November 8, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts. Both segments are specifically focused on looking at the changes in America’s space policy due to the election of Donald Trump.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Embedded below the fold in two parts. Both segments are specifically focused on looking at the changes in America’s space policy due to the election of Donald Trump.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Mainstream media is dead.
“Elon Musk: Citizen Journalism Is the Future”
(2 minutes)
https://rumble.com/v5nwgr2-elon-musk-citizen-journalism-is-the-future.html
***
November is TDS Awareness Month
https://t.ly/L77Ri
I think John Batchelor is confused in this episode. SLS never launches Starship or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander. On Artemis 3, the first manned landing, a Super Heavy launches an unmanned Starship to low Earth orbit (LEO). Then seven additional Super Heavies launch seven additional Starships to LEO one at a time to rendezvous, dock, and refuel the first Starship. The refueling Starships all return to Earth. Then the first Starship flies to lunar orbit.
Once all of that happens, an SLS launches a manned Orion capsule to lunar orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Starship waiting there. The crew transfers to the Starship. Then the Starship separates from the Orion and lands on the moon. At the end of the mission Starship launches itself from the lunar surface and docks with the Orion. The crew transfers to the Orion. It separates from the Starship, flies back to Earth, and lands in the ocean, leaving the Starship behind in lunar orbit.
On Artemis 4 and up the same things happen except Orion and Starship both dock with the Gateway in lunar orbit instead of each other. This allows the Starship to be left at the Gateway to be refueled and reused on additional missions. On Artemis 5 an unmanned Blue Moon lander is launched by a New Glenn and flies to the Gateway where it will meet up with its crew arriving on an Orion. The reusable Blue Moon will be left at the Gateway to be reused on additional missions.
I don’t think Blue Moon and Starship can both be at the Gateway at the same time, so I suspect Starship will not be reused that way, but that’s just me. The architecture is meant to support it.
The reason NASA doesn’t want to launch crew from Earth on the Starship / Super Heavy ts because neither has a launch abort system.
I’d also like to say that the Gateway makes a lot more sense when paired with a more traditional lander such as Blue Origin’s Blue Moon or Dynetics’ Alpaca. In that case the lander is left at the Gateway to be refueled and reused on additional missions. It never returns to Earth, so it doesn’t have to have a heat shield or aeroshell, and its shape and structure are not constrained by such things. Also, each mission to the lunar surface can be to a different location. It doesn’t have to go to a single base. It can fly to the equator, the northpole*, the southpole*, or anywhere in between — even the far side.
In addition, while at the Gateway it can be refueled, refurbished, and even repaired. There is a crew available, an airlock for EVAs, a robot arm for assistance, and a steady stream of fuel, supplies, and spare parts arriving on regularly scheduled supply ships. For the ability to explore the entire moon and not just one particular point, it’s a very useful facility.
*I know “northpole” and “southpole” are not usually single words, but this [redacted] iPad won’t let me type them the way they are supposed to be typed.