“As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.”
-Statement by SpaceX following the self-destruct of the Starship rocket after it started to spin out of control. What a way to put a spin on a malfunction. I am sensing the rapid unscheduled disassembly of the English language.
“An attempt to do a cost-benefit analysis on ISS science would be rather difficult. Science research rarely conforms to that kind of examination while it’s being done. Only after the fact, when an entrepreneur rolls out some new product or service, can one point to something done in a laboratory as having helped to make it happen. The best bet for ISS science is the technology for 3D printing human organs for transplant patients. The number of lives that would be saved might make the $100 billion spent on the ISS worth it.”
-Statement in a recent editorial from The Hill titled, “Has the science on NASA’s International Space Station been worth the money?” In addition to 3D printing of human organs, you might want to view the other ISS achievements (also mentioned in the editorial) and decide for yourself:
“Nevertheless, the coincidences between some orbital parameters of ‘Oumuamua and IM2 inspires us to consider the possibility that an artificial interstellar object could potentially be a parent craft that releases many small probes during its close passage to Earth, an operational construct not too dissimilar from NASA missions. These “dandelion seeds” could be separated from the parent craft by the tidal gravitational force of the Sun or by a maneuvering capability. A small ejection speed far away could lead to a large deviation from the trajectory of the parent craft near the Sun. The changes would manifest both in arrival time and distance of closest approach to Earth. With proper design, these tiny probes would reach the Earth or other Solar system planets for exploration, as the parent craft passes by within a fraction of the Earth-Sun separation – just like ‘Oumuamua did.”
-Statement in a March 7, 2023 draft paper, Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, written by Harvard astronomer Abraham (Avi) Loeb and US Department of Defense Director Sean M. Kirkpatrick. The paper makes reference to both the interstellar object ‘Oumuamuaa and the meter-size interstellar meteor (IM2) that collided with Earth on March 9, 2023. This research was supported in part by Galileo Project at Harvard University and conducted in partnership with the Department of Defense, All-domain, Anomaly Resolution Office.
“We look forward to Firefly providing this [Commercial Lunar Payload Services] delivery… This lunar landing should enable new scientific discoveries from the far side of the Moon during the lunar night. This particular group of payloads should not only generate new science but should be a pathfinder for future investigations exploiting this unique vantage point in our solar system.”
–Statement by Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, regarding the $112 million contract award to Firefly for a commercial lunar delivery targeted to launch in 2026 through NASA’s CLPS initiative that support the Agency’s Artemis program. NASA noted that the three payloads are (1) the Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE-Night), (2) Lunar Pathfinder, and (3) User Terminal. You can read more about the Firefly mission here. Firefly also issued its own press release.
“President Biden’s budget will help us explore new cosmic shores, continue to make strides in traveling to and working in space and on the Moon, increase the speed and safety of air travel with cutting-edge technologies, and help protect our planet and improve lives here on Earth.”
–Statement by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson regarding the release of the The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. Under this budget, NASA proposes to:
Our Awesome Universe 