It took courage and leadership for Dan Hicks and his team to carry off the first Spaceport America Cup. Leadership, because if anything went wrong, Mr. Hicks is the one wringable neck. Courage because of the complexity of the tasks to be carried out. When you have students of all ages involved with explosives, think […]
VSS Unity’s First Solo Flight
Finally: Virgin SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity completed her first glide flight! It’s been just over two years since the accident. I wish I could have seen her on her own without the mother ship. Up until Saturday, she was always in captive carry mode. That is she was carried and firmly attached to WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve […]
Think outside the Can
Where do you go when there is no place left to go? NASA has a great idea. Join them in Space. This week NASA asked us, fellow tax payers, to consider what we would you do if NASA made a port available for you to connect to the International Space Station (ISS). This is a […]
The Gambler
The Gamblers Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Got it! Yet, we live in one town, one house, and are supposed to keep faith with one spouse. I have two bird nests at my house. One belongs to a pair of sparrows. They built their outpost on top of one of my back […]
BEAM Me Up NASA
I have just returned from the launch of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the 8th commercial resupply services (CRS-8) mission for NASA by the SpaceX Flacon 9 rocket from their launch complex 40 at Kennedy Space Center. I was a launch site guest of Bigelow Aerospace […]
Cocktails with Dan Goldin
Cocktails with the NASA Administrator Twenty two years ago I met the NASA Administrator Dan Goldin for a cocktail at the Hotel Encanto. He was here for one of the Delta Clipper tests. The Delta Clipper or DC-X program was funded by Department of Defense the contractor was MacDonald Douglas. The DC-X, short for Delta […]
What would a three week General Election season be like?
We have sympathy from our colleagues at Virgin Galactic. Last week I met with Virgin employees who were here from Mojave Air and Space Port. As the press reported, Virgin Galactic had an unveiling ceremony recently and released videos and photographs of Virgin SpaceShip the VSS Unity. The VSS Unity is being built by the […]
Local columns add to community dialogue
Local columns add to community dialogue Over the past few weeks we have learned of the resignation of some of the local contributing columnists. Like you, I read their columns. Over time, each columnist finds their voice and their audience. As I now return from vacation time with family, I reflected on how the family […]
Anticipation
Anticipation I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. I can tell already people are anticipating the season. Fred Rodgers, said anticipation is the pleasure of enjoying the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and […]
Martians are Us
Of course I saw the movie Martian. It was a way to for my students and staff to celebrate our accomplishments after a long year of preparation and execution of the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space (ISPCS). I will get back to the movie, which we all recommend. It has a lot more […]
