missing links?

[jazzfish]

Private human spaceflight project revealed: "It is thought a flight will be attempted before the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight in December." X-Prize, here we come!

For $2, a Bottle of Wine and Change: "'It's amazing how much wine is out there and how inexpensive it is. I wish I could run my car with it.'"

Right to Read: "'It's difficult now to judge motivations, but the Justice Department has been quite hostile to attempts to change the law.... Now that they have the powers, they don't seem to want to give them back.'"

F.B.I. Opens Inquiry Into Seizure of Documents From Associated Press: "Upon seeing that the package contained an [unclassified -ed.] F.B.I. report related to terrorism in the Philippines, the inspector notified the F.B.I., which seized the document without notifying FedEx or The Associated Press, officials said."

And finally, from skreidle and others: You Can Even Just Be Standing There All Innocent And Happy
A California man was struck and killed by a 600-pound boulder Saturday while fly fishing in Big Thompson Canyon. Boom. Just like that. This is how it can happen. Tragic and shocking and weird and stunning. Frank Misso Jr., 38, of Paradise, Calif., died at the scene. Misso and a friend were fishing in the canyon near Drake, about 70 miles northwest Denver, when the boulder came loose about 5 p.m. Investigators believe boulder's fall was an accident. So there you go. Do you really need further proof? Do you need some further incentive to carpe the damn diem? See how it can happen? Forget terrorists and earthquakes and epic catastrophes and stepping off the curb and getting smacked by a bus. Fly fishing. Boulder. Convergence of the twain. You understand? Now get moving. (source: The Morning Fix)

Real update later today. Short form: aced Meursault, Changeling good, next paper kicking my ass with six days to go, "Sing Along" decreed Song Most Likely To Get Stuck In Your Head And Never Come Out.

Comments

X-Prize...

[blaisepascal]

There are others who are going for the X-Prize who are much-more open about what they are doing than Burt Rutan is.

John Carmack, most famous for creating Quake, is working on an X-Prize vehicle as well, with his efforts documented at Armadillo Aerospace. He's also an investor in XCOR Aerospace, a company that designs and sells reusable liquid rocket engines, with aims towards supplying a burgening space tourism industry.

Burt Rutan famously said he wasn't going to work on the X-Prize until the prize was fully funded, which told a lot of people that while he was technically capable and highly skilled, he didn't care about space exploration but was interested in the money and PR. It also means that Rutan probably won't be going back once the prize is won.

Carmack, on the otherhand, modified his design and development program to meet the goals of the X-Prize after it was fully funded -- the X-Prize vehicle is less technologically modest than what he wanted, but faster to build. The X-Prize is now developement stage I, and the original idea is Stage II. If Rutan wins the X-Prize race, Carmack will just shift back to his original plans.

There's also the Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society, an amateur, non-profit venture out in California working on a long-term (10 years so far) goal of inexpensive, reusable, manned space vehicles. Their goal has not been met by anyone to date. According to them, the Shuttle is not reusable because part of the launch vehicle is discarded in flight and the entire ship is refurbished between flights. Think airline operations (between flights, crews load/unload, refuel, and do a safety inspection) not shuttle operations (between flights, the engines are broken down and refurbished, the fuel tank is replaced, the entire skin is inspected, etc). Their program is experimental, in that they fly engines, test out new technologies, etc, using one-change-at-a-time experimental protocols. One of their goals is to fly the first rocket powered by an aerospike engine. To date, all aerospike testing worldwide has been static tests or mounted on planes powered by other engines.

[zerblinitzky.livejournal.com]

Two Buck Chuck: I bet it's godawful wine though. Then again, I am not a huge fan of wines in general.
Carpe Diem: Y'know, looked at another way, that's a reason not to seize any days. Any boulder that's going to kill me as I sit here has to bash its way through at least one wall and some piles of shtuff first. Probably slow it down some.

[vond.livejournal.com]

Armadillo Aerospace is much more fun - they have weekly status reports and movies. And it's basically a rich geek doing it for fun, not so much for the money, which is damn cool.

[zerblinitzky.livejournal.com]

I dunno... Rocket Guy has a soft spot in my heart. That dude is so gonna blow himself up...