Category Archives: Rockets
50 years of manned space flight
Fifty years ago today, Yuri Gagarin rode the Vostok 1 into history as the first man in space.* *I think it’s funny that the Wikipedia article on the Vostok 1 says, “first known human spaceflight in history”. I guess someone … Continue reading
Hammer and Feather
One of my favorite videos from the Apollo days.
Congratulations to Armadillo Aerospace!
Armadillo Aerospace officially completed the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Level 2. Level 2 requires the rocket to fly for 180 seconds before landing precisely on a simulated lunar surface constructed with craters and boulders. The minimum flight times … Continue reading
N. Korea to Obama: Fuck You
Via Gateway Pundit: Fox News says North Korea launched, “Defying World Pressure“. Sunday’s move was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed Pyongyang in the days leading up … Continue reading
Why? Indeed.
Rand Simberg says we’re missing the “why” in space policy. The fact is, that until there’s an economic incentive to put people in space, it’s not going to happen. Tourism is a start and will probably open up … Continue reading
Why are rockets so expensive?
This is from the comments to an earlier post, but I thought it should be bumped up for more visibility. Peter Taylor has some great info on his site Peter A. Taylor says: July 21st, 2008 at 9:21 pm – … Continue reading
And I thought the OS wars were bad
The Mac/Windows fanboy battles ain’t got nuthin’ on a bunch of stirred up rocket scientists. Point out that chemical rockets don’t seem to be able to scale to get us to millions of people out in space, and the wailing … Continue reading
Orion Redux
Or, “You don’t know what you’re talking about Snarky Boy.” that came from this and this. That may be, after all I’m not a rocket scientist. However, I do have some experience scaling things, and while I might not know … Continue reading
What's Wrong With Orion?
From Insty, it turns out that NASA’s Orion is having a little problem with cost overruns. Who could have predicted that? Of course the REAL problem with NASA’s Orion is that they stole the name from the real Orion, a … Continue reading