September 14, 2022 Quick space links
Links courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who does the trolling on Twitter so I don’t have to. Commentary however is mostly by yours truly.
- Startup to use Google-developed technology to provide laser satellite internet capabilities
Much of this work is presently for the military, so details are sparse.
- Boeing’s Starliner crew transport vehicle for sale for $350K, in a parking lot in Cocoa Beach
The picture is astonishing. This is nothing more than a souped-up small RV, built to move the astronauts to the launchpad. The price, $350K, seems quite high. It is also remarkably weird that Boeing is selling it like this. Check out the for-sale sign, in the window dashboard.
- Firefly wins NASA launch contract
The contract is for a five-year period with a maximum payment of $300 million. The award also suggests that NASA is very confident Firefly’s not-yet-flown Alpha rocket will successfully reach orbit on its next launch attempt, now scheduled for September 19th.
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.
Links courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who does the trolling on Twitter so I don’t have to. Commentary however is mostly by yours truly.
- Startup to use Google-developed technology to provide laser satellite internet capabilities
- Boeing’s Starliner crew transport vehicle for sale for $350K, in a parking lot in Cocoa Beach
- Firefly wins NASA launch contract
Much of this work is presently for the military, so details are sparse.
The picture is astonishing. This is nothing more than a souped-up small RV, built to move the astronauts to the launchpad. The price, $350K, seems quite high. It is also remarkably weird that Boeing is selling it like this. Check out the for-sale sign, in the window dashboard.
The contract is for a five-year period with a maximum payment of $300 million. The award also suggests that NASA is very confident Firefly’s not-yet-flown Alpha rocket will successfully reach orbit on its next launch attempt, now scheduled for September 19th.
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.
Fact checking the fact checkers
COVID news?
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-scientists-mechanism-inflammatory-cytokine-storm.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-commercial-sanitizers-norovirus-thought.html
Large groups of bees don’t sting as bad:
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-honeybees-larger-groups.html
Sure…
Pack em in
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-urban-densification-lacks.html
Mark of the beast
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-painless-tattoos-self-administered.html
Big brother
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-intelligent-cooperation-surveillance-epidemic-smart.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-deep-learning-augmented-smart-mirror.html Dance fool!
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-advancing-human-like-perception-self-driving-vehicles.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-bird-eye-view-safety-autonomous.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-deep-learning-ai-x-rays-explosives-luggage.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-users-ai-humans-flagging-problematic.html
Global warming fighting–real cheap–really
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-refreezing-earth-poles-feasible-cheap.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-decarbonizing-energy-trillions-dollars.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-science-cities-companies-earth-limits.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-energy-transition-climate-proofed.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-competition-china-energy-funding-21st.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-thickness-arctic-sea-ice-year.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-reframe-transition-low-carbon-electric-power.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-road-electricity-potential-strategies.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-dutch-city-meat-ads-world.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-envisioning-net-zero-food.html
Roll your sleeve up poors
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-focusing-covid-vaccination-efforts-advantaged.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-health-wary-misusing-ai.html
tree-sap for your wounds, poors
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-topical-ointment-tree-sap-effective.html
Lies
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-lies-common-laptops-devices-behavior.html
Cell-to-human
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-cell-person-math.html
If we do it–it isn’t fake
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-fake-science-websites-hijack-experts.html
Coming for your gold
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-gold-atoms-catalyze-methanization-carbon.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-bacterial-vesicles-coated-gold-nanoparticles.html
Don’t use yours–use ours
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-off-the-shelf-crypto-detectors-false.html
Whoops
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-tidal-marsh-fake-habitat-california.html
Just hurt and like it
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-silencing-gut-pain-killers.html
Presidents
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-presidential-narcissism-linked-longer-wars.html
Teachers
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-teacher-shortages-real-heard.html
Good luck on airplanes
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-scientists-infant-minute.html
let the weeds live
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-crops-grown-cooperate.html
Bad how?
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-collaborate-multiple-areas-publish-highly.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-shallow-water-sustainable-alternative-deep-water-scientists.html
volcanoes killed the dinos?
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-dinosaurs-depth.html
cyber privacy
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-method-privacy-safety-encrypted-messaging.html
Teacher! leave those kids alone
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-reveals-students-ideal-subjects-behavioral.html
blood
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-blood-stem-cell-medicine-future.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-drug-cancer-gene-flag-immune.html
drinking and drugs
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-exploring.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-problems-persist-kids-exposed-cannabis.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-block-liver-age.html
pandora’s glove-box
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-alphafold-ai-excels-proteins.html
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-longer-physicist-discovery-telomeres.html
ugh
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-09-erotophilia-sexual-sensation-seeking-good-predictors.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09-mucus-based-lubricant-highly-effective-hiv.html