Back home from Andrea's place overlooking Morecambe Bay, I need to clear my head from a bus journey (no longer driving a car), meditate and read or blog or maybe just read.
Back here later today or tomoz, maybe.
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Twentieth Century Space Travel
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10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yet again I'm angry and disgusted with NASA! The Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon, as a step to again, at long last, landing men there has been postponed till at least next month!
I'm reminded yet again of how incompetent gov't agencies are when it comes to projects like this! Elon Musk/SpaceX has made so much progress in advancing space technology than these NASA bunglers.
Ad astra! Sean
Apparently Musk is now talking about building a city on the Moon in the near future. I think that is a next step that is more likely to be successful than trying for Mars first.
Kaor, Jim!
I want both to be done! Albeit I hope a manned expedition to Mars is still sent there by 2028. Also, since building a city on the Moon is a long-term project, it would have to be done gradually, starting small and building up from that.
Unless, of course, Maoist China grabs control of the Moon and bans anyone else from landing there--which would be a disaster to the US/world.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I took a quick look at the Project Orion link and I loved what I skimmed through thru! A real Orion ship powered by nuclear bombs should have been built decades ago and used for reaching the Moon, Mars, and many other parts of the Solar System!
In SF we see Orion ships being used in stories like Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle's FOOTFALL and Poul Anderson's ORION SHALL RISE.
Ad astra! Sean
Andrea reckons Musk has lost interest in Mars because he has got involved in politics.
Kaor, Paul!
That is not the impression I get when I go to SpaceX's website, which is what I do from time to time. What I read there makes me think they still plan and hope to send an expedition to Mars.
As for politics I recall Musk commenting he did not leave the horrible Democrats, they left him when they became more and more insane and radical.
Ad astra! Sean
If there is ever some more nuclear disarmament (beyond what was done in the Megatons to Megawatts program) using the bomb grade Uranium & Plutonium for an Orion spacecraft would be excellent.
Kaor, Jim!
I don't believe there is ever going to be a total nuclear disarmament--that genie cannot be stuffed back into the bottle. It's far more likely a single power or alliance of powers conquers/unifies the world, which necessarily means monopolizing nuclear weapons. And I agree on the desirability of using bomb grade uranium and plutonium for Orion spaceships.
Ad astra! Sean
*Total* nuclear disarmament is unlikely. There would always be worries about cheaters having some nuclear bombs hidden somewhere. However, treaties to *reduce* the number of nuclear weapons seem plausible. In which case there would be some bomb grade material to be used in hopefully beneficial ways.
Kaor, Jim!
In this Warring States age, it's a dead certainty no one who has nuclear weapons will give them up unless forced to do so.
I can agree it might sometimes be possible some powers will agree to reduce the number of nuclear weapons they have.
Ad astra! Sean
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