Book Review: Lunar Outfitters
A rare and rewarding book. The author goes into the complexity of both spacesuit design and quality management in straightforward language. Without stinting on detail he explains things in language those without an engineering background can easily understand. Along the way he tells a story that is engaging and entertaining.
Falcon 9 Soars on Record 8th Flight of the Same First Stage
By Dale Skran, NSS CEO On January 20th SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The first stage safely returned to Earth, landing on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions.” Just another day on the Cape for...
Remembering Phillip Clark, 1950 – 2020
This Space Available, By Emily Carney. Who are giants? They aren’t always those who fly in space; some happen to write about space. Some spaceflight books occupy a permanent space on bookshelves, and 1988’s The Soviet Manned Space Programme (published by Salamander in the United Kingdom, and by Crown in the United States) – written by the late British Interplanetary Society (BIS) space historian Philip Clark – is one of those volumes.
NS-14: Blue Origin Successfully Tests Human-Rated New Shepard System
By Bob Brodbeck Activities in the suborbital space tourism arena indicate that it is highly likely this business will finally become operational, flying paying passengers to space, this year. Earlier today at their west Texas facility, Blue Origin successfully...
Book Review: How to Astronaut
This book dishes out glimpses into everyday life in space in bite-size pieces, making an easy to read and convenient for making good use of short time windows. It contains a nice balance of nitty-gritty details of living in space and the emotional and intellectual analyses of the experiences.
To Space—to Save the Earth
By Fisher Smith, NSS Legal Fellow Why should we spend the money, effort and time focusing on outer space exploration and development? After all, it’s a very expensive process to get resources, people and infrastructure into space. Wouldn’t that money be better spent...
‘Beyond Earth’s Edge’ Explores Spaceflight’s Poetic Spirit
This Space Available, By Emily Carney. Thousands of books have been written about spaceflight concerning its technicality and history. The “Astronaut Autobiography/Biography” is a sub-genre of spaceflight literature that still garners attention with each new release. Visual artists have painted, digitally manipulated, and captured facets of the topic from its people to stars and galaxies. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to the realm’s poetic spirit.
SpaceX 2020 Preview Revisited: How did my predictions do last year?
By Dale Skran Having just written a 2020 SpaceX year in review wrap up (which included a preview of 2021), I thought it would be fun to go back and look at the 2020 Space X preview I wrote a year ago and see how accurate it was. I’ve included the entire text of the...
SpaceX 2020 End of Year Wrap Up: Best Year Yet?
By Dale Skran Given how generally terrible 2020 has been for most of us suffering under the yoke of the pandemic, it seems impolite to point out that SpaceX has somehow struggled through to pull off what can only be described as its best year ever. Early in 2020 there...
Book Review: Scramble for the Skies – The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space
The authors argue that the fundamental basis for international competition in space is shifting from a race for prestige to a race for the practically limitless natural resources of the solar system. Whoever controls the largest share of those resources will increase in national power relative to the nations that control less, or none.
Rediscovered Photos Show Newly-Selected 1967 MIT Astronaut-Scientists
This Space Available, By Emily Carney. Newly unearthed 1967 photo negatives made accessible via the Digital Public Library of America show three 1967 MIT astronaut-scientists, apparently before their names were unveiled to the general public.
Space Solar Power may not be “a thing” for Casey Handmer, but he has not made his case
Opinion by Dale Skran A big thanks to John Mankins for some key ideas and examples. Note that one section as noted was updated a day after posting. Casey Handmer, formerly with Hyperloop and recently a software developer at JPL, loves to opine on space-related topics....
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