An interesting channel on YT is AnthroFuturism. Very numbers-based, focused on Lunar development.

You know, I can’t think of a space- or science-focused news site, other than this one, that isn’t explicitly far left. NSF tries to keep things tamped down but I’d say they’re about 90/10 left, both site admin and posters.

I mean, it could be worse. They’re not Quartz or The Verge.

I think what I appreciate about the guys at Ars Technica and NASA Space Flight is that whatever their personal politics, they really do genuinely appreciate what SpaceX and the other up and coming New Space startups are doing, and appreciate that this model really is the way forward in space. The enthusiasm is real, and it permeates what they cover and how they cover it, no matter how much Elon might irritate them. And for me, that is enough, at least for being able to follow what’s going on.

But if you want an openly libertarian or conservative perspective on space developments….yes, I am afraid that this is still only in the realm of blogs and substacks or the odd think tank. There is Bob, Rand, and Homer, of course, but I would also recommend Peter Hague and Casey Handmer as up-and-comers worth following, too.

You would be wrong.

There’s no real difference between the Post Office and NASA or any other government agency out there.

It’;s shocking, I know. because of all the PR they put out a regular NASA employee is only into the Space program because it’s their rice bowl. The enthusiasm is pounded out of them in the first couple of years when they realize they are all part of a machine to spend tax dollars.

Just yesterday I posted on NSF that I thought Musk’s tweet about the Starliner astronauts was “bonkers” (anticipating by a few hours Berger’s own words) but added that I generally support Musk and Trump. Then received a quite vicious response from one of the commies. To their credit, the moderators deleted that post but locked up the thread for all but paying subscribers. So the hate continues.

Correct and some of the commenters appear to be lunatics.

You know, I can’t think of a space- or science-focused news site, other than this one, that isn’t explicitly far left. NSF tries to keep things tamped down but I’d say they’re about 90/10 left, both site admin and posters.

NSF tries very hard to be non-partisan so to be a resource to all readers. Unlike Cowing

The engineers and technicians that I have worked with in the space business have been enthusiastic about exploration and advancements in space. They work long hours to make sure that probes, satellites, and launch vehicles are ready on time. I have watched several rearrange their home schedules in order to make sure that they were available to perform that one task that they were especially trained to do when the time came, and that time was coming late in the evening, after — say — the daycare closes and they have to make arrangements for someone else to pick up their kid. Launch teams may have been understaffed, as they had mostly paperwork and slower work to do between launches, so launch campaigns were long hours of hard work, resolving the unexpected bugs that seem to always crawl into the smooth-flowing processes and procedures. SpaceX’s launch crews probably don’t have as much “downtime” as at other companies, and they are probably more properly staffed, too.

Yeah. They have signed up for the whole program and its goal, not just the mere job. We do it because we think that space can make the world a better place, and we are disappointed that it is taking so long to make that happen. This is why we are so excited about this decade. We think that an enthusiastic commercial-space is finally able to do what space had promised us three-quarters of a century ago — what Congress is unwilling to let government-space to do for us.

I assume this helps them avoid US political issues and focus on technical ones, and provide an entertaining and unabashedly techie coverage of (mostly) U.S. space efforts.

Richard M concluded, “But for policy context, you must go elsewhere.”

And I wonder where that “elsewhere” might be. :)

Seriously, thank you for the kind words in general.

And as usual, NASASpaceflight.com ignores the importance of politics and Trump’s election in changing the regulatory culture at the FAA.

Hi Bob,

This is true, but I think you’ve hit on the right way to appreciate NSF’s work: They do a solid job (honestly, better than anyone else) at covering the nuts and bolts of the progress of these programs, thoroughly and systematically; and if you just keep that in mind, it’s a great resource to always rely on. (And they deserve credit, too, for maintaining the forums, which remain one of the very best places for public discussion of space programs, even if the hand of the mods is heavy at times.)

But for policy context, you must go elsewhere.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/faa-chief-michael-whitaker-quit-on-jan-20-after-elon-musk-told-him-to-resign/

Without Michael Whitaker at the helm, the FAA was incapable of doing its accustomed job, and the tragedy was all but inevitable. QED, bad things happen when you elect Republicans. Remember, these people *never give up,* and they aren’t going away quietly.