New Glenn launches for 3rd time, reuses first stage and lands it, but fails to put satellite in correct orbit
New Glenn’s first stage, just prior to landing
Blue Origin in the early morning hours today successfully completed the third launch of its New Glenn rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida and placing in orbit AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird-7 cellphone satellite. For Blue Origin, this launch was the first for a commercial outside customer, a significant step forward for the company, which has sadly earned a reputation for operating too slowly.
Unfortunately, according to an update from Blue Origin the satellite was deployed but in an “off nominal orbit.” An update just posted by AST states the satellite is a loss and is being de-orbited. This satellite would have been the seventh in AST SpaceMobile’s 45-60 satellite constellation designed to act as cell towers in space. AST hopes to have at least half the constellation in orbit by the end of ’26. Several major phone companies, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Vodaphone in Europe, have already signed on.
For Blue Origin, the launch wasn’t a total failure. The rocket’s first stage had flown in November 2025 on the second New Glenn flight, and was refitted (with a new set of engines) to fly again on this flight, the rocket’s third. It not only did its job, getting the upper stage into space, it successfully landed for the second time on New Glenn’s barge in the Atlantic. This fast reuse and successful landing should do a great deal to improve the company’s slow reputation. Unfortunately, the failure to deliver the customer’s satellite will counter that most significantly.
As for Blue Origin, this was its first launch in 2026, and it was also unsuccessful. The leader board for the 2026 launch race remains unchanged:
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
46 SpaceX
21 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
For the third straight year SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, 46 to 36.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
New Glenn’s first stage, just prior to landing
Blue Origin in the early morning hours today successfully completed the third launch of its New Glenn rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida and placing in orbit AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird-7 cellphone satellite. For Blue Origin, this launch was the first for a commercial outside customer, a significant step forward for the company, which has sadly earned a reputation for operating too slowly.
Unfortunately, according to an update from Blue Origin the satellite was deployed but in an “off nominal orbit.” An update just posted by AST states the satellite is a loss and is being de-orbited. This satellite would have been the seventh in AST SpaceMobile’s 45-60 satellite constellation designed to act as cell towers in space. AST hopes to have at least half the constellation in orbit by the end of ’26. Several major phone companies, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Vodaphone in Europe, have already signed on.
For Blue Origin, the launch wasn’t a total failure. The rocket’s first stage had flown in November 2025 on the second New Glenn flight, and was refitted (with a new set of engines) to fly again on this flight, the rocket’s third. It not only did its job, getting the upper stage into space, it successfully landed for the second time on New Glenn’s barge in the Atlantic. This fast reuse and successful landing should do a great deal to improve the company’s slow reputation. Unfortunately, the failure to deliver the customer’s satellite will counter that most significantly.
As for Blue Origin, this was its first launch in 2026, and it was also unsuccessful. The leader board for the 2026 launch race remains unchanged:
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
46 SpaceX
21 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
For the third straight year SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, 46 to 36.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
An unfortunate but survivable loss; the engineers responsible for GS2 are going to be sweating bullets until the next launch.
Nate P: As you know, I hate acronyms. What is “GS2”?
The landing was beautiful to watch (crappy camera feeds notwithstanding), but what was less pretty to see was the effusive celebratory posts about it by Bezos and Limp while AST’s satellite was facing a failure to reach its orbit.
Also, there’s now a very large second stage in orbit that is going to make an uncontrolled reentry in the next few weeks.
This won’t help Blue Origin’s cause with getting NASA and NSSL certifications, either. But they got a lot of useful data and demonstrated some important capabilities, so hopefully they can use all that to get back on the horse.
Mr. Zimmerman, it’s the second stage. I think it stands for Glenn Stage 2
Robert Zimmerman,
My apologies. Glenn Stage 2. It’s such a silly acronym too.
Nate P: Not only silly, utterly unnecessary. “Upper stage”, “2nd stage” “stage 2” all work, don’t involve many more letters, and are understandable plain English. There is no reason to pepper our writing with jargon.
I watched the Blue Origin webcast of the launch and it ended after the booster recovery but well before either burn 2 of the 2nd stage or the payload deployment. The mission looked quite successful at that point.
SpaceX webcasts of commercial launch missions generally stay running, even with long stretches of just music and computer generated ground track graphics during coast phases, until the payload(s) is/are deployed. Only military SpaceX mission webcasts tend to follow the pattern Blue used on this morning’s webcast. As the old saying goes, it ain’t over ’til it’s over.
Given that this was the second New Glenn stage 2 failure this week – the first was some kind of energetic “observation” that blew part of the roof off of Blue’s second stage test facility – Dave Limp is likely now echoing another David, Vice Adm. David Beatty, Royal Navy, commander of 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland, who observed, following loss of two of his command to sudden magazine explosions, “There’s something wrong with our bloody ships today!”
This is a significant setback for Blue Origin, particularly at this time of seeking a transition from crawling to walking anent launch cadence. These incidents knock Blue back onto all-fours. Among other things, it makes Blue far more likely to be a no-show for Artemis 3 next year. Quick recovery and return to flight after such reverses has long been a hallmark of SpaceX’s launch operations. Here’s where Blue has a chance to show what it’s made of.
Watched the Blue Origin stream after the fact.
Once again, the announcer ladies / cheerleaders “goshed”, “gollied” and “so excited” over launch control announcements. Frustrating.
Glad they landed again but wonder if a complete set of engines really counts as reuse of first stage.
Doubting Thomas asked ” . . . but wonder if a complete set of engines really counts as reuse of first stage.”
Top levels of motorsport use multiple engines and transmissions in a season. Top Fuel engines are rebuilt after every pass, and teams have 45 to 75 minutes to do it. If you swap an engine, you don’t have a completely different car. So, I would say, yes, it counts.
“As you know, I hate acronyms.”
Careful. You’ll offend the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
“Woke Official Declares There’s a Genocide Going on of Something Called “MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+” People”
https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/canada-budget-mmiwg2slgbtqqia
James Street: Heh. As a long time reader, you know very well I don’t give a hoot if these idiots are offended or not. :)
” . . . the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ people. ‘
I really do want to hear an official (elected, unelected, will do) say that in public.
Blair Ivey: Click on the link James Street provides, and your wish shall be granted.
“This is abhorrent.”
Regarding any language known to Humankind: it sure is.
MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+
I sincerely doubt that I will ever be in a situation where someone is saying this, but I almost wish it would happen. I have the urge, as soon as I hear the M M, to start singing
M I C K E Y….. M O U S E
Before the advent of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+….. My favorite was from Mark Steyn – LGBTQWERTY
Hello Dick,
“This is a significant setback for Blue Origin, particularly at this time of seeking a transition from crawling to walking anent launch cadence. These incidents knock Blue back onto all-fours. Among other things, it makes Blue far more likely to be a no-show for Artemis 3 next year.”
That’s one possible knock-on effect — that I’m sure hit Jared Isaacman in the face yesterday.
Another is the Space Force, which as we learned yesterday from Jeff Foust, is *energetically” seeking launch alternatives to Vulcan thanks to its suspension for national security launches. The day when New Glenn can provide that just got pushed pack several months, it seems.
Dillon Shropshire of MaxQ had a noteworthy post on X, excerpted in part here:
We have tracking data on the payload however, there is no data provided for the New Glenn upper-stage at this time. It’s safe to assume it did not complete a disposal burn.
New Glenn upper stage and payload will re-enter within the next 4-5 days. New Glenn upper stage dry mass is around 25 metric tons and measures in at ~ 77ft x 23ft which is comparable to the Long March 5B stage that the CASC left in orbit a few years ago.
New Glenn’s upper stage poses a significant risk to locations between 36.11 degrees N/S latitude and will generate a large debris field. If it re-enters over land, largely intact pieces may be found, possibly as large as 5 feet or more in diameter. Lighter-weight spherical objects such as COPVs are expected to partially/completely survive re-entry.
https://x.com/i/status/2046079300999279033
That range includes parts of Southern California and Florida, I believe…
Most likely the thing ends up in the ocean. And Blue Origin execs must be praying that happens, because the last thing they need now is more negative publicity from this launch.
That’s the thing with these heavy lift and super heavy lift rockets: they tend to have much bigger upper stages. Safe recovery or safe disposal becomes more important. SpaceX gets flack from critics over Starship still having not *technically* (in the fullest sense of the term) made orbit yet, but this incident underlines why they are being so cautious. If a 25 ton dry mass New Glenn upper stage (GS2) is a serious worry on uncontrolled reentry on someone’s head or roof, a 100 ton dry mass Starship would be emphatically even more so. Just imagine the flack Elon and SpaceX would get if *that* came down in a densely populated area. We saw just a hint of what that might be like with the blowback to those technicolor reentries over the Bahamas last year, you know . . .
We aren’t the Chinese, after all.
Very impressive! SpaceX makes it look easy.
——————————————-
Remind me again why we didn’t seize Canada, a long time ago? I’m partial to making Alaska a contiguous state.
Dead Moon
“54/40 Or Fight” (1989)
https://youtu.be/FpSzvlgQjc0
(4:11)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Ending Scene Song
https://youtu.be/ufSGd58gjAM
1:47
If I read the data I can find right the upper Stage uses the BE-3U engine that differs slightly from the BE-3PM version the first stage uses. Sounds like the U variant of the BE-3 needs some work. Looking at Vulcan that uses the BE-4 (Methane/O2) so looks like only New Glenn is affected.
Tregonsee314: New Glenn uses the BE-4 on the first stage, and the BE-3U on the second stage.
“Remind me again why we didn’t seize Canada, a long time ago?”
We tried, twice. Complications ensued.
Richard M stated: “”New Glenn upper stage and payload will re-enter within the next 4-5 days.””
And payload??
Does this mean the satellite did not separate from the 2nd stage?
I was daydreaming that if the satellite HAD separated, wouldn’t it be great to have one or more of those “space tugs” that could place it in the proper orbit. Or, latch onto it and make sure it falls in the ocean.
Robert Zimmerman,
About that MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ thing, Nick Freitas noted that, if this keeps up, the Left will, sooner or later, gobble up the entire alphabet.
Richard M,
Yes, missing Artemis 3 next year would be a potential knock-on effect of Blue’s New Glenn 2nd stage woes, but it would also produce additional knock-on effects further downstream.
If SpaceX is ready to go for Artemis 3, I don’t see Jared holding it up to wait for New Glenn and/or Blue’s Blue Moon Mk 1.5 lander. That, in turn, raises the question of when – or even whether – Blue can ever do its own Apollo 9-ish LEO test mission for Blue Moon Mk 1.5 – at least with Orion. NASA would need an extra year and another $4 billion to get the SLS and Orion needed. Doing so would produce yet more knock-on effects.
Blue’s missing Artemis 3 would at least settle the issue of which company would supply the lander for Artemis 4. But if Jared still wants to do Artemis 5 in 2028 as well, then that mission would also have to be flown with SpaceX’s lander. I just don’t see Jared giving Blue a hall pass on doing an Apollo 9-ish LEO mission first and going directly to Artemis 5.
But doing two Artemis missions with SpaceX landers in 2028 would run us out of currently authorized SLSes and Orions. A sixth set would have to be procured to do a notional 2nd Apollo 9-ish mission in LEO for Blue’s lander.
But Blue’s lander would only need to do such a mission if at least a 7th SLS-Orion stack was authorized. Ending SLS and Orion after Artemis 5 would leave Blue Moon Mk 1.5 – and Blue Moon Mk 2 for that matter – with no Orions to either test with in LEO or to meet up with in lunar orbit.
As you know, I expect SpaceX to debut a Dear Moon-class version of Starship ASAP in order to allow pursuit of Elon’s own lunar ambitions. If this item is available by 2029, say, it neatly solves both Blue’s problem of finding a suitable playmate for its lander(s) and NASA’s dilemma anent additional SLS-Orion construction. Putting up Dear Moon-class Starships both to conduct Blue’s Apollo 9 equivalent mission and to actually land astronauts using a Blue Moon lander on Artemis 6 could be accomplished for pocket change compared to needing two additional shipsets of SLS and Orion.
This is the path I hope to see eventuate.
Re: Blue Origin’s errant 2nd stage, no, we are not the PRC from the stand point of intent. But we’re now effectively the PRC based on misadventure. Let us hope we are equally fortunate as to eventual outcome.
Tregonsee314,
You seem to have the first stages of New Shepard and New Glenn confused.
wayne,
Taking over Canada, in whole or even in part, is not something we should wish to do at present however much it might have seemed a good idea a couple of centuries back. We are already stuck with CA, NY and IL. We, to say the least, have no need of any additional blue states.
The New Glenn first stage is quite a wonder….a slimmer version of this what with the control surfaces
http://www.astronautix.com/p/pegasusvtovl.html
But could it work without them…as a replacement for Lunar Starship?
It has the legs figured out….has landed….. could SuperHeavy have the whole New Glenn first stage as a second stage?
No heat shield tiles needed….Bezos and Musk need to work together.
If they can’t, it’s best America’s return to the Moon be left up to the grown men at Marshall….
instead of leaving things to Richie Rich and Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Jeff Wright,
It is absurd to suggest New Glenn’s first stage forth as an upper stage for Starship, or to leave anything in the hands of Marshall. The most effective, fastest, and cheapest route is to do the opposite of what you want, finishing Starship development and flying the HLS contracts as planned. MSFC is not known for speed, thrift, or technical excellence-the cost, numerous delays, and ongoing struggles during both SLS launches make that abundantly clear to anyone who is willing to open their eyes and consider the evidence. Their history going back decades gives us no reason to think anything would change if they were put in charge of lander design. Much as the evidence for SpaceX is that they know more about both launching and landing than everyone else combined, and yes, lessons from Falcon 9 do apply to Starship development.
The worst thing about acronym salad lady is she believes there is a genocide against whatever she was talking about. Can I even call it a she? Very dangerous; a weak, deluded, and vicious mind.
Also, what happened with new glenn (NG)? Somebody is killing all the upper glenn stages. Thank you for your attention to this matter. TYFYATTM.
Hello Dick,
“Taking over Canada, in whole or even in part, is not something we should wish to do at present however much it might have seemed a good idea a couple of centuries back.”
As things stand now, I think Alberta would definitely vote red as a U.S. state, and likely even Saskatchewan would, too. But beyond that . . . I am starting to wonder if we shouldn’t be building a wall on our *northern* border.
“I just don’t see Jared giving Blue a hall pass on doing an Apollo 9-ish LEO mission first and going directly to Artemis 5.”
I tend to agree. Which is….a problem. NASA is not going to have an abundance of SLS/Orion stacks in 2028-30 to do a special Apollo 9 style LEO test of a Blue Moon Mk2 lander.
Ronaldus Magnus,
The AST SpaceMobile payload did detach from the New Glenn upper stage. The two objects will re-enter separately.
I agree it’s too bad we are not yet at a point where there are at least one or two tugs loitering around at all times to deal with such situations. By the 2030s, there may well be such – robot AAA “tow trucks” in LEO that may be summoned on-demand.
Jeff Wright,
Ditto what Nate P said.
A few other points to consider:
1) Many have criticized the HLS Starship design as too tall, too narrow and insufficiently wide-legged for its intended purpose. The New Glenn first stage is taller, narrower and shorter-legged than the Starship HLS. Its legs are also designed to land only on flat or nearly flat, uniformly hard, surfaces.
2) The New Glenn first stage lacks a crew cabin. If this was to be added to the stage’s top, some means of getting the crew to an from the distant surface would also need to be added. And anything added up top also makes the resulting assemblage even taller and also raises its center of mass.
Adding some sort of annular cabin instead near the stage’s base would help the center of mass and crew-to-and-from-the-surface problems, but would also either get in the way of the legs or force their relocation to the outer periphery of the added cabin.
Unless this donut-ish cabin was only a meter wide – which hardly seems practical – it would increase the diameter of the stack at the stage interface. This might well have undesirable aerodynamic effects during early ascent.
3) The New Glenn first stage relies mainly on aerodynamic fins for attitude control as its intended flight profile is mostly endo-atmospheric. It probably has some cold gas thrusters to control attitude during its relatively brief intended passage above the sensible atmosphere but these may not be sufficient either in terms of total delta-V available or of control authority to handle a lunar orbit rendezvous and then a lunar landing.
4) As the New Glenn first stage is not intended to spend long periods in space, it also has no provisions to retard or counteract propellant boil-off.
Other than these minor and niggling shortcomings, the New Glenn first stage would make an excellent lunar lander. One can certainly understand how anyone who would think this would also mistake the cavemen at Marshall for “grown men.”
John,
Just as Orange is the new Black, Genocide seems to be becoming the new Fascist – the default all-purpose insult word one hurls at one’s political opponents now that the F-word seems to be losing its ginger. When ‘Genocide’ also becomes ridiculous with overuse, I wonder if the next such magic word will start with an ‘H’ to continue the alphabetic progression? Some lefty with a thesaurus had best get busy.
Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp posted an update on X late last night. But it leaves some unanswered questions, questions they ought to know the answers to:
“Now that we have a more complete view, we wanted to provide an update on our NG-3 mission. While we are pleased with the nominal booster recovery, we clearly didn’t deliver the mission our customer wanted, and our team expects. Early data suggest that on our second GS2 burn, one of the BE-3U engines didn’t produce sufficient thrust to reach our target orbit. Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with FAA oversight to learn from the data and implement the improvements needed to quickly return to flight operations. We have been in steady communication with the team at AST SpaceMobile, we appreciate their partnership, and we’re looking forward to many flights together.”
Link: https://x.com/i/status/2046283237887218141
I doubt that Nate has ever been to MSFC…he’s just the latest in a long line of haters that my guys in Huntsville have had to deal with– right there with that dullard Eisenhower, the Air Force, JPL, etc.
I work nights, it is how I first heard Mr. Zimmerman (Coast-to-coast AM). He and Zubrin were about the only mainstream guests on there… instead of the usual nuts, like 300 pound crystal wielding Wiccans that eat ho-hos and insist that you call them goddesses.
He and I got into it on the air…he hated on Shuttle-Derived rockets and bashed Marshall as he always does–but he got offended that I called sub-orbital spacecraft a joke.
Back then, they were the face of NewSpace…I think there was a movement afoot to kill Marshall so they could raid it’s budget for their little play toys.
The Xprize went nowhere, Spaceport America is host to tumbleweeds, and Artemis II returned human beings to the Moon.
But please, don’t let facts get in the way of ideology…oi….
Richard M,
You’d think that they have a significant body of data on BE-3U performance and potential issues, though not much practical experience yet. Might be something that only emerges in microgravity, so their opportunities to learn are limited by their flight rate.
From Richard M quote of Blue Origin CEO:
“”Blue Origin is leading the anomaly investigation with FAA oversight””
Blue Origin is sooooo lucky to have the FAA oversight during the President Trump pro-business, pro-space Administration.
How well we remember Mr Zimmerman reporting on the insanity of the Hussein/Biden Regime FAA that would take months to retype a report from SpaceX.
Richard M,
Looks as though you posted before I did so neither of us got to read the other’s latest before composing and posting our own.
Alberta might be reliably red as a US state, but I’m less certain of the other Prairie Provinces. British Columbia would be hopelessly blue unless we could carve off Vancouver and environs and spot-weld that chunk to Washington. The rest of BC might be red enough absent Vancouver. But I still think the best policy would be to leave them all on the other side of a border, albeit a border with the notional nation of Western Canada.
If the Prairie Provinces leave Canada – and even if they don’t – we definitely need to build a northern wall along the Ontario and Quebec borders. They’ll both be Islamic caliphates in jig time the way things are going.
Anent downstream SLS-Orion issues pursuant to a Blue Origin no-show for Artemis 3, well, great minds think alike.
The replies to that linked Dave Limp tweet are mostly pretty brutal – and largely deserved I’d say.
This seems more than a bit deliberately vague – “one of the BE-3U engines didn’t produce sufficient thrust to reach our target orbit.” Based on what was reported about the orbit actually achieved, I suspect the problem was that one of the two 2nd stage engines simply did not restart at all.
Couldn’t they just shut off the fuel flow to the failing engine and let the other one run longer?
pzatchok,
I imagine that’s exactly what happened. Problem is, there’s only so much margin when an engine fails and it’s one of only two. A Super Heavy with a single engine out can still get the job done. But if, say, 16 or 17 of its engines failed to light that would be quite a different story. What happened on the AST SpaceMobile mission was analogous. Physics is a harsh mistress.
Doubting Thomas pondered: “Glad they landed again but wonder if a complete set of engines really counts as reuse of first stage.”
Nice question, and this gets into a lot of other aspects, not just New Glenn.
Robert has sometimes listed Falcon rockets that have launched as many times as some of the Space Shuttles, especially those that are approaching the same number of times as the most-flown Shuttle. Have those rockets flown with all the same engines, or have some, many, most, or all of the engines been replaced at some time?
Even the Space Shuttles had their engines removed for refurbishment between flights, but how many Shuttles launched with all the same engines? Airliners have engine replacements, on occasion, but are those considered the same airliner when we say that airlines reuse their planes for thousands of flights?
My own answer is generally “yes,” but that makes it sound as though the power plant does not count as much as the fuselage, as though the fuselage is the vehicle. But then again, whenever the Department of Motor Vehicles or the repair shop reference my car, the VIN (vehicle identification number) counts somewhat more than the license plate number, and no one cares about the serial number on the engine.
____________
Richard M, wrote: “If a 25 ton dry mass New Glenn upper stage (GS2) is a serious worry on uncontrolled reentry on someone’s head or roof, a 100 ton dry mass Starship would be emphatically even more so.”
Especially since most of the 25 tons is aluminum alloy and the 100 tons is a much more survivable steel alloy — with thermal protection to boot.
___________
wayne, wrote: “Remind me again why we didn’t seize Canada, a long time ago? I’m partial to making Alaska a contiguous state.”
Canada is just too friendly to seize.
The border with Canada is the only handshake agreed-upon border in the world. The rest are the result of conflict, at some time in history. The 49th parallel was negotiated, then some people just north of the border insisted that they were U.S. Americans, and the border was modified, which is why Minnesota has that funny bump. When Alaska was purchased, the U.S. considered it contiguous, with the coast reaching all the way down to the rest of the country/territory, but when Canada declared that they wanted a west-coast port, too, the U.S. changed this territory claim so that Canada had a good port, Vancouver, and a few smaller coastal towns, such as Victoria.
___________
Jeff Wright,
You wrote: “…he’s just the latest in a long line of haters that my guys in Huntsville have had to deal with– right there with that dullard Eisenhower, the Air Force, JPL, etc.”
You are, yourself, Marshall’s worst enemy. You keep saying things that convince the rest of us that your guys in Huntsville are not the right guys for the job. It is hardly surprising that you see “haters” everywhere, because: 1) you create them, and 2) you equate disagreement with hatred. I used to have high regard for your guys, but you have spoiled that opinion.
If that list of esteemed people and organizations are also considered haters (disagreers), then maybe the world has a point, and your opinion is fallacious.
“… but he got offended that I called sub-orbital spacecraft a joke.”
Hardly a surprise. Sub-orbital spaceflights have been scientifically useful for decades. I worked in a department that flew several sounding probes to photograph the Sun in X-rays, before there were satellites doing it full-time.
Edward and Wayne:
The first American attempt to seize Canada in December 1775 did not go at all well. I have something on the ‘American War for Independence’ page on my blog. The idea was audacious: control of Quebec would give the Americans control of the the entire maritime network west of the City. It would also prevent British resupply through the Hudson Valley. Assaulting, and subduing, the only walled city in North America would be ambitious for a world power; let far alone, a barely-militia from undeveloped colonies. As they say, the way to bet is with the swit and the strong, and that’s what happend. Forays during the War of 1812 were little more successful.
Operation Meetinghouse; Firebombing Tokyo
March 9-10, 1945
The Operations Room (December 2025)
https://youtu.be/CBZ18JfKIsg
39:51
“The night of March 9-10, 1945, 279 B-29 Superfortress’s attacked Tokyo resulting in the most destructive air-raid in history. 10 square miles of the city was reduced to ash with an estimated death toll of 90,000.