Want to invest in a spacesuit company? Now you can!
The Beatles – All You Need Is Love
An evening pause: From a 1967 live television performance, one of the first ever broadcast by satellite around the world. Though this version has been colorized, the synch is off in the original. Also, in doing the colorization they cleaned up the recording, making it much clearer.
It is especially fascinating to watch Lennon and McCartney work together, chewing gum as they sing. And keep your eye out for Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and other rock performers in the audience.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Global warming: Second thoughts by an environmentalist.
Global warming: Second thoughts by an environmentalist.
For many years, I was an active supporter of the IPCC and its CO2 theory. Recent experience with the UN’s climate panel, however, forced me to reassess my position. In February 2010, I was invited as a reviewer for the IPCC report on renewable energy. I realised that the drafting of the report was done in anything but a scientific manner. The report was littered with errors and a member of Greenpeace edited the final version. These developments shocked me. I thought, if such things can happen in this report, then they might happen in other IPCC reports too.
He then very clearly outlines what we do and do not know about the Earth’s climate, and pinpoints the important uncertainties that presently exist.
Global warming: Second thoughts by an environmentalist.
For many years, I was an active supporter of the IPCC and its CO2 theory. Recent experience with the UN’s climate panel, however, forced me to reassess my position. In February 2010, I was invited as a reviewer for the IPCC report on renewable energy. I realised that the drafting of the report was done in anything but a scientific manner. The report was littered with errors and a member of Greenpeace edited the final version. These developments shocked me. I thought, if such things can happen in this report, then they might happen in other IPCC reports too.
He then very clearly outlines what we do and do not know about the Earth’s climate, and pinpoints the important uncertainties that presently exist.
A Wyoming think tank is suing the Federal Election Commission in behalf of three Wyoming residents who were denied the right to run a political ad hostile to Barack Obama.
A Wyoming think tank is suing the Federal Election Commission in behalf of three Wyoming residents who were denied the right to run a political ad hostile to Barack Obama.
What was that language again? I think the words are “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
A Wyoming think tank is suing the Federal Election Commission in behalf of three Wyoming residents who were denied the right to run a political ad hostile to Barack Obama.
What was that language again? I think the words are “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
The FAA and NASA have worked out their differences concerning their regulation of private commercial space.
The FAA and NASA have worked out their differences concerning their regulation of private commercial space.
Essentially, NASA has finally conceded with this agreement that it has no control over a private space launch that is not flying to a NASA facility. That the FAA continues to have as much regulatory control is bad enough, but getting NASA out of the loop will at least ease the bureaucratic burden for private companies.
The FAA and NASA have worked out their differences concerning their regulation of private commercial space.
Essentially, NASA has finally conceded with this agreement that it has no control over a private space launch that is not flying to a NASA facility. That the FAA continues to have as much regulatory control is bad enough, but getting NASA out of the loop will at least ease the bureaucratic burden for private companies.
“[W]ith few exceptions, climate models not only fail to do better than random numbers, in some cases they are actually worse.”
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
A school bus used by a church to drive anti-abortion protesters to a local abortion clinic was firebombed Friday night.
Leftwing civility: A school bus used by a church to drive anti-abortion protesters to a local abortion clinic was firebombed Friday night.
Leftwing civility: A school bus used by a church to drive anti-abortion protesters to a local abortion clinic was firebombed Friday night.
The Moon: a desert after all?
The uncertainty of science: A new science paper, published Saturday in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets,, has found that there is much less water ice trapped in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar poles than previously thought. From the abstract:
This means that all [permanently shadowed regions], except those in Shoemaker, Cabeus and Rozhdestvensky U craters, do not contain any significant amount of hydrogen in comparison with sunlit areas around them at the same latitude.
And from the paper’s conclusion:
[E]ven now the data is enough for definite conclusion that [permanently shadowed regions] at both poles are not reservoirs of large deposits of water ice.
The terrorist training that Gaza gives to kindergarten children. With pictures.
The terrorist training that Gaza gives to kindergarten children. With pictures.
I ask again: Why do we give these people millions?
The terrorist training that Gaza gives to kindergarten children. With pictures.
I ask again: Why do we give these people millions?
The TSA has tentatively approved a plan to allow private companies to screen passengers in Orlando.
How nice of them: The TSA has tentatively approved a plan to allow private companies to screen passengers in Orlando.
It’s all crap. In a free society there is no such agency as the TSA, and according to the Constitution, no one is screened by anyone without due cause.
How nice of them: The TSA has tentatively approved a plan to allow private companies to screen passengers in Orlando.
It’s all crap. In a free society there is no such agency as the TSA, and according to the Constitution, no one is screened by anyone without due cause.
An IBM supercomputer today became the fastest in the world.
China’s Shenzhou-9 capsule successfully docked with Tiengong-1 and the crew has entered the space module.
The competition heats up: China’s Shenzhou-9 capsule successfully docked with Tiengong-1 today and the crew has entered the space module.
The competition heats up: China’s Shenzhou-9 capsule successfully docked with Tiengong-1 today and the crew has entered the space module.
Dancing Birds
The X-37b that has been in orbit for the past 15 months successfully returned to Earth in a runway landing today.
The X-37b that has been in orbit for the past 15 months successfully returned to Earth in a runway landing today.
Video of the landing below the fold.
» Read more
The X-37b that has been in orbit for the past 15 months successfully returned to Earth in a runway landing today.
Video of the landing below the fold.
» Read more
China has successfully put into orbit its first three person crew, including its first female astronaut, on its first manned space docking mission.
China has successfully put into orbit its first three person crew, including its first female astronaut, on its first manned space docking mission.
China has successfully put into orbit its first three person crew, including its first female astronaut, on its first manned space docking mission.
SONNY & CHER – I Got You Babe
Despite the continuing lack of an agreement, Kazakhstan today gave Russia permission to resume launches from the Baikonur spaceport.
Despite the continuing lack of an agreement, Kazakhstan today gave Russia permission to resume launches from the Baikonur spaceport.
Their new as yet unfinished spaceport in Vostochny must appear increasingly important to the Russians.
Despite the continuing lack of an agreement, Kazakhstan today gave Russia permission to resume launches from the Baikonur spaceport.
Their new as yet unfinished spaceport in Vostochny must appear increasingly important to the Russians.
Vertical Video Syndrome – a PSA
Geologists think they have finally identified the volcano that in 1258 AD produced the largest eruption in 7,000 years — an event that was completely unnoticed by humanity at the time.
Geologists think they have finally identified the volcano that in 1258 AD produced the largest eruption in 7,000 years — an event that was completely unnoticed by humanity at the time.
Geologists think they have finally identified the volcano that in 1258 AD produced the largest eruption in 7,000 years — an event that was completely unnoticed by humanity at the time.
On exhibit in New York: A mock mission to Mars, built by an artist using, among other things, duct tape.
On exhibit in New York: A mock mission to Mars, built by an artist using, among other things, duct tape.
On exhibit in New York: A mock mission to Mars, built by an artist using, among other things, duct tape.
Orbital Sciences has delayed the first testing firing of its Antares rocket until late July or early August.
Orbital Sciences has delayed the first testing firing of its Antares rocket until late July or early August.
This fact is buried about halfway down in the article, and does not mention what caused the delay. (Hat tip to Clark Lindsey.)
Orbital Sciences has delayed the first testing firing of its Antares rocket until late July or early August.
This fact is buried about halfway down in the article, and does not mention what caused the delay. (Hat tip to Clark Lindsey.)
Scientists have concluded that a 460 foot diameter asteroid only has a 1 percent chance of hitting the Earth in 2040.
O goody: Scientists have concluded that a 460 foot diameter asteroid only has a 1 percent chance of hitting the Earth in 2040.
Observations to date indicate there is a slight chance that AG5 could impact Earth in 2040. Attendees expressed confidence that in the next four years, analysis of space and ground-based observations will show the likelihood of 2011 AG5 missing Earth to be greater than 99 percent.
It appears that they won’t really be able to pin down the impact odds for 2040 until 2023, when the asteroid passes the Earth at a distance of 1.1 million miles.
O goody: Scientists have concluded that a 460 foot diameter asteroid only has a 1 percent chance of hitting the Earth in 2040.
Observations to date indicate there is a slight chance that AG5 could impact Earth in 2040. Attendees expressed confidence that in the next four years, analysis of space and ground-based observations will show the likelihood of 2011 AG5 missing Earth to be greater than 99 percent.
It appears that they won’t really be able to pin down the impact odds for 2040 until 2023, when the asteroid passes the Earth at a distance of 1.1 million miles.
The federal government is on a pace to exceed its $16.394 trillion debt limit sooner than expected, by October, just before the election.
The day of reckoning looms: The federal government is on a pace to exceed its $16.394 trillion debt limit sooner than expected, by October, just before the election.
The day of reckoning looms: The federal government is on a pace to exceed its $16.394 trillion debt limit sooner than expected, by October, just before the election.
The Sun’s fizzle continues
On June 4 NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center posted its monthly update of the ongoing sunspot cycle of the Sun. Now that I am back from Nevada, I’ve had a chance to take a look at it, and have posted the new graph for April below the fold.
» Read more
The EPA will propose today stricter standards for the release of soot by factories and power plants.
This should help the economy: The EPA will propose today stricter standards for the release of soot by factories and power plants.
This should help the economy: The EPA will propose today stricter standards for the release of soot by factories and power plants.
The nightmare of being a conservative on a modern college campus.
The nightmare of being a conservative on a modern college campus.
From my experience, the author only scratches the surface. The level of intolerance for conservative thought in academia has worsened in recent years, and in many cases has even risen to the level of physical danger for those who express any criticism of liberalism or the left.
The nightmare of being a conservative on a modern college campus.
From my experience, the author only scratches the surface. The level of intolerance for conservative thought in academia has worsened in recent years, and in many cases has even risen to the level of physical danger for those who express any criticism of liberalism or the left.
The IRS’s budget has grown by almost a billion dollars due to Obamacare.
And you thought Obamacare was about healthcare: The IRS’s budget has grown by almost a billion dollars due to Obamacare.
And you thought Obamacare was about healthcare: The IRS’s budget has grown by almost a billion dollars due to Obamacare.
China’s next manned mission, with one female astronaut aboard, will launch Saturday.
We have a date: China’s next manned mission, with one female astronaut aboard, will launch Saturday.
We have a date: China’s next manned mission, with one female astronaut aboard, will launch Saturday.
A UCLA professor who exposed corruption while also challenging the legitimacy of certain California fuel regulations, has sued the university for firing him.
The McCarthyism of the environmental movement: A UCLA professor who exposed corruption while also challenging the legitimacy of certain California fuel regulations, has sued the university for firing him.
Enstrom charged in 2008 that his colleagues exaggerated the adverse effects of particulate matter in order to justify expensive diesel fuel regulations to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Enstrom testified in the same year to the state Senate that the lead contributor to the CARB report, Hien T. Tran, paid $1,000 for his Ph.D. from a fake university, and members of a CARB panel had exceeded their mandated three-year term limits by decades.
Shortly after Enstrom revealed the misconduct, UCLA began sending him notices of termination and has refused to compensate him for more than a year’s worth of work….
Tran was eventually suspended for 60 days, and one professor who had served on the CARB panel for 26 consecutive years was removed and later put back on the panel. John Froines, who has publicly supported diesel fuel regulations, was on a committee that voted to dismiss Enstrom.
Read the whole thing. It illustrates why attending UCLA for a science education is clearly a waste of time. They don’t want to teach their students science. They want to teach them propaganda.
The McCarthyism of the environmental movement: A UCLA professor who exposed corruption while also challenging the legitimacy of certain California fuel regulations, has sued the university for firing him.
Enstrom charged in 2008 that his colleagues exaggerated the adverse effects of particulate matter in order to justify expensive diesel fuel regulations to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Enstrom testified in the same year to the state Senate that the lead contributor to the CARB report, Hien T. Tran, paid $1,000 for his Ph.D. from a fake university, and members of a CARB panel had exceeded their mandated three-year term limits by decades.
Shortly after Enstrom revealed the misconduct, UCLA began sending him notices of termination and has refused to compensate him for more than a year’s worth of work….
Tran was eventually suspended for 60 days, and one professor who had served on the CARB panel for 26 consecutive years was removed and later put back on the panel. John Froines, who has publicly supported diesel fuel regulations, was on a committee that voted to dismiss Enstrom.
Read the whole thing. It illustrates why attending UCLA for a science education is clearly a waste of time. They don’t want to teach their students science. They want to teach them propaganda.