Space Enthusiast (formerly Cynic)
A view of alt.space from those who STILL won't drink the kool-aid.
(Note: the Old Space Cadet is at it again….) In a recent comment to my April 6, 2008 post, Jon Goff quibbled about my use of the word “airline” rather than the word “airplane.” That attention to detail displays a laudable concern for precision of expression, which is a very important characteristic for an engineer […]
Read More Parsing to Excess(NOTE: this post courtesy of the Old Space Cadet) When I was a wee young lad in the mid 1960s I bought some stock because of my confidence in the company’s principal. His name was Warren Buffett. Since then, I have made a point of treating the annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway the same way […]
Read More What Would Warren Say?Remember Andy Beal? Now firmly back in his industry of expertise, he penned this letter in today’s Wall Street Journal. Read it and think. To: Mr. Ben Bernanke Please DON”T PUT GARBAGE in the FEDERAL RESERVE “Dear Mr. Bernanke: I was afraid that if simply wrote you this letter you might never see it. I […]
Read More Sage WordsIn a previous post (Housing, Homer, and Space…) I suggested that the worsening economy, combined with a change in political administration in 2009, would lead to the cancellation of the VSE and potentially the end of NASA’s manned space ambitions. While a minority of commenters argued that we weren’t in an economic downturn and a […]
Read More The Perfect Storm… An End to (NASA) Manned Space?(this post courtesy of the Old Space Cadet) The following comes from section 460.45 of the regulations referenced in the AST website. According to my nonlawyerly eye, these requirements are to be met before a deposit can be taken by a space flight provider corporation. I support my interpretation with the first sentence of paragraph […]
Read More Houston, We May Have a Problem…In 2004, a group of thirteen premier space advocacy groups joined together under the Space Exploration Alliance to have their voices heard. The first SEA “Blitz” brought together 76 space enthusiasts from around the country. They converged on Washington, D.C. and talked to over 200 congressional offices in support of NASA’s bold and substantial mandate […]
Read More 2008 Legislative Blitz – February 10-12 – Washington DCI often have emails forwarded to me by friends who are members of discussion groups which I have not been invited to because I am, perhaps, a bit too pragmatic for the kool-aid being served… a recent email which found it’s way to my inbox had an interesting quote/forecast buried in it which I thought […]
Read More The 3,000…?Ok, for those of you with entrepreneurial space aspirations, who think that your plan isn’t just another flavor of kool-aid, it’s time to step up and represent (so to speak). The third in a series of Space Investment Summits, otherwise known as SIS-3 (clever, no?) is being held this December in Silicon Valley, offering would […]
Read More Space Investment Summit – Silicon Valley(originally posted by Old Space Cynic as a comment on the last post thread, but raised to level of separate post by me to make sure you all had a chance to see it… and see if you will respond…) AmberJane, you have nailed it again, but the blindly faithful will trash you for doing […]
Read More Up for a challenge? PROVE US WRONG.