Stossel: SpaceX Does What Government Won’t

[VIDEO] Well this could go on the "Beta", however, we need a change of pace here. I've been sharing as much as I can about the unrest going on in other parts of the nation perhaps we should look at something different. On this day John Stossel takes aim at the space program.

NASA from their success with the Apollo program became just another government agency. However, what if a private company was better able to explore space more so than the National Aeronautics and Space Agency of the US gov't. Earlier this summer a private company Elon Musk's Space X launched American astronauts from NASA's Cape Canaveral for the first time since the last space shuttle mission was launched in the early 2010s.

So in this video Stossel takes a look at how private companies can innovate in space. How gov't merely uses the space program for the purpose of "pork" that is insuring some congressional district gets the benefits of space program projects and the cash that comes with it. It's amazing that at one point during the shuttle missions instead of using the shuttle's computer - which was outdated - many astronauts brought their own laptops. NASA wasn't able to upgrade the computers on their spacecraft.

Long before Space X or Virgin Galactic there has been talk of utilizing private companies to do space missions. Whether we're talking about launching satellites into space or launching manned space missions, it has been discussed over the years. It appears that this plan is finally being executed.

"Apollo 11"

[VIDEO] I saw the documentary Apollo 11 on Friday and it was great to see archival footage and even some modern graphics depict the mission that landed men on the moon. I can't believe it's been 50 years since that historic achievement in human technological history. The greatest engineering and technological challenge had been achieved and the names Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin will forever be part of human history.

It's fascinating to see the trip happen in just about real time, the trip to the moon from launch until lunar orbit was three days for Apollo 11. It was fascinating to see the Saturn V launcher being moved to it's launch pad, it was cool to see the preparations for this historic space voyage, it was amazing to see everyone there for the launch of this mission, and then all the footage in space. It was interesting to see the Apollo spacecraft probably filmed through a telescope of some sort get propelled towards the moon on their three day journey.

I can only imagine that the animations were with the voice overs were made by a public relations officer with NASA who described all the maneuvers the astronauts were expected to make. These maneuvers ensured that the astronauts will make their flight objectives. They get to their destination and they don't veer off course from getting to the moon and returning to earth safely.

I was almost reminded of the movie that was released last year with Ryan Gosling playing the Apollo 11 mission commander, Neil Armstrong - First Man. It's great to see the real story as it was shot back in 1969 shown to the public.

Black history month in space...

Earlier this week Elon Musk of Space X accomplished the launch of his Tesla roadster into space on course for the asteroid belt beyond Mars. His Falcon Heavy rockets has the promise of lowering the cost of space launches because they are reusable, they also are said to be capable of sending space craft to the moon or Mars. Also think the launch that sent Musk's car into space is expected to be in near Mars orbit in 6 months. That rocket is very powerful.

Well I don't just want to talk about that. It's Black history month. Let's talk about Black astronauts.

To start the very first Black astronaut was a US Air Force test pilot named Robert Lawrence. Sadly he died over 50 years ago in a plane crash. While not officially part of NASA, he was part of a classified Air Force space program designed to spy on the old Soviet Union. It was said in that military.com article I linked to that he'd have flown in the space shuttle program had he not died in 1967.

Regardless Lawrence paved the way for Guion Bluford - who's name was mispelled by military.com. Bluford was the first Black to fly in space aboard the space shuttle. He first flew aboard space shuttle Challenger in 1983 and flew three more NASA missions until he retired from the space program in 1993.

After him was Chicago's own Mae Jemison who was the first Black woman in space flown aboard space shuttle Endeavor in 1992. She was a noted Star Trek fan having used Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura as her inspiration for becoming an astronaut and thus was about to parlay this into an appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation as a transporter chief named Palmer. Jemison left the space program in 1993.

Finally, Charles Bolden was the first Black not only to command space shuttle missions the first aboard space shuttle Atlantis in 1992 also space shuttle Discovery in 1994. He also was appointed by Barack Obama as the administrator of NASA a role he served until just days before the inauguration of President Obama's successor in the White House Donald Trump. Bolden also flew on four shuttle missions in addition to the two he commanded.

Of course another point in Black history would've been the first Black on the International Space Station, alas she had been pulled last month from her historic flight. Jeanette Epps would've flown to the International Space Station in June however according to this Washington Post article she was pulled in favor of Serena Auñón-Chancellor who would become the first hispanic woman to live on a space station upon her flight in June

Including the previous three names of those Blacks who have flown shuttle missions fourteen Black Americans have flown into space so far. And for those of you dreaming about taking that trip to the moon or Mars you still have time to make Black history once those future spaceflights become reality. I would like to write about you when you do!

So now we know to put astronauts into suspended animation?

I became a fan of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was still in high school. One plot point there was that the supercomputer of the spaceship on a mission to Jupiter went crazy - it was supposed to be an artificially intelligent machine - and made an effort to kill all the astronauts.

Two of the astronauts were piloting the ship and three other astronauts was in suspended animation. So this computer was successful in killing one of the non-suspended astronauts and killed the suspended astronauts. The surviving astronaut shut the computer down and continued to Jupiter.

I thought about that film when I saw this article. Placing astronauts in suspended animation was science fiction in 1968 when the film was released and it was science fiction back in the 1990s. While there were actually scientists studying this scenario it looks like we've started to figure out how this could be done.

The body would have to be cooled and has been used as part of medical treatment. In fact I wonder if this is akin to placing someone in a medically induced come. I wish I could answer this but you're not reading the blog of a trained medical doctor.

All the same, at one point in my life I always wanted to be an astronaut. It was excited to go on a modern day "Star Trek" even if the voyage was only to orbit on the shuttle or staying in the solar system going to the moon or to Mars. This article does discuss how we can send people to Mars and suspended animation is one way to do it without having to spend money on lots of food or anything else.

So, it seems again the future is here. Hopefully we're developing much more advanced and faster propulsion to send spacecraft to their destination and back to the earth. Which means hopefully there would be no need for suspended animation.

In the mood for "The Right Stuff"

[VIDEO] When I was in high school (GO FALCONS) I had designs on being an astronaut and unfortunately that was one path never followed. Basically my vision was to go on a real live "Star Trek" thanks to the fact that I was a fan of that franchise and other series and movies that involved space exploration.

There was a documentary mini-series that aired on TBS years ago called Moonshot that chronicled the early days of the space program and through the Apollo years. Then at theaters was Apollo 13 which is a real life story of a "moonshoot" that didn't quite land on the moon due to a mechanical failure.

Then in my junior year of high school I did a research paper on the lead-up to Apollo 11. I have to say, at one point in my paper was a paragraph that was a full page long. What was that about? LOL!

Anyway, during this time I discovered this movie called The Right Stuff that also chronicles the early days of the space program and somehow fits in the role of aerospace pioneering by one Chuck Yeager. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier in the late 1940s.

So I'm a huge fan of movie soundtracks and therefore want to share some music from The Right Stuff's soundtrack. It's very heroic although in this YouTube vid above it turned heavily 1980s near the end. This movie definitely was an homage to a group of men called the Mercury 7 who were the first Americans trained for spaceflight.

Now I need to find this film!

Neil Armstrong, 1st man to land on the moon passes away

[VIDEO] Posting that 9 minute video above that showed highlights of the Apollo 11 mission. This was the mission that saw Neil Armstrong who was mission commander land on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Armstrong died today at the age of 82:

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who became first to walk on the moon as commander of Apollo 11, has died. He was 82 years old.

Armstrong had heart surgery several weeks ago, and a statement from his family said he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.

"Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job," his family said. "He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. ... He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits."

On July 20, 1969, half a billion people -- a sixth of the world's population at the time -- watched a ghostly black-and-white television image as Armstrong backed down the ladder of the lunar landing ship Eagle, planted his left foot on the moon's surface, and said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

NASA's mission to bomb the Moon

Scientific American:

NASA will tomorrow launch a spectacular mission to bomb the Moon. Their LCROSS mission will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying a missile that will blast a hole in the lunar surface at twice the speed of a bullet. The missile, a Centaur rocket, will be steered by a shepherding spacecraft that will guide it towards its target - a crater close to the Moon's south pole. Scientists expect the blast to be so powerful that a huge plume of debris will be ejected.

Heh, worst case scenario, NASA has discovered "red matter" that moon would destroy itself. Oh and "red matter" would be a reference to the new Star Trek movie!

Star Trek Left the '60s Behind, but NASA's Still Trapped in the '70s

Read this article. NASA trapped in the 70s, lost it's bold vision that sent men to land on the moon! Today's bold vision might include a return to the moon or a trip to Mars. Hopefully do it cheaply and innovatively. Even better driven not by taxpayer dollars, but by private money willing to invest in exploratory ventures.

It would be so cool if I had the money, but yet I can build my own spaceship. Perhaps I'll even be Captain of that ship, be my own version of Capt. Kirk. Of course we won't have too many places to go since, well we haven't figured out how to go beyond the speed of light with "warp drive". It would still be sooo cool!

BTW, since I saw Star Trek the weekend it was released I never looked at Star Trek the same. This is what new thinking and plenty of money can do with a franchise that could very well use an update. Even production values that could match the rebooted Battlestar Galactica.

Via TrekMovie!