Patrick Chiles's Blog, page 11

Uninspiring

After getting our hopes up last February, Dennis Tito’s Inspiration Mars project has finally released the results of their mission architecture study. Apparently they ran head-on into Grissom’s Law: No bucks, no Buck Rogers. There’s really no other way to interpret this in my unprofessional opinion. Their presentation to Congress last week feels like a […]

Skunked

In the “it’s about @#$&! time” department, Aviation Leak & Classified Technology reminds us that the Skunk Works has still got it: In a detailed report in the Nov. 4 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Senior Editor Guy Norris lifts the wraps on the SR-72’s cutting-edge design, including a propulsion breakthrough that would […]

Taming the Beast

Via Behind the Black, a harrowing story of steely-eyed missile men that arrives just in time for the 30th anniversary of that space-age classic, The Right Stuff: Debugging a Live Saturn V. As we got closer to the Saturn V it was shrouded in a white cloud of venting gases which relieved the pressures building […]

Got Grammar?

So I guess this is for real: Darwin might argue that we’d all be better off in the long run if douchebags like these WEREN’T insured. Weed ‘em out now before it’s too late! There’s so much WRONG in here it’s hard to decide where to begin, but here’s a helpful hint for all you […]

Free Falling

Went to see “Gravity” this afternoon, and, well…HOLY CRAP IF IT ISN’T THE BEST $%#@!& SPACE MOVIE EVER.* What’s really great about it is this isn’t science fiction…it’s just highly realistic fiction in a spectacular setting. I don’t know what else to say except “stunning”. If you’re thinking about seeing it, don’t think. Just GO. […]

Obamaha Beach

The Marines who took Iwo Jima were not about to be turned away by a bunch of silly barricades and the asshats who tried to keep them out. Just when you thought Shutdown Theater couldn’t get any more absurd, President Dronekiller decides that he has the authority to shut down open-air monuments, close off public […]

Into the Sunset

Anyone who’s read Perigee can probably tell that Tom Clancy was a major inspiration of mine. I first discovered him in 1985 while still a cadet at The Citadel. After three years of mediocre-to-piss-poor academic performance, I was finally this close to making the Dean’s List my senior year…and I will forever blame Mr. Clancy […]

Super Sunday

While the rest of us were laying around on our butts watching football, the geeks were busy inheriting the Earth…or rather the sky above us. Orbital Science’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station, making it the second commercial launch provider to do so: Meanwhile, the first commercial operator to reach the ISS […]

Why I Believe

Here’s a perfect example of why our government should be limited to the duties spelled out for it in the constitution: Stimulus Funds Paid for Trees in High-Income Neighborhoods Now, I have nothing against high earners and fancy homes. I aspire to it. But this is what happens when Uncle Sam takes it upon himself […]

The Daily Awesome

THIS: Now that’s a view. Here’s the story at Slate.