Stratolaunch has now released some preliminary details about its commercial rocket, including images.

Stratolaunch has now released some preliminary details about its commercial rocket, including images.

Work has also begun on assembling the giant carrier airplane that will be used to take the rocket aloft.

Posted from lovely Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Tomorrow I will be busy visiting old friends as well as poking around an old Pennsylvania ghost town, so posting should be light.

Even as the military announces it must eliminate TV broadcasts of sporting events for the troops overseas because of the govermnent shutdown, it continues to operate the golf courses and Camp David for President Obama’s entertainment.

Even as the military announces it must eliminate TV broadcasts of sporting events for the troops overseas because of the govermnent shutdown, it continues to operate the golf courses and Camp David for President Obama’s entertainment.

Posted as we crossed the Tennessee-Virginia border on I-81, heading north.

Virgin Galactic has signed a television deal for a reality show where the winner would get a flight into space on SpaceShipTwo.

Virgin Galactic has signed a television deal for a reality show where the winner would get a flight into space on SpaceShipTwo.

This sounds great, but the company first has to solve the very serious engineering problems it has with SpaceShipTwo’s engine, which apparently is going to cause a delay of at least one year in the ship’s development. Thus, this announcement is really nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to distract the public from those problems.

Orbital Sciences is suing the government agency that operates the Wallops Island spaceport, saying it is refusing to pay a $16.5 million bill.

Orbital Sciences is suing the government agency that operates the Wallops Island spaceport, saying it is refusing to pay a $16.5 million bill.

I am not surprised. One of the prime reasons the launch of Antares and Cygnus was delayed by more than a year was because this same government agency had failed to upgrade the launchpad as promised, and Orbital Sciences was eventually forced to step in, take over, and spend millions to do the work itself.

NASA has decided to exempt its Mars probe, MAVEN, from the government shutdown, allowing preparations to resume for its November launch.

NASA has decided to exempt its Mars probe, MAVEN, from the government shutdown, allowing preparations to resume for its November launch.

NASA Headquarters in Washington determined that Maven’s preparations should go ahead on an emergency basis — not because of its scientific objectives, but because of its expected role as a communications relay satellite for the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers on Mars. “Both Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Odyssey have been acting as communication relays, but they’ve passed their design lifetime,” Jakosky explained. “Maven carries communication equipment to take over that job as necessary. Getting us launched at this opportunity is a way to preserve that ability to communicate.”

As I’ve said before, as much as I am in favor of launching this kind of science mission, the number of arbitrary decisions relating to this shutdown makes the whole thing look ridiculous. NASA can act to protect its investments on Mars, but the National Park Service is required to interfere with the normal actions of private restaurants here on Earth?

The truth is that these science missions really don’t fall under the intended definition of “essential operations”. The federal bureaucracy, under the direction of the White House, is simply stretching that definition for their own convenience, wherever they like.

After developing the J-2X engine for the upper stage of its SLS heavy-lift rocket, NASA now plans to mothball it.

NASA marches on! After developing the J-2X engine for the upper stage of its SLS heavy-lift rocket, NASA now plans to mothball it.

While the agency is actively seeking other missions for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) in the planetary science and military arenas, most of the human flights it has in sight for the big new rocket probably can be accomplished with an upper stage powered by the RL-10 engine instead of the J-2X. “The J-2X for certain [design reference missions] is somewhat overpowered,” said Todd May, NASA’s SLS program manager.

The main cause of this absurd situation is Congress, which has micro-managed the development of SLS from day one.

House Republicans plan to pass more narrow funding bills in an effort to get some of the government running again.

House Republicans plan to pass more narrow funding bills in an effort to get some of the government running again.

In recent days, House Republicans have advanced several bills targeting high-profile areas of the government impacted by the shutdown, such as national parks, veterans’ benefits and the National Institutes of Health. In turn, they have pressed Senate Democrats to take up the measures and ensure that at least some portions of the government can be funded while the two sides search for a broader compromise. Thus far, Senate Democrats and the White House have rejected that approach, pushing back on Republicans to accept a plan to fund the entire government at sequester levels.

Bills to fund the government have been passed by the House, controlled by Republicans. The Senate, controlled by Democrats, refuses to even look at them, even though those bills contain nothing in them that the Democrats specifically disagree with. Whose causing this shutdown then?

“It’s day two of health care reform, and we have yet to have someone successfully register on the marketplace.”

Not finding out what’s in it: “It’s day two of health care reform, and we have yet to have someone successfully register on the marketplace.”

The story is only one of many, all of which have found that no one has successfully been able to register for Obamacare on the government-run websites.

But don’t worry: President Obama and the Democrats are willing to shut down everything rather than have the disaster of Obamacare delayed for even one second!

The Obama administration has demanded that hundreds of private venues close, merely because they are on federal land.

Shutdown fascism: The Obama administration has demanded that hundreds of private venues close, merely because they are on federal land, and even if they use no federal funds to operate. Key quote:

“I can only assume their intention is to artificially increase the cost of the shutdown as some sort of political ploy,” Meyer said in his letter. “The point of the shutdown is to close non-essential operations that require Federal money and manpower to stay open. So why is the White House closing private operations that require no government money to keep open and actually pay a percentage of their gate revenues back to the Treasury? We are a tenant of the U.S. Forest Service, and a tenant does not have to close his business just because his landlord goes on a vacation.”

A spokeswoman for the National Park Service told MyFoxDC that it is still federal land, and the rule is that if there’s no Congressional appropriation, no visitors are allowed. [emphasis mine]

That last so-called rule is absolute hogwash. It doesn’t exist. All the lack of an appropriation means is that the federal government should hang a “closed” sign on the door of the buildings and lockable facilities and go home. Public lands are exactly that, public. They have no right to keep the public off them, since it is the public that actually owns them. The park service is merely a maintenance crew. Their attempt to close these parks is like the janitor at the Empire State Building standing at the door and telling its owner he or she cannot enter.

The Obama administration has ordered the closure of a park that gets no federal funding.

Shut down fascism: The Obama administration has ordered the closure of a park that gets no federal funding.

The park withstood prior government shutdowns, noting in a news release that the farm will be closed to the public for the first time in 40 years. “In previous budget dramas, the Farm has always been exempted since the NPS provides no staff or resources to operate the Farm,” Eberly explained in an emailed statement. “In all the years I have worked with the National Park Service … I have never worked with a more arrogant, arbitrary and vindictive group representing the NPS,” Eberly said.

The park officials should defy the order, publicly and with vigor.

Even as the Republicans in the House continue to pass budget bills for funding the government — with some Democratic support — Obama and the Democratic leadership continue to refuse to negotiate.

Even as the Republicans in the House continue to pass budget bills for funding the government — with some Democratic support — Obama and the Democratic leadership continue to refuse to negotiate.

I find it revealing that the author of the article above claims that “Republican unity is beginning to fray” when it is the Democrats who are beginning to vote with the Republicans. For example, in the very next paragraph after making this claim the article states that

The bill to fund the national parks passed on a 252-173 vote, while the measure to fund NIH cleared on a 254-171 vote. In both cases, about two dozen Democrats joined with the GOP. [emphasis mine]

On all these votes it is the Republicans in the House who have been united, while the Democrats unity is failing. It seems to me that if the Republicans keep submitting these bills, the Democrats will eventually fold. For example, today Harry Reid was asked why he has even blocked a funding bill that would fund children’s cancer research and answered most awkwardly, “Why would I do that?”

Politically, the Democrats cannot survive more of these kinds of embarrassments.

The failure of the Falcon 9 upper stage prior to a final engine test on Sunday’s launch may delay the rocket’s next commercial launch.

The failure of the Falcon 9 upper stage prior to a final engine test on Sunday’s launch may delay the rocket’s next commercial launch.

SpaceX officials said after the Sept. 29 launch that the nonignition of the upper stage did not appear to be of a sort to delay the SES flight for very long. Feltes said SES is will hoping for a launch as soon as October, but added that if it slipped to November the company was willing to wait. The fact that SES will be awaiting details from SpaceX “does not mean that we reject the flight as a qualification flight,” Feltes said. “We still plan to be on the next Falcon flight, once SpaceX has solved the problem. But we need a technical explanation. We do need reignition of the stage for our satellite.”

The government shutdown also means that the Florida spaceport is presently unavailable for this launch (which is hardly a way to run a commercial operation). This fact makes it even more likely that SpaceX will eventually move all its commercial launches to its own spaceport, probably in Texas.

The House Republicans plan to offer separate funding bills to the Democrats in an effort to get parts of the government back in operation.

The House Republicans plan to offer separate funding bills to the Democrats in an effort to get parts of the government back in operation.

This is about the fifth proposal the Republicans have offered to fund the government, all of which have been rejected by the Democrats without even the courtesy of polite conversation. And it appears that the Democrats are already saying they will reject these bills as well.

Market Watch decided to see if they could enroll in Obamacare on its first day of availability and found it was impossible to do.

Not finding out what’s in it: Market Watch decided to see if they could enroll in Obamacare on its first day of availability and found it was impossible to do.

A quick check of all the state Web sites where exchanges have been set up — plus the HealthCare.gov site that will service three-fourths of the country — shows that it was virtually impossible to sign up on the first day. MarketWatch went 0-for-51 in trying to apply online for Obamacare in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Well, really 0-for-15 for D.C. and the states setting up their own exchanges, and we also struck out on HealthCare.gov, which is handling applications in the other 36 states. Let’s call it 0-for 16.

CNN tried and failed. So did MSNBC.

I’m not sure why anyone is surprised. Haven’t any of these reporters ever tried to work with the Department of Motor Vehicles in their state? Or in fact, any government agency? The experience with an Obamacare government agency is certainly not going to be any different (which is what conservatives and tea party activists have been saying now since 2009).

SpaceX is denying rumors that the upper stage of its Falcon 9 rocket exploded after completing its mission.

SpaceX is denying rumors that the upper stage of its Falcon 9 rocket exploded after completing its mission.

The speculation was spawned in part by the fact that the U.S. Space Surveillance Network is currently tracking more orbital objects associated with the launch than expected. … “Regarding the rumors you may have heard about the Falcon 9 second stage, in short, our data confirms there was no rupture of any kind on the second stage,” SpaceX spokeswoman Emily Shanklin wrote in an Oct. 1 email. “Following separation of the satellites to their correct orbit, the Falcon 9 second stage underwent a controlled venting of propellants … and the stage was successfully safed. During this process, it is possible insulation came off the fuel dome on the second stage and is the source of what some observers incorrectly interpreted as a rupture in the second stage.” SpaceX attempted to reignite the upper stage after payload separation in a demonstration of a capability it will need to place satellites into the proper geostationary transfer orbit. However, the reignition sequence was aborted after a problem was detected, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk told reporters in a postlaunch teleconference.

Anything is possible, but I am inclined to believe SpaceX in this case. Moreover, even if true, the bottom line is that the rocket launch was still a complete success, putting its payloads in orbit as promised.

With a launch window from November 18 to December7, the government shutdown might delay NASA’s next Mars unmanned probe MAVEN until 2016.

Chicken Little report: With a launch window from November 18 to December7, the government shutdown might delay NASA’s next Mars unmanned probe MAVEN until 2016.

It is absolutely possible that the shutdown could cause MAVEN to miss its launch window. Such is life. The world won’t end, and as much as I am a big supporter of space exploration, I also recognize that there are actually bigger issues than NASA hanging in the balance.

Note that the article above bleeds tears for the poor government officials who might not get paid during the shutdown. Well, the economy has sucked for the past five years, with no signs of improvement and plenty of evidence that Obama and Congress have done a great deal to make things worse, especially with the passage of Obamacare. Maybe we should instead have some sympathy for the people who earn the money to pay for NASA and the government and have been screaming at these politicians to just leave them alone.

“I respectfully inform you hereby that I am disinclined to join in any more mandatory radicalism.”

“I respectfully inform you hereby that I am disinclined to join in any more mandatory radicalism.”

The written words of a college teachers assistant to his professor. He wrote these words after deciding he can no longer attend any mandatory “diversity” training sessions after the last session. Click on the link and read his letter. You will find it most educational. It also describes nicely a good example of modern leftwing civility.

In straight party line votes, the Democrats in Congress once again voted for Obamacare, refusing to even consider a one year delay in some of its provisions in order to keep the government running.

In straight party line votes, the Democrats in Congress today once again voted for Obamacare, refusing to even consider a one year delay in some of its provisions in order to keep the government running.

The Senate voted for the second time Monday to kill a Republican counter-offer that would rein in ObamaCare while funding the government, kicking the bill back to the House with only a couple hours left on the clock before the government begins to shut down. Lawmakers are facing a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on a government spending bill. Senate Democrats vow they will not accept any proposal that targets ObamaCare. The latest House bill would have delayed the law’s individual mandate while prohibiting lawmakers, their staff and top administration officials from getting government subsidies for their health care.

The Senate voted 54-46 along party lines to reject it. [emphasis mine]

My description of this story above is not how most news outlets are covering the story, since it spins the story in favor of the Republicans. However, the fact remains that the Democrats continue to demand that Obamacare be enforced, come hell or high water. No compromise, no negotiation, no discussion will be allowed, even if that means the entire federal government will go down in flames.

Personally, I am not worried about a government shutdown. It will be generally as harmless as sequestration was, especially since both parties came to an agreement to fund the military, which will not shutdown. Stories like this, about how NASA will be shutdown almost entirely, are mostly repeating overstatements and lies by the administration. Some projects will get delayed, others stalled, but nothing important will likely be lost.

And yes, we still intend to hike tomorrow in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, even if the Park Service tells us it is closed.

Why the House should stand firm.

Why the House should stand firm.

When President Barack Obama is willing to negotiate with Russian, Syrian and Iranian leaders but unwilling to negotiate with the U.S. House of Representatives, it is time for the House to stand firm. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says, according to unnamed sources quoted in Politico, that he will refuse to attend a negotiation at the White House because House Republicans have to cave and surrender to his terms, it is time to stand firm. When a senior, unnamed Democratic official is quoted Monday morning calling for no negotiations and saying “it’s time to punch the bully in the nose,” it is time to stand firm. When Obama spends a week making three partisan speeches attacking Republicans and then calls House Speaker John Boehner to tell him, “I will not negotiate,” it is time to stand firm.

It is a sad commentary on Obama’s attitude toward the elected majority of the House of Representatives that he could have a more pleasant conversation with the head of the Iranian dictatorship than with the elected leader of the U.S. House.

Just once in my life I would like to see the conservatives stand firm and not back down. What the Republicans are demanding is not unreasonable, and considering the numerous problems being caused by Obamacare, quite relevant and appropriate. If the Democrats discover they can get their way in even these circumstances, then their behavior in the coming years will become far more intolerant and uncompromising.

The weather on an exoplanet: Cloudy and clear.

The weather on an exoplanet: Cloudy and clear.

Astronomers using data from NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes have created the first cloud map of a planet beyond our solar system, a sizzling, Jupiter-like world known as Kepler-7b. The planet is marked by high clouds in the west and clear skies in the east. Previous studies from Spitzer have resulted in temperature maps of planets orbiting other stars, but this is the first look at cloud structures on a distant world.

This result is cool, but no one should take it too seriously. They have detected evidence of that to the scientists “suggest” clouds, but no one really knows.

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