Wednesday, May 15. 2013
Space Oddity: CDR Chris Hadfield Covers Bowie Classic
Commander Chris Hadfield performs a rather good reworking of David Bowie's classic 'Space Oddity' on his last day in charge of the International Space Station. Hadfield has become something of a celebrity by regularly sending tweets about his unique and inspiring experiences aboard the ISS...
Sunday, May 12. 2013
James Inman - Capitalism & The Walmart Drug Test
Regular contributor to media underground, Agent Zenman, waxes lyrical about capitalism and Walmart's fucked up drugs policy...
Thursday, May 9. 2013
Stephen Hawking Joins Academic Boycott Of Israel
As if there was ever any doubt about this man's advanced intelligence, superbrain Stephen Hawking flips the bird to Israeli president Shimon Peres over Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Way to go Stephen!
As seems to be customary amongst the me-me-me generation, Hawking's intelligent and individual decision has been met with abusive Facebook responses that focus primarily on his physical condition. Personally I would've thought that Mr. Hawking was way too smart to be using the likes of Pusbook, but then I guess he's got to find someway of promoting his ideas to the intellectually challenged plebs of the 21st century...
'Professor Stephen Hawking is backing the academic boycott of Israel by pulling out of a conference hosted by Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem as a protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
'Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.
'Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there."' (Guardian article).
Friday, May 3. 2013
Alan Watts: A Conversation With Myself
'Alan Watts was born in London in January of 1915 at the start of the first World War. At a young age he became fascinated with the arts of the Far East, and by the time he was ten or eleven he began to read thriller stories by Sax Rohmer about about mysterious Oriental villains. This interest led him in turn to the works of Lafcadio Hern, Christmas Humphreys, and DT Suzuki, and by fourteen was writing on Eastern themes, and was published in the Journal of the London Buddhist Lodge before producing his first booklet on Zen in 1932. He moved to New York in 1938 and then to Chicago where he served as an Episcopal priest for six years before leaving the Church. In 1950 he moved to upstate New York, and in late 1950 visited with Joseph Campbell and, composer John Cage, and Luisa Commaraswamy at his Millbrook farmhouse. Then in 1951 at the invitation of Frederic Spiegelberg he moved to San Francisco to teach at the Academy of Asian Studies.
'Alan Watts was profoundly influenced by the East Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Buddhism, and by Taoist thought, which is reflected in Zen poetry and the arts of China and Japan. After leaving the Church he never became a member of another organized religion, although he wrote and spoke extensively about Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoisim. Some American Buddhists criticized him for not sitting regularly in zazen, even though he recorded several guided meditations teaching a variety of mediation techniques. Alan Watts responded simply by saying: “A cat sits until it is done sitting, and then gets up, stretches, and walks away.”
'After teaching at the Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco he became Dean, and began to give regular radio talks on KPFA, the Berkeley free radio station. In 1957 he published his bestselling Way of Zen, and in 1958 returned to Europe where he met with CG Jung. He was an early subject in pioneering psychedelic trials, and after recording two seasons of the public television series “Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life” traveled to Japan several times in the early sixties. By the late sixties he had become a counter culture celebrity, and traveled widely to speak at universities and growth centers across the US and Europe.
'By the early seventies Alan Watts had become a foremost interpreter of Eastern thought for the West, and was widely published in periodicals including Earth, Elle, Playboy, and Redbook. He appeared on CBS television’s Camera Three in 1969, and in 1971 he recorded a pilot for a new show titled “A Conversation with Myself” for NET, the precursor to PBS. When the series was not produced he recorded the shows in 1972 with his son Mark and his long-time audio archivist Henry Jacobs. Overall Alan Watts developed an extensive audio library of nearly 400 talks and wrote more than 25 books during his lifetime, including his final volume, Tao; the Watercourse Way. Alan died in his sleep in November of 1973 after returning from an intensive international lecture tour.'
Thursday, May 2. 2013
The Booth At The End
'The Booth At The End is a 2010 drama series. The series includes two seasons, so far, consisting of 5 twenty-three minute episodes each. It was created by Christopher Kubasik, directed by Jessica Landaw and starring Xander Berkeley. The series asks one question: "How far would you go to get what you want?"
'The series follows the storylines of several characters who visit a mysterious figure in the corner booth at the back of a diner. Each character has heard rumors that this Man is able to grant desires, provided that a task is performed. Upon receiving the task, the Man's only other demand is that the character continually update him on his or her progress. Once the task is complete, the character's desire is always fulfilled.
'Played by Xander Berkeley, The Man sits in the far corner booth of a diner. Characters who approach him with a specific desire are given a task. If you complete the task, the desire is always fulfilled. Often, progress towards the completion of the task also results in progress towards realization of the desire. A further demand is to be updated on the thoughts and feelings of the characters as they progress in completing the task. Oftentimes, he emphasizes that it does not matter to him whether or not the task is completed: the choice is always up to the other person.' (Isohunt torrent download).
Sunday, April 28. 2013
Applications Now Open For One-Way Ticket To Mars
'It's time, if you're so inclined, to plunk down a reservation for a one-way ticket to Mars. The privately funded Mars One foundation recently opened up applications for astronauts to take a journey to the Red Planet in 2022/23. Return trips, the organisers said, just aren't feasible with the technology we have.
'From a wide field of applicants, organisers said two women and two men will be selected to make the journey. The technology that takes them there has been tested before, and the potential for a worldwide audience will be there given four billion people will have the internet by then, said Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp.
'However, a cost breakdown of the £3.93 billion budget - as well as a concrete plan for how reality television deals and other sponsorship money will be secured - was not provided to the public at the press conference, prompting some scepticism among journalists as to whether the plan could be achieved.
'Lansdorp remained optimistic in the face of questions concerning the project's viability, pointing out the London Olympics in 2012 generated nearly £2.62 billion in revenues for a three-week spectacle. This makes Mars One a bargain deal for investors, he said.' (Wired article & Mars One website).
Thursday, April 11. 2013
Well Said Glenda Jackson
Labour MP Glenda Jackson waxes lyrical on the poison that was Thatcherism...
Monday, April 8. 2013
The Witch Is Dead!
Woo hoo! Good riddance to bad rubbish! Thatcher has finally died from a stroke (a stroke of good luck). And not before time. Great news like this demands a celebration. Now stock up on coal and get ready to lob it at her hearse during the forthcoming state funeral!
Thursday, March 21. 2013
The Challenger
'The Challenger, is a factual drama about acclaimed scientist Richard Feynman’s search for truth in the wake of the NASA Challenger disaster.
'When Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight on the morning of 28 January 1986, it represented one of the most shocking events in the history of American spaceflight. A Presidential Commission was immediately convened to explore what had gone wrong, but with the vast complexity of the space shuttle and so many vested interests involved in the investigation, discovering the truth was an almost impossible challenge.
'The drama, which stars William Hurt in the lead role, focuses on Feynman’s involvement with the commission as it explores what went wrong.' (BBC iPlayer video stream).
Tuesday, March 12. 2013
Valibation
'In a world where human contact takes the form of likes, retweets and “sexts”, Todd Strauss-Schulson takes an interesting perspective on society’s smartphone over-attachment epidemic in this darkly-humourous schlocktastic thriller, Valibation. In Valibation, Strauss-Schulson introduces us to the movie’s protagonist, Yale, who finds himself in an other-worldly predicament. Through the movie short’s 20 minutes, the audience is wrenched around with Yale through his strange and slightly perverse journey of self-discovery to find out if he really does need “[social media] hits of validation” or if he is capable of finding within himself what he was previously craving from his smartphone.'
Wednesday, March 6. 2013
The God Who Wasn't There
'Former fundamentalist Christian Brian Flemming places the core concepts of his former religion under the microscope in a documentary that attempts to do for religion what Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me did for the fast-food industry. In his bold quest to seek answers to the difficult questions that few are willing to pose, Flemming is joined by Deconstructing Jesus author Robert M. Price, renowned historian Richard Carrier, and The End Of Faith author Sam Harris.
'From the ignorance of many contemporary Christians as to the origin of their religion to the striking similarities between Jesus Christ and the deities worshipped by ancient pagan cults and the Christian obsession with blood and violence, this faith-shaking documentary explores the many mysteries of the Christian faith as never before.
'This documentary argues the “mythicist” case in the historical Jesus debate. This position says that Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t a real person but a fiction based on Jewish scriptures and mystery religions of the Roman Empire. It doesn’t make sense to talk about a “real” Jesus - there wasn’t any.'
Tuesday, March 5. 2013
Inspiration Mars: Human Flyby Scheduled For 2018
This is the kind of bat-shit crazy pioneering spirit that is sorely needed in the 21st century if humanity is ever to become a multi-planetary species. Sceptics said that man would never walk on the moon before 1970, but the same bat-shit crazy pioneering spirit that took hold during the space race of the 60s proved them all wrong. More power to the Inspiration Mars Foundation. I want to see this and more before my time on this backward little planet has expired. Go Fever!
'A unique window of opportunity for humankind will open in January 2018, and the Inspiration Mars Foundation intends to seize it, announcing plans to pursue a challenging manned mission to Mars and back. This historic 501-day journey around the Red Planet is made possible by a rare planetary alignment that occurs five years from now.
'Two professional crew members - one man, one woman - flying as private citizens will embark on what is known as a "fast, free-return" mission, passing within 100 miles of Mars before swinging back and safely returning to Earth. Target launch date is Jan. 5, 2018.
'Last week, officials with the Inspiration Mars Foundation, a new nonprofit organization founded by private space traveler Dennis Tito, announced their plans to pursue the audacious to provide a platform for unprecedented science, engineering and education opportunities, while reaching out to American youth to expand their visions of their own futures in space exploration.' (Mars Daily article).
Monday, March 4. 2013
Douglas Rushkoff: "Why I'm Leaving Facebook"
Cyberpunk and media theorist Douglas Rushkoff talks perfect sense, yet again, on the dangers of using Facebook. As he aptly points out: "The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook's paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers"...
'I used to be able to justify using Facebook as a cost of doing business. As a writer and sometime activist who needs to promote my books and articles and occasionally rally people to one cause or another, I found Facebook fast and convenient. Though I never really used it to socialize, I figured it was okay to let other people do that, and I benefited from their behavior.
'I can no longer justify this arrangement. Today I am surrendering my Facebook account, because my participation on the site is simply too inconsistent with the values I espouse in my work. In my upcoming book Present Shock, I chronicle some of what happens when we can no longer manage our many online presences. I argue - as I always have - for engaging with technology as conscious human beings, and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.
'Facebook is just such a technology. It does things on our behalf when we're not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and - worse - misrepresents those who have befriended us to still others. To enable this dysfunctional situation - I call it “digiphrenia” - would be at the very least hypocritical. But to participate on Facebook as an author, in a way specifically intended to draw out the "likes" and resulting vulnerability of others, is untenable.
'Facebook has never been merely a social platform. Rather, it exploits our social interactions the way a Tupperware party does. Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences, and activities over time - our "social graphs" - into a commodity for others to exploit.' (Rushkoff article).
Sunday, March 3. 2013
Obey
'This is a film based on the book Death Of The Liberal Class by journalist and Pulitzer prize winner, Chris Hedges.
'It charts the rise of the Corporate State, and examines the future of obedience in a world of unfettered capitalism, globalization, staggering inequality and environmental change.
'The film predominantly focuses on US corporate capitalism, but the author hopes that the viewer can recognize the relevance of what is being expressed with regards to domestic political and corporate activity.
'It was made completely of clips found on the web.
'We’re not only dreamers but also doers. We believe in actions not in violence; we believe in collaboration not in segregation. Numbers, figures, and hash-tags are labels to help us organize this chaotic world. Stories, however, give meaning to our lives and unite us to the shared visions.'
Thursday, February 28. 2013
The Pope And The Spy Who Loved Him
'The butler did it! That was the tabloid take on the unprecedented breach of security that shook the Vatican last year, when a trove of secrets plucked from one of the most impenetrable places on earth - the pope's private quarters - was leaked to the media. But why did he do it? And did he act alone?
'Sean Flynn digs around the Vatican's strange, cloistered world and unravels a cloak-and-dagger scandal that's a lot more layered than the Church would have you believe - and that may be just the beginning...
'The whole thing began, as many cryptic scandals do, with an apparently innocuous phone call. In the spring of 2011, a friend that Gianluigi Nuzzi hadn't heard from in quite some time asked to meet for coffee in Milan. Nuzzi's friend didn't work in journalism, which is Nuzzi's business, and he didn't mention that he might have the seeds of a story.
'At the café they exchanged pleasantries, caught up. But then Nuzzi's friend announced his true intention: He had another friend - he wouldn't say who, exactly - who wanted to share some secrets from inside the notoriously leakproof walls of the Vatican. Nuzzi didn't find this particularly surprising. People often want to tell him things: He's on television, the host of an investigative news show called The Untouchables. But he didn't find it particularly interesting, either. Though he'd written a well-received book in 2009 about the Vatican bank's history of shady dealings, Nuzzi had no desire to become a specialist in the inner workings of the world's smallest sovereign nation. And who knew what an anonymous source might be offering.' (GQ article).
Tuesday, January 29. 2013
There Ain't No Stopping Gangstagrass
Upon hearing that Gangstagrass were coming to Europe sometime this year, Media Underground's very own Sergeant Matron decided to push his luck, contact their manager, and try get them to come to the incredible Glenuig Hall in remote West Lochaber, Scotland. To everyone's surprise, he seems to be making some headway and there's every chance the gig will go ahead providing the dates fit in with the band's schedule.
As many of you know, The Matron suffers from 'Go Fever' and never takes no for an answer, so my fingers are tightly crossed that one of the most original bands I've ever heard will make it to one of the most wonderful venues I've ever been to...
Monday, January 28. 2013
Why A Moon Hoax Would Have Been Impossible
Photographer and filmmaker S.G. Collins talks perfect sense...
Wednesday, January 2. 2013
New BBC Biopic: Neil Armstrong - First Man On The Moon
'Neil Armstrong's family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly before, tell the story of the first man to set foot on the moon.
'Drawing heavily on unbroadcast archive footage and the unique perspectives of the contributors, this is an exclusive account of Neil Armstrong's extraordinary life story. From his childhood during America's Great Depression to the heady days of the space programme, his historic first step on the Moon and his famously private later life. Seen through the eyes of those who were with him, the film explores the man behind the myth, a man who was very much a product of his time.
'The film goes beyond his days as an astronaut and shows that his life after the flight of Apollo 11 was, in many ways equally challenging, as Armstrong came to terms with life outside NASA and the relentless demands of fame until his death in August 2012.
'From the producers of In The Shadow Of The Moon. Featuring interviews with Armstrong's first wife Janet, their two sons, Rick and Mark, Neil's brother and sister Dean and June, his best friend Kotcho Solacoff and second wife Carol. Fellow astronauts Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke and Dave Scott also feature in this revealing biopic.
Wednesday, December 19. 2012
The Three Rocketeers
'For his entire life, one man has nursed the dream of putting mankind into space. Inspired by the Dan Dare comic strip, Alan Bond first started building rockets as a teenager in his back garden. He started his career working on Britain's Blue Streak rocket, then HOTOL - the world's first attempt to build a single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft. Each time, he was thwarted by lack of funding from the UK government, so, together with two colleagues, Richard Varvill and John Scott-Scott, he decided to go it alone.
'This documentary tells the story of how the three rocketeers defeated the Official Secrets Act, shrugged off government intransigence and defied all conventional wisdom to build a revolutionary new spacecraft - Skylon.'
Wednesday, December 12. 2012
Science Friday Book Club: The Right Stuff
NPR's Science Friday book club takes to the skies with the Tom Wolfe classic The Right Stuff, a behind-the-curtain look at the 20th century’s most famous test pilots - including Chuck Yeager. Yeager joins the club to talk about his long career, and what he considers “the right stuff”.
'Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager (born February 13, 1923) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound (1947). Originally retiring in 1975 as a brigadier general, Yeager was promoted to major general on the Air Force's retired list in 2005 for his military achievements.
'His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer) and became a North American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot.
'After the war he became a test pilot of many kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter set a new record of Mach 2.44.
'Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to brigadier general. Yeager's flying career spans more than 60 years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, including the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.
'Yeager's popularity soared in the 1980s, when he was prominently featured in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff and in its 1983 movie adaptation, in which he was portrayed by Sam Shepard.' (SciFri podcast).
Friday, December 7. 2012
Last Man, First Scientist On The Moon
'Kevin Fong talks to one of the last two men on the Moon, 40 years after the final Apollo 17 mission blasted off on 7 December 1972.
'As an Apollo astronaut, Harrison Schmitt was special. He was was the only geologist ever to explore the lunar surface.
'The field work Dr. Schmitt did, and the rocks he and his fellow astronauts brought back, revolutionised our understanding of the Moon and the Earth.
'Dr. Schmitt also shares the human experience of running around another planet and explains why he thinks we should go back, and beyond.
'The conversation also features archive recordings of the two Apollo 17 moon walkers, Schmitt and Commander Eugene Cernan talking from the lunar surface and Challenger module to NASA’s mission control in Houston in 1972.' (BBC World Service Discovery podcast).
Tuesday, December 4. 2012
The Climate Question: Degrees Of Change - Part 2
'Climate change has become one of the biggest, most complex issues of our time. And the warnings from some of the world's leading scientists are getting louder. But sceptics remain. Despite the data, many are unconvinced that the science is on target. So, we ask: Is climate change man-made and, if so, what can we do to stop it?'
Sunday, November 25. 2012
The Climate Question: Degrees Of Change - Part 1
In the following Al Jazeera special, Nick Clark talks to scientists, geologists, meterologists and environmentalists, who all agree that humanity is having a detrimental impact on the planet's climate. Yet former fat fucking finance minister, Nigel Lawson, thinks it's complete nonsense despite all the evidence to the contrary. Let me see, a fat bastard with his fingers in every pie can be impartial enough to also keep his thumb on the pulse of the planet? Someone please lynch this idiot and hang him from a tree whilst we've still got some growing out the ground.
'Climate Change has become one of the biggest, most complex issues of our time. And the warnings from some of the world's leading scientists are getting louder. But sceptics remain. Despite the data, many are unconvinced the science is on target. So we ask: is climate change man-made and, if so, what can we do to stop it? From the crumbling ice caps of the Arctic to the shifting sands of the Arabian Gulf, Al Jazeera takes you around the world to see first-hand the impact mankind is having on our planet. Against the backdrop of a major UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar, join Nick Clark as he looks at the efforts that have been made to address Climate Change, the failures of previous agreements and the challenges that lay ahead.'
Friday, November 23. 2012
Mike Mullane: Normalization Of Deviance
I'm reading Mike Mullane's highly entertaining autobiography Riding Rockets at the moment.
Boy, I'm so glad this dude isn't my dad. From the following lecture, you could just imagine him insisting his kids run daily around some makeshift assault course in the family backgarden...
"Goddamnit! There will not be one iota of Normalization Of Deviance taking place in this here backgarden today people! Do you understand? Now step in line and get your scrawny asses under that net and over that wall, lickitysplit!"
Wednesday, November 21. 2012
Paul Laffoley - The Mad One
'Like Einstein, Paul Laffoley is reported to have been delayed in developing speech. He was thought to be mildly autistic. A brilliant youngster, he graduated from Brown but received several treatments of Electro-Convulsive Therapy before graduating. In spite of physical and emotional obstacles, Paul Laffoley developed into a soft spoken, functioning gentleman with a warm sense of humor. But also like Einstein, Laffoley is a “divergent” thinker. Laffoley’s determination and positive approach to life allowed him to overcome odds to become an architect; his creative thinking enabled him to become an internationally acclaimed visionary artist. Paul Laffoley tells his story in his own words in this documentary by Jean-Pierre Larroque. As Laffoley invites us into his world one easily wonders if this is a world of delusion or a world of someone gifted with a brilliant, unbounded imagination.
'The concept of psychiatric diagnoses becomes meaningless to the many who see Paul Laffoley as a genius whose unorthodox ideas inspire others to “think beyond the box,” to accept the challenge of their own creativity. Dr. Carol Larroque, leads a discussion about the concept of diagnosis, resiliency and “whether there exists a link between genius, creativity and emotional illness.” Jean-Pierre Larroque, the film’s director and narrator, participates as a discussant for this presentation.'
Thursday, November 8. 2012
Dr. Richard Milne: Critical Thinking On Climate Change
Dr. Richard Milne, from the School of Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University, presents Critical Thinking On Climate Change: Separating Skepticism From Denial...
Wednesday, October 31. 2012
We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists
'In recent years, the radical online community known as Anonymous has been associated with attacks or “raids” on hundreds of targets. Angered by issues as diverse as copyright abuse and police brutality, they’ve taken on child pornographers, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system and even forced a standoff with Mexican drug cartels. They’ve hit corporate targets like Sony, cyber-security firms like HBGary Federal and would-be web controllers like the Church of Scientology.
'They shut down Mastercard, Visa and Paypal after those groups froze financial transactions to Wikileaks. Along with other hacktivist groups like Telecomix, they’ve launched cyber attacks against foreign governments in support of the Arab Spring. They served as tech support for the Occupy movement and have put their mark on countless uprisings around the world. One participant described their protests as “ultra coordinated motherfuckery”.
'We Are Legion: The Story Of The Hacktivists takes us inside the complex culture and history of Anonymous. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, and then moves to Anonymous’ own raucous and unruly beginnings on the website 4Chan.
'Through interviews with current members - some recently returned from prison, others still awaiting trial - as well as writers, academics and major players in various “raids,” We Are Legion traces the collective’s breathtaking evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown, global movement, one armed with new weapons of civil disobedience for an online world.' (The Pirate Bay magnet link).
The full documentary is also available to watch on the YouTube stream below...
Tuesday, October 30. 2012
Warren Ellis: The Edge Of Reality
Warren Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes (most notably nanotechnology, cryonics, mind transfer, and human enhancement).
Monday, October 29. 2012
Elon Musk's Mission To Mars
How exactly is it that SpaceX can do everything so cheaply? Well, it would seem from this recent interview with Elon Musk that there are a couple of reasons in particular. The first being that there’s a tendency for big aerospace companies to outsource everything to subcontractors who then, bizarrely, outsource work to other subcontractors who subsequently - in what seems to be little more than an utter bureaucratic shambles by this point - outsource to other subcontractors and so on and so forth... ad nauseum. As one commenter aptly points out at the foot of this Wired article: "One reason for all that expensively administered subcontracting is that it pleases exactly those committees [who control NASA's funding]. The large projects they favor can subcontract in many different districts, whose congressmen then have a good reason to vote for NASA's budget. This means the committee members need not trade away any more of their political capital to get the projects that support contractors in their districts."
In short, SpaceX don't engage in this subcontracting farce but do it all themselves from the bottom up.
The other reason SpaceX can manufacture rockets so cheaply is to use an advanced welding technology called "stir welding" which can create as strong a structure as is currently manufactured using more conventional construction methods - but without the material wastage of machining thick aluminium plate. How can Elon tell us about this without generating competition from rival companies?
"The reason I can talk about it is that nobody else knows how to build a rocket this way," he laughs.
I have high hopes for Elon Musk and Space X despite some of his seemingly more outlandish pipe dreams like making a privately funded human trip to Mars possible. Is Elon Musk's head in the clouds? Hopefully, because that's the only sensible place to have it when talking about making humanity a multiplanetary species.
'When a man tells you about the time he planned to put a vegetable garden on Mars, you worry about his mental state. But if that same man has since launched multiple rockets that are actually capable of reaching Mars - sending them into orbit, Bond-style, from a tiny island in the Pacific - you need to find another diagnosis. That’s the thing about extreme entrepreneurialism: There’s a fine line between madness and genius, and you need a little bit of both to really change the world.
'All entrepreneurs have an aptitude for risk, but more important than that is their capacity for self-delusion. Indeed, psychological investigations have found that entrepreneurs aren’t more risk-tolerant than non-entrepreneurs. They just have an extraordinary ability to believe in their own visions, so much so that they think what they’re embarking on isn’t really that risky. They’re wrong, of course, but without the ability to be so wrong - to willfully ignore all those naysayers and all that evidence to the contrary - no one would possess the necessary audacity to start something radically new.' (Wired Science article).
Thursday, October 25. 2012
Skylon - The Key To Economic Access To Space?
'SKYLON is the successor to Britain's HOTOL spaceplane concept, being developed by Reaction Engines Ltd (REL). It is an unpiloted fully reusable aircraft-like vehicle capable of transporting 12 tonnes of cargo into space and is intended as a replacement for expensive expendable launchers in the commerical market.
'The SKYLON vehicle consists of a slender fuselage containing propellant tankage and payload bay, with delta wings attached midway along the fuselage carrying the SABRE engines in axisymmetric nacelles on the wingtips.
'The vehicle takes off and lands horizontally on it's own undercarriage.
'The SABRE engines have a dual mode capability. In rocket mode the engine operates as a closed cycle Lox/Lh2 high specific impulse rocket engine. In air-breathing mode (from take-off to Mach 5) the liquid oxygen flow is replaced by atmospheric air, increasing the installed specific impulse 3-6 fold. The airflow is drawn into the engine via a 2 shock axisymmetric intake and is cooled to cryogenic temperatures prior to compression. The hydrogen fuel acts as a heatsink for the closed cycle helium loop before entering the combustion chamber.
'The vehicle takes off and lands using a relatively conventional retractable undercarriage. By special attention to the brake system it has proved possible to achieve an acceptably low undercarriage mass. However, a heavily reinforced runway will be needed to tolerate the high equivalent single wheel load.
'At the start of the take-off roll the vehicle weighs 275 tonnes, whilst maximum landing weight is 55 tonnes. At take-off the vehicle carries approximately 66 tonnes of liquid hydrogen and approximately 150 tonnes of liquid oxygen for the ascent.
'The ground handling operations will be carried out using a standard aircraft tractor and a bonded goods cargo building permitting overhead loading and protection from the elements. For safety and operational simplicity the cryogenic propellants are loaded subcooled without venting of vapour. Cryogen loading is automatic through services connecting in the undercarriage wells whilst the vehicle is stood on the fuelling apron.'