Section: Humor

Mark Trulson / 3:30 pm March 1st, 2007

Okay, normally I wouldn’t do this but it is too dang cool not to…

Top Gear is a British television program that features cars set up for exotic crashes and explosions.

This video clip on YouTube shows a Reliant Robin decked out as a space shuttle and actually “launched.”

You just have to watch to see the results.

Mark Trulson / 6:46 am February 9th, 2006

Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal posted a new report from the Kwajalein Atoll and in the process discusses the various definitions of the word “Crazy.”

When other rocket companies need something done, they requisition the right forms, talk to the right people, go back to the right forms, try again with another set of right people, go back to the forms (also known as the TPS reports), and eventually go a little more postal each day.

When SpaceX needs something done, they do it, and they do it fast.

Case in point:
On Saturday night it was discovered that the power distribution boards were not operating properly and that the capacitors needed to be upgraded. This is very difficult to fix on a remote tropical island 5,000 miles away from America.

He goes on to recount the “crazy” efforts made to get the needed pieces to do a component-level repair of the boards. There are a lot of interesting tidbits to digest as we wait for the approaching launch date.

He also added his disclaimer that nothing he says is official, and it is just as likely that he is really hiding in a basement in Boulder CO. (ED: Most likely watching the DvD box set of Firefly, I know I am.)

Rob Wilson / 10:56 pm January 17th, 2006

Florida Today’s Flame Trench blog relates a priceless quote from Mike Griffin, during questions for the New Horizons launch.

After being asked multiple times if the Space Science budget, and science probes like New Horizons, were going to be ‘whacked’ to provide funds for human missions, Griffin replied:

“We are not whacking the space science program to pay for human exploration. This is not The Sopranos. We don’t whack anything.”

Mark Trulson / 9:15 pm January 4th, 2006

Yes Mr. President…um…ma’am
The other day Bob Werb, co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation had a conversation with the President of the United States. Well, not exactly…

In a piece titled “What If…” Bob relates a little thought exercise on what if you had the ear of the President in an earnest conversation about opening up space for human settlement. A conversation the President…um…herself, initiated I might add. There is something Freudian that could probably be said about the first female President calling Bob, for advice but I digress.

Competition is good…
…and may have already reached the Lunar tourism arena, before there is even any Lunar tourism. That sentiment comes to us via an article in Pravda.

The item explains that there are at least two non-government agencies that have put forth plans to provide similar services that have “much-been-talked-about” and for considerably less than the $100 million price tag being tossed around.

I’m trying hard not to imagine the “No Frills” version of rattling around in a glorified soup can for a week…

Sometimes being a slow reader pays off
A week after Space Ref.com released the Final Draft of NASA ESAS Final Report, (dated October 2005), they were able to provide us with the November 2005 version which has received NASA Administrator Michael Griffin’s stamp of approval. Since I had down-loaded, but not yet completed reading the October version, I’m glad for the heads-up on this new release.

Although the mega-sized report is presented in its entirety, it has been broken down into manageable pieces of 17 pdf files, one for each section of the report. The report is stuffed full of charts, diagrams and graphics us layman love as well as the nitty-gritty details for the number crunchers out there.

Since the final, final draft of the final report, which will be the one coming back from Congress, might not be seen for a while, you may want to give this rendition a look-see.

Discuss this further at the OotC Forums

Rob Wilson / 3:04 am December 25th, 2005

A Russian Progress freighter bearing Christmas gifts for the ISS crew docked on Friday at the International Space Station. Out of the Cradle has uncovered exclusive evidence of a massive NASA cover-up of a second, unpublicized docking that day. Transmissions aired on NASA TV during the Progress docking were altered in real time to conceal the presence of another vehicle approaching ISS at the same time.

Out of the Cradle has obtained a recording of the unedited transmissions, captured by a ham radio operator in Clear Lake. A transcript follows:

READ MORE…

Mark Trulson / 2:21 pm November 14th, 2005

Stephen Hawking drew a crowd at gathering in Oakland Calif. Sadly the crowd included news reporters…

The following quote from the article sums up the total content on Hawking’s reaction to VSE yet it is catching headlines in several places.

When asked about his thoughts on President Bush’s proposal to put a man on Mars within 10 years, Hawking simply replied: “Stupid.”

I believe he was referring to the reporter that asked the question, not VSE, since the plan does not call for a manned Moon mission within 10 years, let alone a manned Mars landing.

This fellow agrees…and made his point before I could.

Discuss this further at the OotC Forums

Rob Wilson / 7:43 am October 26th, 2005

This just in via NASA Watch: NASA administrator Michael Griffin is under investigation for a rather unusual misuse of government property.