Link tags: rock

26

sparkline

Why Not Mars (Idle Words)

I’ve come to believe the best way to look at our Mars program is as a faith-based initiative. There is a small cohort of people who really believe in going to Mars, the way some people believe in ghosts or cryptocurrency, and this group has an outsize effect on our space program.

Maciej lays out the case against a crewed mission to Mars.

Like George Lucas preparing to release another awful prequel, NASA is hoping that cool spaceships and nostalgia will be enough to keep everyone from noticing that their story makes no sense. But you can’t lie your way to Mars, no matter how sincerely you believe in what you’re doing.

And don’t skip the footnotes:

Fourth graders writing to Santa make a stronger case for an X-Box than NASA has been able to put together for a Mars landing.

BBC World TV News interview of Ariel Waldman for the NASA Artemis I launch! - YouTube

This is so cool—Ariel was on BBC World TV News live during the Artemis launch!

BBC World TV News interview of Ariel Waldman for the NASA Artemis I launch!

A Lonely Isle - A six-episode spoken work essay about Rockall » A Lonely Isle

A lovely bit of audio work from Matthew Sherrett—six short spoken word pieces about the island of Rockall.

Feet on the Ground, Eyes on the Stars: The True Story of a Real Rocket Man with G.A. “Jim” Ogle

I listen to a lot of podcast episodes. The latest episode of the User Defenders podcast (which is very different from the usual fare) is one of my favourites—the life and times of a NASA engineer working on everything from Apollo to the space shuttle.

You know how they say it doesn’t take a rocket scientist? Well, my Dad is one. On a recent vacation to Florida to celebrate his 80th birthday, he spent nearly three hours telling me his compelling story.

Meet the Father of Modern Space Art | Atlas Obscura

A profile of Chesley Bonestell. It’s amazing to think how much of his work was produced before we had even left this planet.

Grasshopper Divert | Single Cam - YouTube

Forget Hyperloop: this is some truly mindblowing technology from Elon Musk. In this latest test, the Grasshopper from SpaceX shows off its lateral movement for a reusable rocket.

Combine that with the sheer power of Falcon Heavy and you’ve got some amazing design and engineering.

Grasshopper Divert | Single Cam

Kosmograd: The death of Kosmograd

The Ballardian beauty of a dying Baikonour.

A Tall Tail by Charles Stross | Tor.com

A terrific little conspiracy theory short story from Charles Stross set at last year’s (very real) 100 Year Starship gathering.

WORLDMOON

A masterplan for the moon as a global cemetery. Launch the ashes of your loved ones to the moon (leaving the buckyball container in lunarstationary orbit). Given enough ashes and enough buckyballs, the result is a fertile surface and a atmosphere-trapping layer of fullerine. Terraforming via recycled humans.

Or, if that’s too long-term for you, you can buy a scale-model moon jewel.

James Burke Classic : The Famous Rocket Takeoff Scene - YouTube

This remains one of the greatest pieces of documentary footage ever filmed.

Atlas V Juno launch - August 5, 2011 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

So long, Juno. Call me when you get to Jupiter.

New Mexico EP | The Orchid

Beautiful instrumental music: four tracks for a minimum donation of four dollars. Recommended.

Douglas Crockford Facts

Screw Chuck Norris. Douglas Crockford is the true originator of awesomeness in the audience.

Douglas Crockford: "Ajax Performance" on Yahoo! Video

An excellent overview of Ajax and optimisation.

TG Video: X-Wing rocket interview and in-flight disintegration

Even though it breaks up after just two seconds in the air, the moment of take-off is pretty awesome.

V2-panorama.jpg (JPEG Image, 3074x1816 pixels)

This is the first picture of Earth taken from space, specifically from a V2 rocket 60 miles up.

Make the logo bigger

Now when your satanic client tells you to make the logo bigger, you can always rock out.