We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Another day to wait for Falcon This statement was released last night:
Falcon 1 Maiden Flight Update: Posted March 22, 2006
No major issues were discovered following the static fire, but, as a cautionary measure, we are going to take one more day to review data and verify system functionality. Launch is now scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. California time.
Elon Musk
Ed: While you wait… Watch the engine test video.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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I’d keep my fingers crossed, but for the fear of doing damage to my typing and courting. They’re crossed internally, if you see what I mean.
Is Falcon 1 another rocket?
Bert Rutan(a true genius) has already built a ‘space-plane’ powered by rubberised fuel, also rocket, and it is worth noting that the original State programmes of the USA were based on that same ‘air-space’ craft concept, the intention being to utilise the X-15 data and experience.
Ballistic rockets only became the norm after the Soviets frightened everybody with the crude, dirty solution of Sputnik.
Then it all became a race to do ‘things’ first.
Not best.
Elon’s goals are good enough for me. Make lots of money and put his own arse in space.
Dale,
They sound like an excellent couple of objectives. That is just what we need.
I think it was 1521 that the Chinese discovered America. But it was a massively expensive, state-funded, project which failed because of lots of reasons, but basically short-sightedness about the ability to turn a profit out of the enterprise. The smaller-scale, utterly mercenary, European efforts of slightly later worked and the rest is history.
Best of luck to Falcon, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to buy you a pint at L5!
I don’t mind how long I wait for a Falcon. I prefer my Ashtons anyway.
Hmmm…eliminate NASA and delegate all space to the private sector. Cool. Let us mine the asteroids.
fred_says,
Let us mine the asteroids.
That isn’t even economic in Elite.
Let’s keep it real people.
That “1421” book puts forward some highly dubious arguments, to say the least. But I found it valuable in that it put Columbus in perspective. And it reinforced the argument that it isn’t really who first does something that counts, it’s who stays with it and makes money at it.
You mean its affordable for taxpayers to pay for comet landings for research, but not for private companies to send miners to asteroids?