capitalism – Page 649 – Behind The Black

Elon Musk and the forgotten word

October 20, 2011 6:48 pm Robert Zimmerman

Elon Musk at National Press Club

When Elon Musk gave his speech at the National Press Club on September 29, he was asked one question to which he really did not know the answer. He faked it, but his response illustrated how completely forgotten is one fundamental fact about American society — even though this fact is the very reason the United States became the world’s most wealthy and powerful nation less than two centuries after its founding.

To explain this fundamental fact I think I need to take a step back and talk about the ongoing war taking place right now over how the United States should get its astronauts into space. On one side we have NASA and Congress, who want NASA to build a new heavy-lift rocket to carry its Orion capsule beyond Earth orbit. On the other side we have a host of independent new space companies, all vying for the chance to launch humans and cargo into space for fun and profit.

Which is right? What system should the United State choose?
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First Soyuz rocket launch from South America scrubbed

October 20, 2011 2:29 pm Robert Zimmerman

First Soyuz rocket launch from South America scrubbed.

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Boeing’s private space capsule passes its wind tunnel tests

October 19, 2011 9:57 am Robert Zimmerman

Boeing’s private space capsule has passed its wind tunnel tests.

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GAO and SpaceX blast military’s plans to spend $15 billion for all its launches through 2018 in one purchase

October 19, 2011 9:51 am Robert Zimmerman

GAO and SpaceX blast the military’s plans to spend $15 billion for all its launches through 2018, in one bulk purchase.

The reason given by the military for buying all these launches up front is to save money. In reality, it is to favor the companies they want to do business with, rather than open up the business to as many competitors as possible.

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More details about SpaceShipTwo’s last test flight

October 17, 2011 9:56 pm Robert Zimmerman

More details about SpaceShipTwo’s last test flight and the initial stall after its release from WhiteKnightTwo.

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NASA contracts two research flights using Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo

October 14, 2011 11:05 pm Robert Zimmerman

NASA has signed a contract with Virgin Galactic to use SpaceShipTwo for two suborbital research flights.

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The man who created Unix, Dennis Richie, has died

October 14, 2011 9:18 am Robert Zimmerman

Unix creator Dennis Ritchie has died, aged 70.

He also helped create the C programming language.

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Space News suggests Congress use the billions for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket to fund JWST

October 12, 2011 3:51 pm Robert Zimmerman

In an editorial yesterday Space News suggested that Congress use the billions it is allocating for NASA’s heavy-lift rocket to fund the James Webb Space Telescope instead.

This is not surprising. Webb already has a strong constiuency (astronomers, the public) while the Space Launch System has little support outside of Congress and the specific aerospace contractors who want the work. With tight budgets as far as the eye can see into the future, and the likelihood that Congress is going to become more fiscal conservative after the next election, it would not shock me in the slightest if SLS gets eliminated and the money is given to Webb. And if the SpaceX and Orbital Sciences cargo missions to ISS go well then cutting SLS would almost be a certainty, as this success would demonstrate that these private companies should be able to replace SLS for a tenth of the cost.

And I also think this would be a much wiser use of the taxpayers money.

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