Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
The race to mine the Moon
Obama Administration Pushing for Solar Projects on Public Lands
Coming to a state near you (until the project goes bankrupt and leaves behind a financial and environmental ruin): The Obama administration this week identified seventeen sites in six Western states, all on public land, as prime locations for solar energy projects.
To me, the best indication that something is not quite right with this proposal is that the solar industry itself has doubts.
Environmental groups hailed the announcement, but the solar industry was guarded in its response. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said he had “some significant areas of concern” about the solar energy zones@ Flexibility in project siting and access to transmission were crucial to financing and development of utility-scale solar power plants, Resch said, adding that he was optimistic a balanced approach could be found.
You would think the solar industry would be thrilled to get this support from the government. That they have reservations is a serious red flag.
Coming to a state near you (until the project goes bankrupt and leaves behind a financial and environmental ruin): The Obama administration this week identified seventeen sites in six Western states, all on public land, as prime locations for solar energy projects.
To me, the best indication that something is not quite right with this proposal is that the solar industry itself has doubts.
Environmental groups hailed the announcement, but the solar industry was guarded in its response. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said he had “some significant areas of concern” about the solar energy zones@ Flexibility in project siting and access to transmission were crucial to financing and development of utility-scale solar power plants, Resch said, adding that he was optimistic a balanced approach could be found.
You would think the solar industry would be thrilled to get this support from the government. That they have reservations is a serious red flag.
Two hacker attacks of American climate satellites in the past four years
A congressional report today revealed that two American climate satellites were attacked by hackers in the past four years.
In October 2007 and July 2008, a NASA-managed Landsat-7 satellite experienced 12 or more minutes of interference, and a Terra AM-1 satellite was disrupted for two minutes in June 2008 and again that October for nine minutes, according to Bloomberg Businessweek’s analysis of the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The report says the hackers gained access to the satellites — both are used for Earth climate and terrain monitoring — through the Svalbard Satellite Station in Spitsbergen, Norway. It’s believed the attackers may have hijacked the Internet connection at the Norway ground station to interfere with the operation of the satellites.
A congressional report today revealed that two American climate satellites were attacked by hackers in the past four years.
In October 2007 and July 2008, a NASA-managed Landsat-7 satellite experienced 12 or more minutes of interference, and a Terra AM-1 satellite was disrupted for two minutes in June 2008 and again that October for nine minutes, according to Bloomberg Businessweek’s analysis of the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The report says the hackers gained access to the satellites — both are used for Earth climate and terrain monitoring — through the Svalbard Satellite Station in Spitsbergen, Norway. It’s believed the attackers may have hijacked the Internet connection at the Norway ground station to interfere with the operation of the satellites.
“It’s not a rubble pile, it’s a solid block of rock.”
House votes to restrict healthcare law, with White House support
The actual headline: “House votes to restrict healthcare law, with White House support.”
White House support for H.R. 2576 is seen by many as an acknowledgement that the healthcare law passed last year overextended eligibility for government programs.
Maybe they should just repeal all of Obamacare now and safe us all a lot of trouble.
The actual headline: “House votes to restrict healthcare law, with White House support.”
White House support for H.R. 2576 is seen by many as an acknowledgement that the healthcare law passed last year overextended eligibility for government programs.
Maybe they should just repeal all of Obamacare now and safe us all a lot of trouble.
Dismantling the last U.S. hydrogen bomb
Dismantling the last American hydrogen bomb.
The [9 megaton] B53 was designed in the 1950s and replaced 500 B41s, which had a yield of 25 megatons. The largest nuclear device ever built and tested was the 27 ton Russian AN602, which had a yield of 50 megatons. It was eight meters (26 feet) long and 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) in diameter. Only one of these was built. The Russians followed the Americans in phasing out large yield bombs in favor of smaller, and more numerous ones. This was largely the result of ICBM warheads designed to carry multiple nuclear weapons.
Dismantling the last American hydrogen bomb.
The [9 megaton] B53 was designed in the 1950s and replaced 500 B41s, which had a yield of 25 megatons. The largest nuclear device ever built and tested was the 27 ton Russian AN602, which had a yield of 50 megatons. It was eight meters (26 feet) long and 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) in diameter. Only one of these was built. The Russians followed the Americans in phasing out large yield bombs in favor of smaller, and more numerous ones. This was largely the result of ICBM warheads designed to carry multiple nuclear weapons.
We are Now Enemies of the State
A Random Collection Of Awesome Things
A random collection of awesome things. In pictures.
A random collection of awesome things. In pictures.
According to Zubrin, Obama about to terminate all NASA science
According to Robert Zubrin, the Obama administration is planning to terminate all funding to NASA’s planetary program, while cutting back significantly on its astronomy program.
Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA’s planetary exploration program. The Mars Science Lab Curiosity, being readied on the pad, will be launched, as will the nearly completed small MAVEN orbiter scheduled for 2013, but that will be it. No further missions to anywhere are planned. After 2013, America’s amazing career of planetary exploration, which ran from the Mariner probes in the 1960s through the great Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Spirit, Opportunity, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Galileo and Cassini missions, will simply end.
Furthermore, the plan from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also leaves the space astronomy program adrift and headed for destruction. The now-orbiting Kepler Telescope will be turned off in midmission, stopping it before it can complete its goal of finding other Earths. Even worse, the magnificent Webb Telescope, the agency’s flagship, which promises fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of the laws of the universe, is not sufficiently funded to allow successful completion. This guarantees further costly delays, with the ensuing budgetary overruns leading inevitably to eventual cancellation.
I suspect these cuts have been leaked now, months before the budget is publicly released, in order to whip up support for funding these programs. I also find it distressing that these programs, which cost practically nothing, are targets, while others that cost many many more billions (in NASA and elsewhere) remain fully funded.
According to Robert Zubrin, the Obama administration is planning to terminate all funding to NASA’s planetary program, while cutting back significantly on its astronomy program.
Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA’s planetary exploration program. The Mars Science Lab Curiosity, being readied on the pad, will be launched, as will the nearly completed small MAVEN orbiter scheduled for 2013, but that will be it. No further missions to anywhere are planned. After 2013, America’s amazing career of planetary exploration, which ran from the Mariner probes in the 1960s through the great Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Spirit, Opportunity, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Galileo and Cassini missions, will simply end.
Furthermore, the plan from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also leaves the space astronomy program adrift and headed for destruction. The now-orbiting Kepler Telescope will be turned off in midmission, stopping it before it can complete its goal of finding other Earths. Even worse, the magnificent Webb Telescope, the agency’s flagship, which promises fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of the laws of the universe, is not sufficiently funded to allow successful completion. This guarantees further costly delays, with the ensuing budgetary overruns leading inevitably to eventual cancellation.
I suspect these cuts have been leaked now, months before the budget is publicly released, in order to whip up support for funding these programs. I also find it distressing that these programs, which cost practically nothing, are targets, while others that cost many many more billions (in NASA and elsewhere) remain fully funded.
An international research team has diagnosed the oldest known case of prostate cancer in ancient Egypt and the second oldest case in the world.
An international research team has diagnosed the oldest known case of prostate cancer in ancient Egypt and the second oldest case in the world, from a mummy 2250 years old.
An international research team has diagnosed the oldest known case of prostate cancer in ancient Egypt and the second oldest case in the world, from a mummy 2250 years old.
Doubts on Display from Congress during hearing on Private Space
Several Congressmen expressed doubts about and resistance to the new private space manned effort by companies like SpaceX during hearings today in the House.
Let’s be honest: it’s all about pork and only pork. Unfortunately, the new companies don’t deliver the same kind of pork to the right congressional districts, even if they might deliver a real product faster and for less money. To quote the article:
Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., rallied to the industry’s defense, citing a “hostility” to the private space industry. “Much to my dismay, I see some of the worst elements of decision making,” he said. “I see an anti-commercial-space attitude that could have very negative consequences.” Rohrabacher (who represents a district near SpaceX’s headquarters) seemed to chide Hall and Johnson, the two Texans who chair the panel, for parochial views. “Focusing on one’s own district and directing federal funds seems to be having a major impact on this decision,” he said.
As we anticipated yesterday, there were other regional pleas connected to the word of choice heard in the halls of Congress: jobs. Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., for instance, asked how the space contract could be used to create jobs in his district of metropolitan Detroit. The witnesses made the most diplomatic kowtows they could. “I’ve been pushing SpaceX to use more automotive suppliers,” Musk responded. Other space industry execs went on to claim Michigan subcontractors, to praise the auto industry, and to speak of spin-offs from space science programs.
Several Congressmen expressed doubts about and resistance to the new private space manned effort by companies like SpaceX during hearings today in the House.
Let’s be honest: it’s all about pork and only pork. Unfortunately, the new companies don’t deliver the same kind of pork to the right congressional districts, even if they might deliver a real product faster and for less money. To quote the article:
Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., rallied to the industry’s defense, citing a “hostility” to the private space industry. “Much to my dismay, I see some of the worst elements of decision making,” he said. “I see an anti-commercial-space attitude that could have very negative consequences.” Rohrabacher (who represents a district near SpaceX’s headquarters) seemed to chide Hall and Johnson, the two Texans who chair the panel, for parochial views. “Focusing on one’s own district and directing federal funds seems to be having a major impact on this decision,” he said.
As we anticipated yesterday, there were other regional pleas connected to the word of choice heard in the halls of Congress: jobs. Rep. Hansen Clarke, D-Mich., for instance, asked how the space contract could be used to create jobs in his district of metropolitan Detroit. The witnesses made the most diplomatic kowtows they could. “I’ve been pushing SpaceX to use more automotive suppliers,” Musk responded. Other space industry execs went on to claim Michigan subcontractors, to praise the auto industry, and to speak of spin-offs from space science programs.
Virgin Galactic has hired its first astronaut pilot
Virgin Galactic has hired its first astronaut pilot.
[USAF test pilot Keith] Colmer, whose aviator call sign is “Coma,” joins an elite team in Mojave, CA, where Scaled Composite’s test pilots and [Virgin Galactic’s Chief Pilot David] Mackay have been putting WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo through an exhaustive series of test flights to fully explore and quantify the performance profiles of the two revolutionary vehicles.
Virgin Galactic has hired its first astronaut pilot.
[USAF test pilot Keith] Colmer, whose aviator call sign is “Coma,” joins an elite team in Mojave, CA, where Scaled Composite’s test pilots and [Virgin Galactic’s Chief Pilot David] Mackay have been putting WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo through an exhaustive series of test flights to fully explore and quantify the performance profiles of the two revolutionary vehicles.
Britain’s Royal Society has made its archive freely accessible online
Britain’s Royal Society has made its archive freely accessible online.
This covers everything published from 1665 to 1941.
Britain’s Royal Society has made its archive freely accessible online.
This covers everything published from 1665 to 1941.
Eris, twin of Pluto
The battle in Congress of the EPA’s effort to regulate dust
The battle in Congress over the EPA’s effort to regulate dust.
Not surprisingly, the Democrats all support the EPA’s effort, while there are Republicans who oppose. What I consider significant is that more than a hundred agricultural organizations oppose the regulations.
One of the agricultural groups that is supporting the bill [to block the EPA regulations], the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), wrote a letter to the committee last month, saying that a slight raise in overall particulate matter standards would require the EPA to regulate farm dirt under the current standards. “And, for what purpose? Scientific studies have never shown rural dust to be a health concern at ambient levels,” said the NAWG letter. [emphasis mine]
The battle in Congress over the EPA’s effort to regulate dust.
Not surprisingly, the Democrats all support the EPA’s effort, while there are Republicans who oppose. What I consider significant is that more than a hundred agricultural organizations oppose the regulations.
One of the agricultural groups that is supporting the bill [to block the EPA regulations], the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), wrote a letter to the committee last month, saying that a slight raise in overall particulate matter standards would require the EPA to regulate farm dirt under the current standards. “And, for what purpose? Scientific studies have never shown rural dust to be a health concern at ambient levels,” said the NAWG letter. [emphasis mine]
NASA has ended its underwater mission early due to an approaching hurricane
NASA has ended its underwater mission early due to an approaching hurricane.
NASA has ended its underwater mission early due to an approaching hurricane.
Comet Elenin is no more
Chicken Little wrong again! Comet Elenin is no more.
Chicken Little wrong again! Comet Elenin is no more.
Russia’s next attempt to return to Mars is set for a November 9 launch
Russia’s first attempt in decades to send a probe beyond Earth orbit is now set for a November 9 launch.
Phobos/Grunt is a combined orbiter and lander, and is aimed not at Mars but at the Martian moon Phobos.
Russia’s first attempt in decades to send a probe beyond Earth orbit is now set for a November 9 launch.
Phobos/Grunt is a combined orbiter and lander, and is aimed not at Mars but at the Martian moon Phobos.
Eradicating polio: not this year
The effort to eradicated polio entirely by the end of 2012 will not be met.
Afghanistan and Nigeria, two of the three remaining endemic countries, have had more cases in the first nine months of this year than in 2010 altogether. Several other countries targeted by the plan have also seen more cases to date this year compared to this time in 2010. Additionally, polio had popped up in countries where it had previously been eradicated — notably China, which went polio-free for 11 years until this summer.
Sadly, politics and culture are almost certainly the main reasons polio still survives in these countries.
The effort to eradicated polio entirely by the end of 2012 will not be met.
Afghanistan and Nigeria, two of the three remaining endemic countries, have had more cases in the first nine months of this year than in 2010 altogether. Several other countries targeted by the plan have also seen more cases to date this year compared to this time in 2010. Additionally, polio had popped up in countries where it had previously been eradicated — notably China, which went polio-free for 11 years until this summer.
Sadly, politics and culture are almost certainly the main reasons polio still survives in these countries.
VAB to be opened to tourists for the first time in years
The Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral is going to be opened to tourists for the first time in years.
Back in around 1977 I was down in Florida for that year’s science fiction Worldcon convention. At one point we went out to the space center to take the tour. Since this was after Apollo but before the shuttle, the VAB was then part of the tour, and they took us inside at the ground level so we could look up into its vast height. Hopefully, the new tours will let the tourists see more.
The Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral is going to be opened to tourists for the first time in years.
Back in around 1977 I was down in Florida for that year’s science fiction Worldcon convention. At one point we went out to the space center to take the tour. Since this was after Apollo but before the shuttle, the VAB was then part of the tour, and they took us inside at the ground level so we could look up into its vast height. Hopefully, the new tours will let the tourists see more.
Living in the Heavenly Palace
What is will be like to live in China’s first orbiting space station.
What is will be like to live in China’s first orbiting space station.
NASA steals moon rock given to widow of NASA engineer
In a sting operation, NASA steals a moon rock from the widow of an retired NASA engineer.
Five months after NASA investigators and local agents swooped into the restaurant and hailed their operation as a cautionary tale for anyone trying to sell national treasure, no charges have been filed, NASA isn’t talking and the case appears stalled. The target, Joann Davis, a grandmother who says she was trying to raise money for her sick son, asserts the lunar material was rightfully hers, having been given to her space-engineer husband by Neil Armstrong in the 1970s.
In a sting operation, NASA steals a moon rock from the widow of an retired NASA engineer.
Five months after NASA investigators and local agents swooped into the restaurant and hailed their operation as a cautionary tale for anyone trying to sell national treasure, no charges have been filed, NASA isn’t talking and the case appears stalled. The target, Joann Davis, a grandmother who says she was trying to raise money for her sick son, asserts the lunar material was rightfully hers, having been given to her space-engineer husband by Neil Armstrong in the 1970s.
Tea Party in Space argues for more money for commercial space
Andrew Gasser at the Tea Party in Space website today argues strongly for Congress to fully fund the new commercial space program at the $850 million amount requested by the Obama administration.
As much as I am for these new commercial companies, I do not think it a good idea to fund them at these high levels.
For one thing, the government is still broke. It can’t afford to spend that much money. It is therefore unseemly for a website that uses the “tea party” label to advocate more spending at this time.
For another, the more money the government commits to these companies, the more control the government is going to demand from them. Far better to keep the government participation as small as possible. Make it just enough to allow the companies to succeed but not enough so as to make the whole effort a government program.
Andrew Gasser at the Tea Party in Space website today argues strongly for Congress to fully fund the new commercial space program at the $850 million amount requested by the Obama administration.
As much as I am for these new commercial companies, I do not think it a good idea to fund them at these high levels.
For one thing, the government is still broke. It can’t afford to spend that much money. It is therefore unseemly for a website that uses the “tea party” label to advocate more spending at this time.
For another, the more money the government commits to these companies, the more control the government is going to demand from them. Far better to keep the government participation as small as possible. Make it just enough to allow the companies to succeed but not enough so as to make the whole effort a government program.
The highest balloon airship in the world
NASA Is Considering Fuel Depots in the Skies
NASA is considering putting fuel depots in orbit.
Under the plan outlined in the document, the propellant depot would be launched first, and then other rockets would carry fuel to the depot before a spacecraft arrived to fill up. That would increase the complexity for an asteroid mission — 11 to 17 launchings instead of four — but could get NASA astronauts to an asteroid by 2024, the study said. The total budget needed for the project from 2012 through 2030 would be $60 billion to $86 billion, the study said.
By contrast, a study last year that designed an asteroid mission around a heavy-lift rocket estimated that it would cost $143 billion and that the trip could not happen until 2029. The earlier study briefly considered propellant depots but quickly dismissed them.
This idea of putting fuel depots in space merely mirrors the 1960s proposal of using the Gemini capsule and the Titan rocket to assemble a spaceship in orbit for getting to the moon. According to the earlier proposal it would have been faster and cheaper to use existing smaller rockets and many additional launches than to build a giant Saturn 5 rocket that could put everything into orbit in only one launch. I have always thought this idea had merit.
The fuel depot concept is further confirmation that a heavy-lift rocket is not necessarily the only way one can get humans beyond Earth orbit.
NASA is considering putting fuel depots in orbit.
Under the plan outlined in the document, the propellant depot would be launched first, and then other rockets would carry fuel to the depot before a spacecraft arrived to fill up. That would increase the complexity for an asteroid mission — 11 to 17 launchings instead of four — but could get NASA astronauts to an asteroid by 2024, the study said. The total budget needed for the project from 2012 through 2030 would be $60 billion to $86 billion, the study said.
By contrast, a study last year that designed an asteroid mission around a heavy-lift rocket estimated that it would cost $143 billion and that the trip could not happen until 2029. The earlier study briefly considered propellant depots but quickly dismissed them.
This idea of putting fuel depots in space merely mirrors the 1960s proposal of using the Gemini capsule and the Titan rocket to assemble a spaceship in orbit for getting to the moon. According to the earlier proposal it would have been faster and cheaper to use existing smaller rockets and many additional launches than to build a giant Saturn 5 rocket that could put everything into orbit in only one launch. I have always thought this idea had merit.
The fuel depot concept is further confirmation that a heavy-lift rocket is not necessarily the only way one can get humans beyond Earth orbit.
NASA negotiating an extension of its deal with the Russians to fly astronauts to ISS
How our government gets Americans in space in the modern era: NASA is negotiating an extension of its deal with the Russians to fly astronauts to ISS.
How our government gets Americans in space in the modern era: NASA is negotiating an extension of its deal with the Russians to fly astronauts to ISS.
ROSAT has crashed to Earth, but no one knows where as yet
ROSAT has crashed to Earth, but no one knows where as yet.
ROSAT has crashed to Earth, but no one knows where as yet.
Plagiarism at Politico
More money troubles for Webb telescope
More money troubles for Webb telescope.
More money troubles for Webb telescope.
ROSAT expected to fall to Earth this weekend
The 1.7 ton ROSAT space telescope is expected to fall to Earth this weekend.
The 1.7 ton ROSAT space telescope is expected to fall to Earth this weekend.