Rockets Are Hard. Moral Grandstanding Is Easy.
Private space is messy, loud, and sometimes explosive. But without it, the Moon would be mostly rhetoric and Mars a screensaver.
Rockets
36 posts
Old Fire, New Fire: Why SLS and Starship Burn So Differently
A clear look at why SLS and Starship represent two very different rocket philosophies, from propellant choice to reuse.
To the Naysayers: Shards of Envy in the Golden Age of SpaceX
A defense of SpaceX’s messy progress, arguing that broken test flights can become part of the design’s strength.
Alcohol in Space Travel: Fuel for Humans and Rockets?
Alcohol in space is more than a joke: it touches chemistry, culture, propulsion, and the rituals humans carry with them.
Starship Soars: Flight 11 Triumphs and V3 Sets Sights on the Stars
Starship Flight 11 becomes a bridge between today’s test campaign and the larger ambitions of the V3 architecture.
Flight 10, Starship, and the Art of Learning by Fire
Starship Flight 10 shows how SpaceX turns dramatic failure modes into data for the next design iteration.
SpaceX’s Starship Flight 10: MarkSetBot Buoy Makes a Splash in the Indian Ocean Landing
A small buoy in the Indian Ocean becomes an unexpected witness to Starship’s increasingly precise flight-test choreography.
Starship Flight 10: first payload deploy, controlled splashdown — and a curious nudge at the airlock
Starship Flight 10 combines major milestones with one odd airlock moment that makes the test especially worth unpacking.
Honda’s Rocket Road Trip: From Civics to the Cosmos
Honda’s rocket ambitions suggest that precision manufacturing may travel farther than anyone expected from the automotive world.
Resonance: When the Universe Finds Its Frequency
Resonance can create music, destruction, and unexpected engineering trouble when systems find the frequency they cannot ignore.
Starship 9: A Cosmic Adventure with a Stubborn Door and a Stuttering Start
Starship 9’s awkward details make the test memorable, showing how small mechanisms can complicate giant ambitions.
Starship Flight 9: Skipping the Rehearsal, Aiming for the Stars
Skipping a rehearsal can look reckless or efficient; Starship Flight 9 offers evidence for both interpretations.
Rotating Detonation Rocket Engines: A New Frontier in Propulsion
Rotating detonation engines promise a propulsion leap by turning controlled explosions into continuous, efficient thrust.
The Hadamard Code: From Mars to Single-Pixel Cameras
The Hadamard code links deep-space imaging and clever cameras through a beautiful trick of mathematics.
The Wolfram Physics Project: Ambition, Innovation, and Questions of Power Dynamics
Stephen Wolfram’s physics project is ambitious and provocative, raising questions about insight, authority, and scientific persuasion.
Advancements in Heat Shield Technology for Safe Spacecraft Re-entry
Modern heat shields are evolving quickly because coming home safely remains one of spaceflight’s hardest problems.
Lunar Exploration: Rolling vs. Trudging – A Quirky Exploration with our Four-Legged Friends
On the Moon, the choice between wheels and legs is really a question about terrain, energy, and mission style.
The Galactic Chronicles: A Tour Through the Universe of Space Mission Names
Mission names are more than labels; they carry mythology, politics, branding, and the emotional charge of exploration.
To Infinity and Beyond: The Magnetic Pull of SpaceX Launches on Space Enthusiasts and the Cosmic Race
SpaceX launches attract devoted watchers because they combine spectacle, uncertainty, and the feeling of history being made live.
Battles of the Future: Elon Musk vs. The Envious Titans of Industry
A combative look at why established industries react so strongly when Musk’s companies move faster than expected.
The FAA's Rocket Blockade: A Tale of Bureaucracy and Space
The FAA’s role in launches raises a hard question: when does safety oversight become a brake on space progress?
The Great Slosh: Rocket Fuel's Dance and How We Keep It in Check
Rocket propellant does not sit still, and controlling its motion is essential to steering a vehicle safely.
The Curious Tale of Fritz Lang and the Rocket Countdown: When Hollywood Meets Rocket Science
The rocket countdown owes more to cinema than many realize, blending dramatic timing with real launch discipline.
Why Rockets Love the Equator and How Tall Your Hill Needs to Be to Woo Them
Equatorial launches exploit Earth’s spin, but the perfect launch site involves more than latitude and elevation.
When Clouds Formed Inside NASA and How SpaceX Changed the Rocket Game
NASA’s old constraints and SpaceX’s new methods reveal how culture can shape the pace of rocket innovation.
Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies (RUDs): A Historical Perspective on Space Exploration
Rapid unscheduled disassembly sounds comic, but it captures a long history of learning through violent hardware lessons.
Rockets and Movie Bombs: A Tale of Suspenseful Countdowns
Rocket countdowns and movie bombs share a dramatic grammar that turns waiting into unbearable suspense.
Decoding Rocket Science: From Space-Bound Vessels to Model Rockets
From model rockets to launch vehicles, rocket size is really a negotiation among mass, thrust, drag, and purpose.
The Environmental Impact of Rocket Launches: A Comparative Analysis
Rocket launches look dramatic, but their environmental impact needs comparison, context, and careful accounting.
Flight Termination Systems in Spaceflight: A Historical Overview and a Look at SpaceX's Starship Incident
Flight termination systems are grim but essential, protecting people when rockets stop behaving like rockets should.
Igniting the Future: OpenRocket's Potential for the Next Generation
OpenRocket shows how accessible simulation tools can turn curiosity into real engineering intuition for future builders.
Rocket Launches and the Gravity Turn: Navigating Space on a Cosmic Curve
The gravity turn explains why rockets arc into orbit instead of simply climbing straight toward space.
Rocket Engines, Acoustics, and the Resonance of Launch
Rocket launches are acoustic events as much as mechanical ones, and vibration can be a serious engineering enemy.
Calculating the Ideal Size of a Rocket Engine and the Decision to Combine Multiple Engines
Choosing rocket engine size is a balancing act between thrust, reliability, plumbing, cost, and mission flexibility.
The First Flight of SpaceX's Starship: A Leap Forward Despite Aborted Test
Starship’s first flight test failed loudly but still marked a consequential step in reusable heavy-lift development.
3D Printing in Rocket Building: A Technological Revolution by Skyrora and Relativity Space
3D printing is changing rocket manufacturing by collapsing complexity, speeding iteration, and challenging old production assumptions.