and the guy who built a 1/10 scale, 1600lb Saturn V rocket then flew it in Maryland is definitely on the line. In all seriousness, though, this is very cool in a way that cool is not normally measured.

Discussion here and here about a study being done by The Aerospace Corporation (full disclosure: they're my employer) comparing an EELV launch solution to the Ares program NASA is working on. In later-breaking news, others say that the study isn't done yet, so no conclusions can be drawn. I can't wait to see the report.

I'm attending the CubeSat Conference at Cal Poly SLO. Almost 120 organizations are represented. The energy is high, and the future looks bright for a lot of launch opportunities due to efforts such as going on at The Naval Postgraduate School. Nothing huge going on for TEMPO other than data gathering and contact making, because we're going to do a high-altitude balloon flight first.

Given the delay of the US Mars Science Laboratory and now the likely delay of the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission, we may have the first launch window to Mars since 1996 where there isn't a mission launched to the Red Planet. That's a sad state of affairs, and while there will likely be two launches in 2011, I haven't seen a coherent plan for the years beyond.

Growing up, I was more a fan of Arthur C. Clarke instead of Isaac Asimov. I think I tried to read an Asimov book when I was too young and then felt he was over my head. Anyway, I'm currently getting caught up on some great books on CD as I commute to work and other locations, and right now I'm on the Foundation Series. Right now I'm on book 2, but they go pretty quick and I have book 3 at the ready.

Some of the stuff about an empire in decline is a little spooky, given current events...

Bob Park, a University of Maryland Physics professor, is not a big fan of the manned space program. As I interpret his writings, he's of the opinion that space exploration is purely for the production of scientific papers, which robotic exploration can provide much more efficiently than crewed spaceflight. So, this article, where someone in Japan says they're going to have their own walking robot on the moon by 2020 should make him happy.

Here is a map of networks of optical bolide trackers. I think there should be more of them, and that it would be a good role for amateurs.