Video: The Dark Forest

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by Yol Gezer from Pixabay.

And now for something really different. If you are tired of national politics, maybe its time to talk about the extinction of all life in our solar system. Just for a change of topic, of course.

The Cool Worlds Lab has an interesting video titled “Why I Don’t Buy The Dark Forest Hypothesis” that picks apart this idea that technologically advanced species throughout the galaxy are hiding from one another out of the fear that once detected they may be destroyed. You may remember the term Dark Forest from a book of the same title by Chinese writer Liu Cixin.

Its a good discussion of the hypothesis, with plenty of diagrams mapping out a civilization’s decision to either reply to, ignore, or attack a newly discovered civilization trying to communicate.

I don’t want to spoil everything, but the bottom line is that it is probably too late for us to worry about this anyway. First, we have already sent out plenty of electronic messages as well as messages intended for alien civilizations. But more importantly, the James Webb Space Telescope is showing us that a silent civilization on a distant exoplanet can still be detected as we investigate that exoplanet’s atmosphere. So if a dangerous distant civilizations was seeking out other planets with life that it could destroy, the Earth has been telegraphing life for more than 3.5 billion years.

Check it out and learn more about the hypothesis and the arguments for and against it.

Star Wars: Another Political Take on the Empire

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image(Credit): Senator Amidala from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. (Starwars.com)

While the libertarians at Reason magazine have their view of the imperial story-line in the Star Wars television series Andor, the liberal folks at Mother Jones magazine have a whole different take on the Star Wars universe.

In an article last month titled “How Star Wars Reveals Conservatives’ Authoritarian Fantasies,” we read about how some Republicans are showing support for the brutality of the Dark Side as illustrated in Andor. For instance, it quotes former Mitch McConnell adviser and GOP operative Scott Jennings defending the Empire’s elimination of Alderaan in the original Star Wars movie, stating:

I think some could argue that it was warranted, given their rebellious activities. I mean, he defended the Empire against unelected hippies and violent protesters.

You can see the entire Mother Jone’s YouTube clip here.

This is not an encouraging thought at this point in history. In an interview, George Lucas himself said the rebel alliance came from his reading of history and his understanding of the Viet Cong battle against the American empire. He saw the rebels as anti-authoritarian. He also thought of the American rebels as they fought Great Britain, the largest empire in the world.

Supporting the Evil Empire is more or less the same as voicing support for the wannabee Russian empire as it attacks democratic Ukraine. I think we all can do much better than to stoop that low.

Either that, or soon we will also be quoting the line “So this is how liberty dies.”

What are NASA’s Plans for Starliner?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Boeing’s Starliner safely on the ground last September after returning from the ISS without its crew. (Boeing)

It was this time last year – June 5th to be exact – that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket towards the International Space Station (ISS). Hopes were high, but then things started to unravel.

So where do things stand now, particularly with the new concerns about SpaceX?

NASA is saying very little. A USA Today story from last week stated the newspaper was told that NASA

…is assessing the earliest potential for a Starliner flight to the International Space Station in early 2026.

Boeing is staying pretty quiet on its Starliner mission update website. It has not posted anything on this page since September 7, 2024.

NASA was a little more open about events back in March, posting that the crew certification of the Starliner system was still underway, and stating:

Our investment in commercial crew transportation capabilities is providing the needed flexibility to operate in space as safely as possible and respond to changes quickly when they arise. NASA is seeing the commitment from Boeing to adding the Starliner system to the nation’s crew transportation base.

We may need a few more statements from NASA addressing this “needed flexibility,” while also offering up alternatives to the SpaceX monopoly. That is, an alternative that does not include the Russians saving us, though it could come to that in an emergency.

Giving Everything to SpaceX is Risky? Who Knew?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by David Stephanus from Pixabay.

According to the Washington Post, the leaders at NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD) have finally figured out that Mr. Musk is a potential threat to our space program and national security. Now where did they get that idea?

The newspaper stated:

NASA and Pentagon officials moved swiftly this past week to urge competitors to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to more quickly develop alternative rockets and spacecraft after President Donald Trump threatened to cancel Space X’s contracts and Musk’s defiant response.

Why did it take so long? And maybe instead of nagging SpaceX’s competitors, NASA and the DOD need to do more.

Boeing’s Starliner may need some propping up at the moment as an alternative to getting humans to the International Space Station (ISS), and other parties that can assist with the ISS and military satellite launches may need help as well.

Such careful planning should have been done long ago. Compromising NASA is one thing, but putting our nation’s defense in the hands of one unreliable man was foolish from the start. David killed the Goliath represented by the large aerospace companies, but now David has gone mad. Great plan, everyone.

It may be time to consider nationalizing SpaceX if it become an Achilles heel to our nation, particularly if Mr. Musk decides to take all of his marbles and go home (or simply loses all of his marbles).

This reminds me of Russia where President Putin put so much power into the hands of one of his warlords only to see that warlord turn his weapons on Moscow.

I expect things will settle down, but the risk remains. It is time for NASA and DOD to make some clear plans to expand the procurement base and rapidly fund alternatives to SpaceX.

As far as the future of NASA, which is the focus of this website, this is another wrench in the machinery. The White House budget already guts much of NASA’s programs, leaving most of the focus on Artemis, which needs a SpaceX Human Landing System, and Mars, which has been pushed to the front of the line only because of Musk’s influence at the White House.

So now what?

It seems Mr. Musk is not the only party undergoing a rapid unscheduled disassembly.

Space Quote: Japanese Lunar Lander Fails a Second Time

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Resilience lunar lander approaching the moon. (ispace)

“Given that there is currently no prospect of a successful lunar landing, our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thus far and work diligently to identify the cause.”

-Statement by Takeshi Hakamada, CEO and founder of Japan’s private space company ispace, in a press release following the failure of the company’s second lunar lander mission to the Moon. The company noted that the lander experienced a “hard landing” when it failed to sufficiently decrease its speed on approach. The mission started back in January when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried both this mission as well as Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, which had a successful landing on the lunar surface. The ispace lander was named Resilience – something it will need more of to stay in the space race.