Excavator mulches trees in seconds
An evening pause: The speed and efficiency in which this excavator mulches a tree is almost nightmarish. Makes me think of innumerable science fiction disintegrator ray guns.
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
Tag: commercial
Indecision in Europe about their future commercial rocket
The competition is burning them up! With Germany and France unable to come to an agreement about the next Arianespace commercial rocket, the company is considering cancelling a December conference that was supposed to settle the issue.
The basic division remains despite the German government’s alignment with the French view that Europe needs a lower-cost rocket to maintain its viability in the commercial market — which in turn provides European governments with a viable launch industry.
Despite the consensus over the longer term, the two sides remain split on whether European Space Agency governments should spend 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to complete work on a new upper stage for the existing Ariane 5 rocket, which could fly in 2018-2019, or abandon the upgrade to focus spending on a new Ariane 6 rocket, whose development would cost upwards of 3 billion euros over 7-8 years. [emphasis mine]
Though SpaceX is not mentioned in this particular article, numerous previous articles on this subject (such as this one) have made it very clear that it is SpaceX’s low prices that are driving the need for Arianespace to cut costs. The problem, as this article makes very clear, is that Arianespace’s partners can’t figure out how to do it, at least in a manner that will still provide them all an acceptable share in the pie. The result might be that the entire partnership falls apart.
SpaceX commercial launch moved to Sunday
Because of weather concerns SpaceX has delayed its commercial Falcon 9 launch 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday.
Glenn Miller – In the mood
An evening pause: From the 1954 Jimmy Stewart film, The Glenn Miller Story. They play on, even as a German V1 buzz bomb comes flying in.
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
Sarah Brightman, astronaut
The competition heats up: The start of Sarah Brightman’s astronaut training has been delayed from this fall to the beginning of 2015.
I suspect this delay has more to do with accommodating her schedule and the fact that she is very enthusiastic and well-prepared than any negative issues related to her or the mission. They have probably decided that she just needs less time to train.
Her actual flight to ISS is scheduled for the fall of 2015.
Mark Knopfler – Going Home
An evening pause: The closing music from the 1983 film Local Hero, performed live by its composer Mark Knopfler.
Hat tip to Phil Berardelli.
SpaceX sets the next Falcon 9 commercial launch date
SpaceX has scheduled the next commercial launch of its Falcon 9 rocket for this coming Saturday.
They have completed their review of the Falcon 9R test failure and have obviously concluded that its problems will not effect the Falcon 9.
Vladimir Putin, space cadet
Two news stories today demonstrate without question that Russia’s newly reorganized aerospace industry and its project to build a new spaceport are not merely the efforts of mid-level bureaucrats in that aerospace industry.
No, these efforts have been instituted and are being pushed at the very top of the Russian government, by Vladmir Putin himself. It appears that he has decided, or has always believed, that Russia deserves a strong and vibrant space program, run from Moscow, and is doing everything he can to make it happen, as part of his personal vision for Russia.
The first story described a visit on Tuesday that Putin made to Russia’s new space port, Vostochny, in the far eastern end of Russia. While there he noted that construction is several months behind schedule and that this slack must be made up. He then endorsed the proposal put to him by space agency officials that the number of people working on construction should be doubled.
The second story described Putin’s endorsement of the construction of a new Russian heavy lift rocket, capable of putting 150 tons into orbit. Such a rocket would be comparable in power to the largest version of the U.S.’s SLS rocket, not due to be launched, if ever, until the 2020s.
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Animusic – Acoustic Curves
An evening pause: It has been a while since I posted some animusic. Hat tip to Keith Douglas for reminding me of that lack.
Musk vs Bezos
The competition heats up: SpaceX is challenging a patent issued to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for landing the first stage of a rocket vertically on a floating platform.
“The ‘rocket science’ claimed in the ‘321 patent was, at best, ‘old hat’ by 2009,” says SpaceX in one of two challenges, filed last week with the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board following the approval of the Blue Origin patent in March. SpaceX cites prior work by researchers and scientists who proposed techniques similar to those in Blue Origin’s patent.
If the patent holds it might force SpaceX to pay Blue Origin for the right to bring its Falcon 9 first stage back safely,
One minute changes a life forever
An evening pause: Instead of music, let’s watch a man’s life change forever, for the better, in only one minute. And forgive me for saying so, but it is freedom, property rights, and capitalism that allowed it to happen.
The return of vinyl records
The sales of vinyl records has been booming, exceeding numbers not seen in decades.