Just to illustrate how NASA and the MIC are complicit, they have transferred the X-37 project to the Pentagon. Which I guess means we won't be seeing private enterprises working with scramject crafts in the near future. Instead you're more likelly to hear about it on the conspiracy-nut webpages about a new military craft in the next Gulf War or something.
Braukus said Scaled Composites would be involved in the X-37 approach and landing demonstrations next year, but could not say whether the Mojave-based company would be using the White Knight or some other aircraft. The B-52 aircraft that NASA normally uses for such drop tests would not be used, a decision made by the agency now in charge of the X-37 program, he said. "The cost analysis favored Scaled Composites," Braukus said.
Scaled Composites spokeswoman Kay LeFebvre would not confirm the company's involvement in the planned dropped tests and referred questions about the White Knight's role in the X-37 program to American Mojave Aerospace Ventures. That company, a Paul Allen and Burt Rutan partnership that owns SpaceShipOne and its carrier aircraft, recently announced that it would make its first official try for the
$10 million Ansari X-Prize Sept. 29.
So at least Scaled Composites are still involved, but it strikes one that this is just not right that scramjet technology should fade behind the curtain of military secrets.
We Can Get Together
The Germans are building an Icehouse down in Antarctica based on the ESA's space tech.
ESA's original designs for a SpaceHouse-based Neumayer III called for a tough outer shell of extremely lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), used in spacecraft solar arrays and antennas, as opposed to the traditional steel or aluminum.
Despite its spindly-leg appearance, the structure is designed to withstand earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter scale as well as howling wind gusts of 136 miles (220 kilometers) an hour. The size of a SpaceHouse can be scaleable, anywhere from 39 feet (12 meters) to 131 feet (40 meters) in diameter and up to five floors.
"The old, buried station was just a simple structure in terms of construction, a steel tube with no windows," said Gampe. "You may wonder what people would see outside in the Antarctic but, although it's bare and naked, looking outside can be comforting."
In addition to providing a glimpse of the outer world, SpaceHouse's smooth, aerodynamic exterior would also prevent snow from accumulating around the structure. The new station's vehicle garage, however, will most likely still be beneath the surface.
So it's interesting that the Europeans are working on such projects. Which brings me around to our pet rant around here, "Why can't Australia contribute to this sort of thing..."
It's the vision thing, isn't it?
Crazy - The Greatness of Barry, The Greatness of Randy
Barry Bonds is on target to join the 700 Homerun club, inhabited by only Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Sadaharu Oh of Japan is in the 800 Homerun club, but he didn't do it in the majors so he gets no respect here. It's all about respect, you see?
Milwaukee manager Ned Yost can't fathom why the public doesn't embrace Bonds. "Man, if you don't have respect for Barry Bonds by now, something's wrong somewhere," Yost said.
The same fans who boo pitchers for walking him, however, jeer Bonds at every ballpark other than his own.
"I just think if you're getting booed in every ballpark, you're doing something right," Yost said. "I remember Dale Earnhardt told me his goal, when he was real good, was as soon as that black car got pushed out on the racetrack that everybody in the
stadium would boo like crazy. Then he started struggling and everybody loved him. ... His goal was always to get his boos back because he knew he was really (ticking) people off by being dominant. I think booing in a visiting park is a great form of respect."
Damn it, the man is like a homerun hitting machine. Unyielding, unstoppable, and somehow unpopular. Go figure, but it must be racism, right? Or am I going too far in spelling it out,
R-A-C-I-S-M!!!!! - *Ugh*
And then there's Randy Johnson (a.k.a. the only good mullet-wearer) who is having one of the best seasons a lefty-hurler has had, on a team that is putting up the worst record this season. The link is to a freeibie out at baseball prospectus withe Derek Zumsteg writing, but here's something he's quoting that is interesting:
As Rany put it: "I dare say that Johnson, as much as Barry Bonds, is redefining
what a player can do in his 40s. There is not only no reason whatsoever to think
Johnson is slipping, there's reason to believe he's actually getting better. In particular, his control has improved markedly, much as Nolan Ryan's did at around the same age. The difference is that Johnson had better control to begin with, and now he's actually one of the best control pitchers in the league. Since the start of last season, Johnson has walked 68 batters in 329 2/3 innings, or 1.86 walks per nine."
Yes, that's dominance in a can; Dominance in a nutshell; Dominance in a easy-to-open package; Dominance as authentic and vintage as they come. Would you like some Dominance? Johnson is having the ninth best seaosn a pitcher has had since 1945. As Mr. Zumsteg says, it is indeed history in the making.
Today's Theme is...
Inadvertently, today's theme seems to have been Iva Davies and Icehouse. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'll post up a review of one of their albums soon. Guess I'll have to do a Rob Gordon and root around for it. :)
- Art Neuro
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