tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post200990021581560646..comments2024-03-28T16:22:14.888-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: Neil Armstrong, RIPUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-84349207506941408502012-09-06T17:59:00.550-07:002012-09-06T17:59:00.550-07:00I have to say, this is my favorite obituary and tr...I have to say, this is my favorite obituary and tribute to Neil Armstrong out of the flood we've been weltered in since his death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70025699380740436692012-08-30T19:57:01.168-07:002012-08-30T19:57:01.168-07:00As a total space nerd at the time, I'm surpris...As a total space nerd at the time, I'm surprised I completely missed an Armstrong quote that now seems widely circulated on the Internet. Maybe others also haven't seen it...<br /><br /><i>“I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul ... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.”</i> - Neil Armstrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-32154385949785816292012-08-29T05:22:27.750-07:002012-08-29T05:22:27.750-07:00if the idea that all men are created equal was the...<i>if the idea that all men are created equal was the underpinning of the US system, the eventual crumbling of the edifice was only a matter of time. A large proportion of the population still thinks that the magical institutions and laws of the United States can transform Mexicans into the sort of people who could send a man to the moon. Unfortunately, sending a man to the moon is the sort of job that Mexicans just won't do.</i><br /><br />First of all, the DoI is not law. Second, no document is above selective interpretation:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html" rel="nofollow">DoI</a><br /><br /><i>We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.</i><br /><br />(I should point out that the selective interpretation has become so bad that <i>components of this sentence</i> are now being used against one another: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness are being trampled in the tendentious pursuit of "all men are created equal," despite the fact that the latter is but a description, and the former enumerated of Rights.)<br /><br />Among the grievances against George:<br /><br /><i>He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.</i><br /><br />So, we have within the <i>very same document</i> a refutation of the idea that "all men are created equal" is tantamount to modern "anti-racism."Svigorhttp://svigor.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-13867302467682156852012-08-29T05:13:31.178-07:002012-08-29T05:13:31.178-07:00among much else, a single combat (e.g., David v. G...<i>among much else, a single combat (e.g., David v. Goliath)</i><br /><br />David vs Goliath is one of the worst examples to illustrate single combat. It's a better illustration of "he brought a knife to a gunfight," really.Svigorhttp://svigor.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-46627745929997011252012-08-28T19:18:31.497-07:002012-08-28T19:18:31.497-07:00I'd rather pay a billion to some Cal Tech geek...I'd rather pay a billion to some Cal Tech geeks to build and send out the Rover than pay the billion to cover the tab for illegals and incompetents. Cedric the Interlopernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47900063634060404062012-08-27T22:44:59.886-07:002012-08-27T22:44:59.886-07:00"I agree they look the sh*t, but is it really..."I agree they look the sh*t, but is it really worth billions? Nor does it matter the reply that,"yes, but the government spends billions in other ways that are less productive". So then they should also shut down those as well. "<br /><br />The pics are for the public to consume. And they are cool. But the rover will be analyzing the surface of Mars, and also has acted as a proof of concept for the technology. Curiosity rover is 10x the mass of the previous rovers, and required different technology.<br /><br />You can't just go straight to colonization or even mineral extraction without proving the technology first.<br /><br />And who knows what effect this will have. Revolutionary science usually takes the resources of a government. The space program is very minimal in terms of total cost, and is potentially a modern day Louisiana Purchase in terms of its future influence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9583306387149165172012-08-27T22:01:53.521-07:002012-08-27T22:01:53.521-07:00"Anonymous said...
Space travel requires not..."Anonymous said...<br /><br />Space travel requires not so much high technology as it requires high energy. Chemical fuels, even liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, go only so far. To really open up the solar system efficiently and inexpensively requires nuclear power. Imagine flying from Earth to Mars in less than a week!"<br /><br />Unfortunately, it's not that simple. What is really required for manned space-flight is not high energy, but high power and a high power-to-mass ratio. Nuclear systems are not very good at delivering that.Mr. Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50219212048447252212012-08-27T20:25:32.882-07:002012-08-27T20:25:32.882-07:00Its cool for cool sake, but frankly, not spending ...Its cool for cool sake, but frankly, not spending money on the space program is one wise thing Obama did. America doesn't do things for the right reasons anymore. <br /><br />When the space race occurred, a man on the moon wasn't done to be cool, it was done to psychologically best the Soviets in front of the world, and to develop the technology to compete with and stay ahead of them. At the time, people really thought the Soviet Union was a powerhouse (and in some ways it was as they allocated massive amounts of GDP towards military, etc. at the expense of other more basic things).<br /><br />The cold war aggressor of today, China is far behind us technologically in space. <br /><br />We just spent billions for the rover, for what, some cool pictures?<br /><br />I agree they look the sh*t, but is it really worth billions? Nor does it matter the reply that,"yes, but the government spends billions in other ways that are less productive". So then they should also shut down those as well. <br /><br />The fact is, if we are doing it, it should be for a purpose like mining a rare earth metal (if it is profitable after deducting the cost) or to set up a colony, etc. But America no longer has the balls to be a colonizer or do things for a purpose instead of noblesse oblige. If we haven't got the balls to do it for any other reason than a vague notion that it is to 'benefit mankind', or send pics that college kids can stick on their dorm room doors, or open the door for other countries to profit who have less cobwebs in the brain, then why bother to spend billions, esp. during a deep recession?Babanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-66933931237820811572012-08-27T19:39:08.753-07:002012-08-27T19:39:08.753-07:00"The head of the recently succesful Mars Land..."The head of the recently succesful Mars Landing program and NASA's badass Jet Propulsion Lab is Firouz Naderi, an Iranian-American. The crucial parachute that enabled the landing was devised by Anita Sengupta, an Indian-American."<br /><br />The Asian Century.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-41813093809397628402012-08-27T17:16:02.646-07:002012-08-27T17:16:02.646-07:00God, it must kill a lot of you guys that Mars Curi...<i>God, it must kill a lot of you guys that Mars Curiosity control room featured women, an old hippie from Santa Cruz, some rockabilly guy, and a hunky Iranian dude with a mohawk.</i><br /><br />I for one laaugh at the scaarcity of stoodent atleets hired under AA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-18134541249392281672012-08-27T17:07:23.711-07:002012-08-27T17:07:23.711-07:00Re "If they can send a man to the moon why ca...Re "If they can send a man to the moon why cant they send them all there?" Aww the poor lesbians. It cant be easy being around all those lovely young women and knowing that men will get them ALL. Ha ha ha. joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-18441507739945828722012-08-27T15:08:15.383-07:002012-08-27T15:08:15.383-07:00God, it must kill a lot of you guys that Mars Curi...God, it must kill a lot of you guys that Mars Curiosity control room featured women, an old hippie from Santa Cruz, some rockabilly guy, and a hunky Iranian dude with a mohawk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-72395350388703385712012-08-27T10:48:59.251-07:002012-08-27T10:48:59.251-07:00"Lest we forget around 1969, the USA was at t..."Lest we forget around 1969, the USA was at the whitest it had ever been or ever will be, also the USA was undisputed top-dog industrially, militarily, economically..."<br /><br />And, 1969 roughly corresponds with Hubbert's Peak (for domestic oil production) after which we became increasingly dependent on foreign supplies. How much oil went into just Mercury-thru-Apollo, etc?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-78637395201785089072012-08-27T10:17:18.048-07:002012-08-27T10:17:18.048-07:00The technology of rocketry was not significantly d...<i>The technology of rocketry was not significantly different in the 1960s then it is today. An enormous amount of progress was made from the 1940s through the 1960s; not nearly so much after that.</i><br /><br />Space travel requires not so much high technology as it requires high energy. Chemical fuels, even liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, go only so far. To really open up the solar system efficiently and inexpensively requires nuclear power. Imagine flying from Earth to Mars in less than a week! Also think of the astronauts being exposed to only a week's worth of radiation in space rather than seven months, all thanks to nuclear power. But try telling that to nucleophobes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19280484618660821732012-08-27T10:06:14.051-07:002012-08-27T10:06:14.051-07:00Tom Wolfe got it half right: NASA's manned mis...<i>Tom Wolfe got it half right: NASA's manned missions were the U.S.'s version of Rome's gladiatorial spectaculars</i><br /><br />I thought pro sports and public schools where the U.S.'s version of Rome's hack-slash-fests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-31793989257539718962012-08-27T09:05:05.164-07:002012-08-27T09:05:05.164-07:00The space race benefitted from disparate impact cr...The space race benefitted from disparate impact craters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-83577424722983997112012-08-27T07:52:39.382-07:002012-08-27T07:52:39.382-07:00"Anonymous said...
I know it sounds nutty, b..."Anonymous said...<br /><br />I know it sounds nutty, but I have my lingering doubts that it actually happened given 1960s technology."<br /><br />The technology of rocketry was not significantly different in the 1960s then it is today. An enormous amount of progress was made from the 1940s through the 1960s; not nearly so much after that.Mr. Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-53175402466911431492012-08-27T06:20:28.714-07:002012-08-27T06:20:28.714-07:00Graffiti seen on a saloon wall (college neighborho...Graffiti seen on a saloon wall (college neighborhood) circa 1987:<br /><br />If they can send a man to the moon, why can't they send them all there?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-86146879441198829812012-08-27T03:06:45.565-07:002012-08-27T03:06:45.565-07:00One problem with the Space Race is that it over gl...One problem with the Space Race is that it over glorified the astronauts instead of the engineers who remained faceless for the most part.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-77469044302342806212012-08-27T01:23:21.863-07:002012-08-27T01:23:21.863-07:00'In May this year, the Certified Practicing Ac...'In May this year, the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia secured almost an hour of the former astronaut's time to discuss his 1969 expedition'<br /><br />The interview was conducted last year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73500640747871571872012-08-27T00:47:43.013-07:002012-08-27T00:47:43.013-07:00The public face of the space program was cover for...The public face of the space program was cover for the military - the serious defense - side of the space race to place spy, secure voice, and datalink communications (and later, the GPS) satellites into orbit (the USSR's surveillance and communications satellites were almost all dismal ultra-low-tech failures). Tom Wolfe got it half right: NASA's manned missions were the U.S.'s version of Rome's gladiatorial spectaculars - the civilian contracts for the space hardware formed the "panis" and the three-network TV coverage of the manned missions formed the "circenses" - which ginned up public support and revenue to pay for the serious, military side of the space race.<br /><br />So from the space program all the mil-industry-complex public trough grazers got fat contracts, and you and I got Tang.<br /><br />Nuch later, we hoi polloi got GPS, which most of us use about as much as we drink Tang; except, of course, when GPS is used against us in our "personal devices" by Leviathan's surveilling powers-that-be: those same powers that are now ramping up to deploy spy drones over us right here in the Land of the - ummm - Free (and not to keep ICE's peepers on our open border either).<br /><br />None of that detracts from Neil Armstrong's rightful place in the pantheon of America's technological meritocrat decisive action heroes, right up there with Orville and Wilbur Wright and Charles Lindbergh. But at least the Wrights succeeded on their own dime, and Lindbergh achieved his feat with minimal technology (even for his day, his aircraft and its equipment were bare bones) and on private investor dollars. Moreover, before Lindy won the Orteig Prize no politician or pundit laid any stress on potential consequences of Lindbergh failing to reach Paris - which was the direct opposite of the massive, epochal wager of national prestige that JFK laid on the line with his "before the decade is out" moon program imperative. There had been many failures to fly the New York to Paris prize route and none of the failures impacted the prestige of any of the nations of the aviators who failed - but failures in the space program were publicized as huge prestige nail-biters by domestic proponents and naysayers, and as exemplary national embarrassments by foreign propagandists (the Russkies, of course, never let on that their space program had mismanaged to kill a few of their cosmonauts - which was par for the course for a series of regimes whose top dogs never admitted how many millions of their own class-struggle-exempted workers they'd sentenced to zekhood or murdered). <br /><br />As technology grew more complex and became more tightly wedded to defense projects, government simply took over and used public funds to pay for tech programs - for many of which private industry lacked incentive and instead found its incentive in lucrative "military-industrial complex" public-funding of contracts to do R&D, design, testing, and implementation under the aegis of NASA, DARPA, NOAA, "black projects" and other government monstrosities thick with careerist bureaucrats, active duty military project managers, and good-old-boy network retired military officer consultants who became skilled at playing their kabuki parts for the amusement of Congress's appropriations panjandrums and the "access"-glutted punditocracy. You simply cannot imagine the Wrights or Lindbergh bowing and scraping so importunately before mere politicians (Lindbergh especially loathed Franklin Roosevelt).<br /><br />Most of all, Neil Armstrong was among the last of the greatest American breed of self-possessed, soundly educated, thoroughly trained, deeply experienced. competent, industrious, rational, cool-headed, admirable - and modest - men. So, Neil Armstrong, to quote John Wayne: "You did good, Pilgrim." Rest in Peace.Auntie Analoguenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22240979467136124482012-08-27T00:30:26.280-07:002012-08-27T00:30:26.280-07:00"
System Shock 2 pays the correct homage, one..."<br />System Shock 2 pays the correct homage, one of the ships is named the Von Braun. "<br /><br />here's an article on his vision of the future<br /><br />http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/07/wernher-von-brauns-martian-chronicles/<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-67332823446426553912012-08-27T00:23:08.840-07:002012-08-27T00:23:08.840-07:00"Come on, Steve! Objectively, Space Race was ..."Come on, Steve! Objectively, Space Race was a tie. Russians:sample return from the Moon, probe on Mars.<br /><br />To this, Americans: had first Venus probe,"<br /><br />Wut?<br /><br />The Venus landers were russian(and all of them broke in some bizarre way), the sample return, and mars probes crashed. Currently America is the undisputed Mars Champion.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54421967805528814662012-08-27T00:11:23.036-07:002012-08-27T00:11:23.036-07:00The Neil Armstrong interview.The Neil Armstrong <a href="http://thebottomline.cpaaustralia.com.au/#episode4" rel="nofollow">interview</a>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-35804140092026074732012-08-26T23:45:17.443-07:002012-08-26T23:45:17.443-07:00If not for the Vietnam war you probably wouldn'...<i>If not for the Vietnam war you probably wouldn't have the resounding economic success of the "Asian Tigers". That war was good for some local economies... </i><br /><br />The real credit must go to Pol Pot for showing Asia the real face of communism. Until then, it was the romantic antidote to Western imperialism. Until then, tiger economies could not exist (except for Japan) because most of east and southest Asia was gripped by communist-started civil wars.<br /><br />Pol Pot scared Asia straight, so to speak, and took the romantic wind out of communism. Liberation from Imperialism meant millions of workers and peasants "liberated" from life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com