The Ninth Starship Test Launch Had a Few Problems

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Side-by-side illustrations of the SpaceX Starship lunar lander and the Blue Origin Blue Moon lunar lander. (SpaceX/Blue Origin)

Elon Musk may be in a rush to get to Mars, if only to escape all of the chaos he is causing here on Earth, but he is going nowhere fast with his Starship. Today’s ninth test launch of the rocket ended with the explosion of its first-stage booster as well as the rocket itself during re-entry. While this is better than the last two launches, it still demonstrates that the rocket has a ways to go before it can be used for Moon missions, leaving aside any talk about Mars.

SpaceX loves to play with language (particularly when regulators are around), so it called this a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” once again. That said, the humor is getting thin.

Mr. Musk said he is back to his jobs at Tesla and SpaceX, so let’s hope he can get a handle on this rocket. I don’t really care about the cars – Tesla has already been superseded by other car companies – but SpaceX is important to the US space industry.

It is also time for Mr. Musk to stop over-promising on everything (though I am glad he was dead wrong about DOGE savings). The focus needs to be the Moon. Forget Mars for now.

By the way, DOGE has also done damage to future Mars missions by cutting funding and staffing at the Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Center would be critical to finding a safe landing site on Mars for one of Musk’s rockets.

You don’t poke out your eyes and then hope to make progress, but that is what is happening these days.

Note: It seems the term “rapid unscheduled disassembly” precedes Mr. Musk, as this link explains.

NASA Advisory Groups Share Concerns About Budget Cuts

Posted on by onespaceman2000

NASA Watch published a letter from representatives of the agency’s advisory groups, including:

The letter highlights the importance of science initiatives at NASA at a time when drastic budget cuts are being considered, and quotes Carl Sagan:

Cutting off fundamental, curiosity-driven science is like eating the seed corn. We may have a little more to eat next winter but what will we plant so we and our children will have enough to get through the winters to come?

It’s a much needed yet bold approach at this time when the White House is eliminating all opposition to its wild cuts and erratic attack on diversity. The White House is actively shutting down advisory committees through the federal government, including NASA.

We can only hope the public listens to the wiser voices from these advisory committees. Someday all of this will need to be rebuilt, including our space program, but for now we need to save as much as we can from random cuts from parties that do not seem to understand the important role of science in our economy and our future.

Follow DIU Rather Than DOGE at NASA

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Years ago the Department of Defense (DOD) established the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to use the full force of private sector innovation to address DOD needs. This has been a successful initiative that has lowered costs while improving DOD efficiency. Whether it is working to create better batteries or micro-reactors for the military, it represents the best efforts to do more with less.

Compare that to the now ill-fated Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that only demonstrates that the government will need to do less because it destroys rather than creates. NASA deserves better, and it is possible Elon Musk and friends could have done much better if they first learned about government programs and then redesigned them to be more efficient. That ship has sailed and DOGE only means Destroying Our Government’s Effectiveness.

It is not too late to bring a DIU equivalent into NASA to work around the giant space companies and look for simpler solutions to big problems. It will need a new name to erase the stain of DOGE, but it is something the taxpayers deserve – the most efficient and effective space program.

Note: You can find the FY 2023 DIU annual report here with many of its accomplishments listed.

Happenings with the Chinese Space Station

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The successful launch of three astronauts to the Tiangong space station via China’s Long March 2F rocket on April 24. 2025. (Andy Wong/AP)

The Chinese space program continues to operate and advance as NASA faces daunting cuts and general disorientation under the Department of Government Efficiency (a misnomer if there ever was one).

On April 24, China sent three new astronauts (the Shenzhou-20 crew) to its Tiangong space station, while three astronauts (the Shenzhou-19 crew) safely returned from the space station last week after six months in space.

It is important to remember that the rest of the world wants to advance in space even if the US chooses to chase its tail and destroy its own asset and reputation. None of this is necessary, but that is where we are.

One might even say the US is undergoing a ridiculous DEI purge at NASA and throughout the government in the same way China went through its ill-fated Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

Paul Krugman had a good piece on this, stating:

Once you’ve seen the parallel between what MAGA is trying to do and China’s Cultural Revolution, the similarities are everywhere. Maoists sent schoolteachers to do farm labor; Trumpists are talking about putting civil servants to work in factories.

We need to focus on the future again, and soon.

Musk Gives Up His Day Job

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

Elon Musk has decided to step away from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after watching his reputation crater, his car company falter, and his rockets litter the Caribbean. Plus he damaged NASA, the space agency that funds his company SpaceX. Maybe he finally realized that a plumber has no business pretending to be brain surgeon.

The most disturbing part of Musk’s short time with the government is his lies about fraud, attacks on government employees, and horrible math regarding savings. For example, regarding the US Agency for International Development, he called it a “criminal organization” and then said it is “Time for it to die.” He never took the time to even understand the organization or verify his “findings”, most of which were wrong. I cannot believe a single Fortune 500 company would want this guy anywhere near its operations. So why would you trust any organization headed by this man?

We can only hope this means he will start to take the development of Starship seriously, since his company is still contracted to assist NASA with its Artemis mission to the Moon. So far in 2025, SpaceX has lost both of its Starship rockets (#7 and #8) over the Caribbean, though it was scheduled to conduct 25 tests in 2025, or twice a month.

Mr. Musk may know nothing about government programs, but he is supposed to know something about rockets. He cannot bully or lie his way out of this one. As with Tesla, performance and promises is everything, and he seems to be struggling.

And now before he can come close to meeting his NASA commitments, he is promising to send Starship to Mars next year, tweeting ““Starship will hopefully depart for Mars at the end of next year with Optimus explorer robots!”.

Maybe it is time to stop listening to this man.