the-clock confrontation and off-the-clock civility.

    Seeing that might have dissuaded our younger folks from embracing cancel culture.

  • wayne

    Jester–
    (off to the races!)
    Good stuff!

    My Grand Unification Theory on all this– we’ve reached a point in our Country where there is a distinct lack of what I generically call “shared cultural experiences.” (not to mention a general fuzziness on our history) ((the opposite of herd-immunity, so to speak…)) Now, these darn Fools want to drag us all under, like ‘camping forever,’ but with no camping equipment.

    going way tangential, just cuz’ it’s a well done piece of film:

    The American Rocketeer (2010)
    Frank Malina, Theodore von Kármán, and the history of JPL
    https://youtu.be/jlNz634TjN0
    1:29:24

  • Jester Naybor: Second Wayne’s comment.

  • Jeff Wright

    Wile E. was my hero. I could identify with his bad luck.
    Salieri was my other hero from Amadeus.

    And did I ever hate that bird.
    If you go by Hunter Thompson-he got his in the end.

  • David Telford

    Got a woodpecker working the house. I’m looking for a giant bear trap. Nothing goes wrong with those! But I don’t see that on the Illustrated Catalog by Acme.

  • t-dub

    My favorite ACME product is the Earthquake Pills. A classic episode, one of the funniest ever made imho.

  • Jeff Wright

    My favorite was when he was after Bugs Bunny, and his magnet pulled in the huge rocket-but the Grammatica moment of the Starship failure had more of that ACME vibe:-) almost-but not quite.

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