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I've been watching NASASpaceflight's YouTube channel's coverage of the SpaceX Starship sixth test flight. Maybe they don't have the polish of old-school broadcast media, but I thoroughly enjoy what they do. That's partly because they're frankly nerdish. And partly because they actually know what they're talking about. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Watching the SpaceX Starship test flight, November 19, 2024. Why I think it matters, and how I see space exploration.)

Sooner or later, I figure someone will develop a spaceplane that takes off from places like Tampa International Airport, carries passengers and cargo to low Earth orbit, and flies back: either to the airport it came from, or the next stop in its flight schedule. It might be a next-generation version of Dawn Aerospace's Aurora, or an advanced Radian Aerospace model. But it won't be Reaction Engines Limited's Skylon. Developing their two-mode SABRE rocket engine ended up costing too much and taking too long. I'll take a quick look at Skylon. After that, I'll take a longer look at Seattle-based Radian Aerospace's PFV01 spaceplane. PFV01, a prototype of Radian's Aurora spaceplane, is the one that's been making test flights near Abu Dhabi. Closing the Book on Skylon Radian Aerospace PFV01: Another Step Test Flights Living With and Working Around Rules Rocket Sled — — To the Stars More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Reaction Engines Ltd. de

This isn't what I’ll be talking about this week, but today's (August 27, 2024) planned commercial test flight is — my opinion — a big deal. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A very quick overview of a commercial human spaceflight mission, an excerpt from the news, and an embedded video which may provide live coverage.)

I remember when many folks were getting used to the idea that space travel wasn't just science fiction. Some apparently still haven't gotten the memo, but others have been developing new technologies. Like inflatable space stations. I'll be talking about that, and how I see getting back on the road to the stars. Building Better Habitats: Basket-Weave, and Now: Isotensoids? "...strong, simple, and safe...." Expandable Habitats and Max Space New Technology Built on Old Ideas Perceived Impossibilities and Being Human New Ideas, Old Reactions What a Bishop Didn't Say, and the Wright Brothers' Mother "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." What's Next? More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (New Max Space inflatable space habitat technology may be strong, simple, safe: and less expensive. I look at that, and where we can be going.)

When I was young, the future was exciting: cities on the Moon, computers that can fly spaceships, and more. Then we tried making those dreams a reality; which we've been doing. In part. One goal of this week's Starliner test flight was having a human pilot handle part of the spacecraft's approach and docking at the International Space Station. It was a methodical process, pretty much the opposite of dramatic. Starliner handled the actual docking; which, again, was a methodical process. And successful. If you read nothing else in today's post, by the way, read Butch Wilmore's "Just a Thought", a Few Minutes Before Liftoff . Or check out whatever looks interesting: Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Saturday's Attempt, a Ground Launch Sequencer, and Paying Attention Another Glimpse Inside Starliner's Crew Capsule Launch Complex 41, Crew Access Arm, and — Starliner: Lucky 13?? Butch Wilmore's "Just a Thought", a Few Minutes Before

It's been 30 years since a Mexican theoretical physicist said that a warp drive was possible: hypothetically. And published math that backed up his claim. Last month, a team of scientists showed how we could build a warp drive: again, with math backing up their claim. This year's variation on the Alcubierre drive couldn't travel faster than light. But it can, they say, be built with materials we have today. This is a very big deal. And it's what I'm talking about this week. Along with whatever else comes to mind. Speed of Light, Math, and Approaching Infinity New "Warp Drive" Approach: This One is Testable Gravity, Newton's Law, Einstein's Math, and — Negative Mass? Math, My Father, and Me: A Digression "Exotic Solutions" Offering a "Novel Means of Transportation" A Testable Warp Solution: Exciting! The Day "Warp Field Mechanics 101" Disappeared History — — And Being Human More at A Catholic Citize

For some reason, I expected Monday's Starliner launch to go ahead on schedule. It didn't, which is probably a good thing. But the delay, and staying up far later than I usually do, waiting for a news conference that I slept through anyway — The long and the short of it is that, instead of focusing on the Starliner spacecraft this week, I decided to start talking about Boeing's reputation, SpaceX, the shift to commercial space travel and exploration; and see where that led me. As usual, I've made a list of links to this week's headings: so feel free to skip ahead to whatever looks most interesting. Or go get a cup of coffee, take a walk, whatever. This post should still be around when you get back. SpaceX Dragon, Working Since 2010; Boeing Starliner, ... Third Starliner Orbital Test Flight, the First With Astronauts "Ad Astra Per Aspera": "To the Stars Through Difficulties" Lilienthal's Letter, a Lunar Plaque, and a Work in Progres

This isn't what I'm writing about this week, but it's noteworthy:... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (As I write this, Voyager 1 has been outward bound for 46 years, seven months, 18 days and about two hours.)

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one." (Gerald R. Massie, photographer, following the crash-landing of his B-17 (1944) ( from " Stayin alive — 16 favorite aviation quotes ", Dan Littmann, Air Facts (August 25, 2016) ) So far, this has been a good year for Lunar exploration. Both JAXA's SLIM and Intuitive Machines' Odysseus made good landings. Not perfect: and that's what I'll be talking about this week. Tipped, Tilted and Maybe Tripped: But Successful! The IM-1 Odysseus Mission: a "Spicy" Experience and Serendipity Odysseus: On Target and "Still Kicking" First Successful Commercial Flight, Farthest South Landing SLIM: Another Good Lunar Landing NASA News Conference: In Case You're Interested More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Two successful Lunar landings: SLIM and Odyssey. First successful commercial flight to the Moon, scouting for south polar Lunar base.)

India became the fourth nation to land on Earth's Moon this week. And the first to land near the Lunar south pole. This is a very big deal. So, in a different way, was the "abnormal situation" that turned Russia's Luna-25 lander into an impactor. Humanity is returning to the Moon. I think this is a good thing. I woke up in time to watch ISRO's coverage of Wednesday's historic touchdown near Manzinus crater. Folks in mission control showed more enthusiasm than I did, here in central Minnesota. But they're all younger than I am: so that's no surprise. I was and am delighted at ISRO's successful Lunar landing. And even more pleased about the Indian Prime Minister's upbeat words. Roscosmos, Luna-25, and Russia; Briefly "...The Sky is Not the Limit" "...This Success Belongs to All of Humanity" "... 'The Moon is Only a Tour Away'" Robert Goddard, Opel-RAK, and Missed Opportunities: Another Digress

Nerd alert! This week I used words like deuterium and magnetohydrodynamics. And I may have gone into more detail that necessary about why we didn’t have fusion power generators in the 1960s. A British company's plans for test-firing a fusion rocket engine got my attention last week. I'd planned on writing about it then, but a dental procedure and household matters got in the way. So I researched and made more notes over the weekend, and when my town's power came back online late Monday afternoon: the notes weren't there any more. That's something I may talk about, sometime next week. Anyway, I re-researched, got stuck and/or distracted a couple times — I'll talk about tralphium and mindsets in a bit — and ended up with this post. Which, as it turned out, included a bit about NASA's interest in UAPs and the serious search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Sunshine, Energy and Mass: Fusion Basics Thermonuclear Weapons, History and Ideas: Ver

Nations and organizations running the International Space Station agreed to keep supporting it until 2030. That's what I'll be talking about this week. Along with why the ISS won't last forever, plans for either ditching it in the South Pacific or starting an orbiting salvage yard, commercial space stations and something my oldest daughter and I thought of. The (Comparatively) International Space Station Cooperation, Complications, and Doing Science Anyway ISS Support Promised Through 2030 Best Structural Engineering of the 20th century Slow and Careful Docking at the ISS Looking Ahead: Commercial Space Stations Point Nemo, the Spaceship Cemetery and “The Call of Cthulhu” Concerns, Reasonable and Otherwise More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Complications and doing science anyway: ISS support promised through 2030. Commercial space stations, dealing with defunct spacecraft, and a Cthulhu connection.)

This week I’ll talk about the SpaceX Starship and ispace test flights. Whether or not they were successful depends on who’s talking. I’ll also look at the usual hand-wringing over threats to the status quo. News and Views “We Will Keep Moving Forward” Fireball After Four Minutes: Starship’s Orbital Test Flight Starship Planned Mission Timelines: April 17 and 20, 2023 Changing the Game, and Why That’s a Good Thing Neocolonization, Environmental Racism and Gentrification: EEK! Villainy Runs Rampant as Chaos Stalks the Streets! Defending the Status Quo: A Cautionary Tale “My End of the Boat”, Obligations and Being Catholic More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The SpaceX Starship and ispace test flights, how SpaceX is changing the game, and hand-wringing over threats to the status quo.)

Venus is dead as a doornail as far as life is concerned. Life as we know it, at any rate, and already I'm drifting off-topic. Geologically, though, we've know that there's still metaphorical life in Venus. Or was, until very recently. Orbiters have sent back evidence of geologically-recent volcanic activity, including images of shield volcanoes and lava flows. But we had no direct evidence of a volcano that's active now. Until scientists sifted through data recorded and stored in the early 1990s. Observing Venus: Five Millennia in About 700 Words Telescopic Views Pulp Fiction and the Radar Astronomers Missions to Venus SAR, Science and Magellan Active(?) Volcano on Venus: Maat Mons From the Magellan Archives: a Changing Volcanic Vent — — And New Lava Flows, Maybe Hot Spots, Sulfur Dioxide, Venusian Volcanoes and Acronyms Missions, Maps, Maat Mons and Mor e "Greater Admiration" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Views of Ven

I started writing about the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, "one of the colossal engineering flops of history". Or, my opinion, a basically good design that was rushed into service. The Snow Cruiser and Little America III reminded me of imperial ambitions and a massive attitude adjustment, the Collier's "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" series, Moon buggies and Elon Musk. Make that Moon buggies and looking ahead to permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. And why I think living in Minnesota is okay, even if humans aren't "perfectly adapted" to my home state's environment.... ...Loving God and neighbors was important two millennia back, it’s important now, and will be important when Sargon of Akkad, Julius Caesar and Dag Hammarskjöld seem like contemporaries.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (What went wrong with the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, why Antarctica mattered. Mars tractors of 1954, Moon buggies of 1971-1972, Living on Mars: opinion

Humanity is one step closer to exploring Mars, in person. With people living and working on the surface. And eventually, I think, living there permanently That's going to take time. But like I said, we're one step closer. This week I'll be talking about In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), the NASA-ESA Sample Return Mission, and why we're keeping our spaceships clean. Until they land, at any rate. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Oxygen production on Mars test succeeds. MOXIE broke its old record. ISRU, living off the land on other worlds; and plans for Mars sample return.)

A tip of the hat to Anthony Stevens, whose recent op-ed started me thinking about this week's topics. " NoMoNASA " Anthony Stevens, Anthony Stevens' Weblog (November 25, 2022) I'll be talking about ideas that didn't work out, or haven't yet; three cool single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, including one that flew; and, finally, looking back and ahead. Or, rather, the other way around. Plus, I've included short videos showing Skylon, the VentureStar, and a test flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-X Delta Clipper prototype. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Spaceplanes, from Max Valier to Skylon. DC-X: a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that was canceled. Historical perspective and the Kardashians.

Asteroid Dimorphos and comet-like dust trail, 28 hours after DART spacecraft impact on September 26, 2022. (Image taken October 8. 2022) Image from NASA/ESA/STScI/Hubble, used w/o permission On September 26, 2022, the NASA/APL DART mission changed the orbit of an asteroid: Dimorphos, a satellite of 65803 Didymos.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

It's been a year since I wrote about the Mars 2020 mission. This seemed like a good time to catch up on what the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter have been up to in Jezero Crater. The Ingenuity helicopter has been scouting ahead, giving folks back on Earth up-close aerial views of places the Perseverance rover will be visiting. It was a test vehicle for powered flight on Mars, so it wasn't loaded with a great many sensors.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Studying Mars: Ancient Egypt, Schiaparelli and Lowell. Perseverance in Jezero Crater. Martian weather and climate: and maybe ice ages.

Several days ago, a robot on Mars selected a hollow coring bit from its tool kit, drilled into a rock, withdrew the tool and placed the core into a sample tube. At least, that's what should have happened. But just to be sure, Perseverance felt inside the tube and took a look before sealing it. Oops. The sample tube was empty. NASA's discussion of the robot's first try at collecting samples is more detailed and less anthropomorphic.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .