Featured Articles

Start-up Firm Building New Space Capsule System

No links to this YET - but the October issue of Popular Science reports on a firm called T/Space which is developing, with NASA backing, and some project collaboration with Rutan's Scaled Composites, a capsule system called the CXV or Crew Transfer Vehicle capable of carrying three or four astronauts to low Earth orbit, and returning for a wet landing, like the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo had.

The launcher is an aircraft launched propane & liquid oxygen rocket. The whole emphasis has been on economy and simplicity of design - and seems to be making some real progress - possibly having things ready to go b\y '08 or '09 - an unheard of timeline for NASA projects.

Best of all, this will be privately owned/operated, flying as contractors to NASA, or whoever else wants/needs to get to orbit. Meanwhile, NASA is proceeding with its plans for vehicles to replace the shuttles also apparently based on a larger, more advanced capsule design for personnel, and a heavy lift cargo launcher, for well, cargo. NASA doesn;t plan to be ready to fly before 2012 at best, so the T/Space CVX could fill a gap to help keep the International Space Station in business until then.

The folks at T/Space emphasize that they are NOT building a shuttle replacement - but perhaps a modern replacement for the truly antiquated Soyuz technology.

This is truly good news - the US must maintain an effective capability for space, if for no other reason, to prevent a default ceding of the ultimate high ground to China, Russia, or whoever else goes after it.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has endorsed the confirmation of John Roberts to replace William Rehnquist.This week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings have been fascinating on several fronts, not the least for their jab-and-parry-exchanges between senators and Supreme Court nominee John Roberts....

CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) wound up with a photo on their front page the other day featuring a couple of women without the hijab. Was this a problem? Heck, no; they just Photoshopped each of the women to get...

In blaming FEMA and POTUS for the disasterous response to Katrina, the Press seems altogether uninterested in how these relief efforts compare to past Hurricaines. Here's Jack Kelly from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National...

Since the Chief, and many otherc commented on the design for the monument in Pennsylvania to Flight 93 that was hijacked on 9-11, and which crashed as the passengers fought to regain control of the aircraft which was apparently on the way to attack D.C. There have been a couple of interesting follow-up items of interest.

Tancredo Questions Shape of 9/11 Memorial

Firstly, Colorado GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo, who is one of the few in COngress that is openly and consistantly opposing our de-facto open border policies, has expressed his own sense of concern over the approved crescent design.

A congressman is asking the U.S. government to reconsider the crescent-shaped design of the memorial to those aboard a plane hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, because some may think it honors the terrorists.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Republican, says the design, called "Crescent of Embrace," could invite "controversy and criticism." In a letter sent Tuesday to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, Tancredo said many have questioned the shape "because of the crescent's prominent use as a symbol in Islam _ and the fact that the hijackers were radical Islamists."

...and, in response, CAIR sounded off with some unhappiness. (Time for the waaambulance again: waa-waa, waa-waa, waa-waa.)

CAIR: CO Rep's 'Crescent' Comments a Ploy to Gain Publicity
GOP Leaders Urged to Repudiate Tancredo's Islamophobic Views

The Council on American-Islamic Relations Council of Angry Islamofascist Radicals (CAIR) today dismissed Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-CO) comments on the design of a memorial to those aboard a plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11 as a cynical political ploy designed to gain national attention.

(Emphasis added.)

"...those aboard a plane that crashed..."??????? Hello? The plane just happened to crash, or something? Even knowing the Islamofascist nature of these traitorous weasels, this leaves the Cheif breathless in amazement. They truly have no shame at all, and the diversity crowd says we need to respect this? As we used to say when I was on active duty before the mast on a guided missile destroyer: "I might, but I f------g doubt it!"

-----Original Message-----From: Schaff, JonSent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 9:54 PMTo: Blanchard, Kenneth; Grettler, DavidSubject: A Very Important Question This came up in Presidency class. If you become a vampire or a zombie, do you have to pay the inheritance tax?...

One simple thing, really: Joe-Joe Biden loves him some TV camera time. And that's understated, perhaps. Biden, Leahy, and Chuck Schumer. Does it get any better than that? I caught some of the hearing off and on yesterday, and have...

These people interviewed by ABC at the Astrodome must not have gotten the memo: ABC News producers probably didn't hear what they expected when they sent Dean Reynolds to the Houston Astrodome's parking lot to get reaction to President Bush's...

A Message from tdaxp

Send feedback to danhabbott@gmail.com

Browse the Archives

What's New with the Blogs

South Dakota Blogs

American Blogs

Pro-Freedom, Anti-Terror

South Dakota Blog Alliance

RadioActive Chief, Ryen McClaren, Sibby Online, South Dakota Politics, Straight Talk

tdaxp Blog Network

Jim River Report, tdaxp, Bloglines, Cobuyitaphobia, Junk Politics

Breaking News

South Dakota Mainstream Media

American Mainstream Media

British Mainstream Media

Everyone Else

Jim River Report Archives

1. today
2. this month
3. this year

How Popular is the Jim River Report?