'Politics and science' Category
What I’d blog about if I had the time
A whole bunch of interesting science and technology has been in the news over the past few days. I’d love to blog about all of it, but have no chance of finding the time to do it in any depth, so here’s a quick overview of some interesting topics to get you started on your own explorations…
Can you lend a hand?
By way of Thoughts from Kansas comes a worthy plea for help. I’ve already pitched in, now can you?…
Fear of flying
I’m amazed that this news seems to be getting very limited coverage outside of the usual space-related sites, but it appears that NASA is falling down on the job again when it comes to safety. But this time, the mess isn’t over astronaut safety — it’s over the safety of the traveling public in the U.S….
Casual Friday — math quiz!
Could you pass 8th grade math?
Episode 12 — Getting to Sputnik
Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Earth’s first artificial satellite — Sputnik 1. Lots of news sites are covering various aspects of this anniversary — mostly dealing with what’s happened in space in the intervening 5 decades, and what we may see in the future. What seems to be getting far less coverage, though, is the twisted path that led to the launch. Sputnik’s launch didn’t take place in a vacuum (no pun intended), after all — a number of social, political, and technical forces were at play. Tune in this week, and I’ll fill you in on all of the good “deep background” information that’s often lost in the shuffle.
Dead horses and NASA and such
Here’s an example: the U.S. house is trying to increase NASA funding for aeronautics, education, and science — and the White House has announced Bush will veto the increase if it makes it onto his desk:The Administration supports the House’s full funding for NASA’s Exploration Systems and Space Shuttle. However, the Administration does not endorse funding in excess of the request for Aeronautics, Education, and Science…So, as I’ve pointed out before, NASA’s funding for aeronautics, education, and science has been thrown under the train in the interest of funding the development of the Ares I launch vehicle (which duplicates capabilities that commercial launchers already have).
A funny thing happened on the way to the Moon…
Not that I enjoy saying “I told you so,” but President Bush’s lack of ability or (more likely) desire to forge any sort of bipartisan support for his Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) is really coming back to bite NASA.
Let’s have a quick refresher, shall we?
How Not to Leave a Legacy
It’s kind of funny what happens when you go out of your way to NOT get bipartisan support for a marquis program — as soon as the “other guys” get into office, they turn around and gore your ox.
Back in January of 2004, President Bush proposed the Vision for Space Exploration, or VSE. The [...]
