The Laughing Wolf – Page 84 – Commentary, Punditry, and More

Dobbs

Actually, this is a dissection of the response to a post I made on Twitter, which was in response to an overly dramatic post by a celebrity. I’ve enjoyed that person’s work, even the occasional scenery chewing, but wasn’t surprised at the dramatics.

The majority of response were likes to a post that basically said “No uterus, no say” which is one of the most intellectually vacuous statements out there. It is a logical fallacy right off the top ten list, an effort to end discourse rather than engage in it. Twitter makes it hard to get an exact count, but it looks like 40 or so went that route rather than for discourse.

Then there was the bizarre take of “When the state wants to start castrating men, you’ll sing a different tune then. No state should be allowed to say what you can and can’t do with your body. End. Of. Story.” Looks like 20-30 went with this. This level of projection is worthy of a full-up psych study. Let’s dissect it a bit further.

The State is the Federal government, and if all power resides in it, then it can indeed do bad things. That’s a fundamental reason for The States to have power as a check and balance. Fundamental civics, well understood from the statements of the Founding Fathers. It’s also the reason for the First and Second Amendments since word would need to be spread of the abuse and the Second provides a means to address. Before you start screeching, you might want to check the Federalist Papers as well as the letters and writings of Thomas Jefferson and others such as Adams and Washington. As for the nukes and such, you might want to ask the Taliban and the Ukraine about how it is impossible to go up against a government with nukes, artillery, and aircraft. That take is a bit of idiocy others have already taken apart, will just refer all to the International Lord of Hate and his posts.

The next logical perversion/fallacy here is that not allowing abortion at will through or even after birth will somehow bring about The State decreeing all males must be castrated. Or, at least all those who don’t fully support abortion on demand, which is what I think is the actual psychological projection here. No basis in fact, no logical or illogical reason for it since if all are castrated there will be no future population, hence no future State. To call this fantasy bizarre is an understatement and it is in direct opposition to the fantasy of forced breeding and birth that seems to be popular.

Finally, the implied assumption is that either I and all other males will simply comply or be forced to submit. By whom? Are there some in the military or LE who would obey such and order and engage in such force? Sure. Are there a lot more that won’t? You bet. Scooter, which part of the population has both the weapons, the training, and even the service to handle those weapons (and more) and resist? Might want to think on that a bit, especially if you are proposing that you and your fellow citizens will make it happen. I may well be singing in the future. Heck, I might even be singing in a growing pile of hot brass. The one thing I will guarantee is that it won’t be in soprano.

Looks like about six went with “States rights is the most un-American argument ever. That’s how you make 50 little warring countries. UNITED States. It’s like, right there in the name.” Do they even teach civics anymore? History? This bit of risible idiocy has partially been dealt with above, but allow me to add that the Constitution was written to prevent that level of strife and that other than the War Between The States it has held. It has also allowed, to some degree, individual States to pass laws and try things so that other States could adopt if they proved to be good ideas. The incubator concept of the Founding Fathers clearly isn’t being taught anymore. For the record, I suspect my landlord’s cat has a better knowledge of civics than these people and I know my Algerian-born housemate does as he just finished earning his Citizenship when he passed his civics exam. Really thinking it would not be a bad idea to deny high school graduation or a GED to anyone who can’t pass that exam…

There are a couple of outliers, the obligatory mother forced at risk of her life to carry by the cold, cruel, uncaring state; unfuckables identifying themselves (based on some of the photos, not interested, even with someone else’s member); and it was a Constitutional right. No, it wasn’t. It was NOT an enumerated right, which was the entire problem. It’s one even RGB pointed out along with a solution. Solution not taken, so here we are.

Now, let’s deal with some reality rather than the feverswamp of dramatic fantasy. Dobbs puts abortion back to the States, who can for now decide what limits and other measures to put in place. It does not prevent the Federal government from passing legislation on abortion, and there will doubtless be pressure to do so.

Some States have already effectively banned abortion. Don’t like living in one of them? Then don’t move there or if you live there and can’t get it changed, move yourself to a state with laws you like. Live in a State that hasn’t yet made up its mind and passed laws regarding abortion? Get active and let your legislature and others know where you stand, from banning to abortion after birth. For those advocating the latter, may God have mercy on you.

Will any of the State laws keep you from traveling to another State to get an abortion? No. They never did. Will any of the State laws prevent treatment of ectopic pregnancy (which is NOT abortion FYI)? No. Will any of the State laws force a mother to carry to term even at risk to her health? No, not that I’ve seen. If you have a real citation otherwise, let’s see it. Will any State law force women to be prosecuted for a miscarriage? Again, no, not that I’ve seen. And again, if you have a real citation otherwise, let’s see it.

The truth is, absent a Federal law, we are going to see a range of options on abortion, from a near total ban to abortion-on-demand up until birth. Abortion tourism is going to be a thing, at least for a while. If New York and California don’t get into fight over who is the best destination for an abortion, I will be surprised.

Couple of quick side notes. First, as a small-l libertarian, ownership of our body is the core of most rights. It also, however, includes taking responsibility for what we do to and with that body. Second, our body sometimes does belong to the state, such as through military service. In the case of abortion, it’s about the life and body inside the woman’s body, as that life and body deserves to be protected as well.

UPDATE: Amazing the silence from the my body my choice types when asked where they stood on vaccine mandates…

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If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your help and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Please Help The Fundraiser

I hate to ask, but things are stalled and I really want to get moved as soon as possible. Now that we have all the medical stuff cleared as much as we can, I can concentrate on moving. The problem is, the costs on moving have about doubled in the last few months. Looking at ways to do it cheaper, but there are no guarantees.

If you can help, please donate at the official fundraiser site or, if you don’t trust GiveSendGo, then hit the tip jar in the upper right. Anything helps!

If you support but are in circumstances where you can’t help right now, please share the appeal and help me get the word out.

Most of all, your prayers and moral support are needed. It all helps, and I can’t say how much those have meant to me over the last few months.

Getting hit by lightning has not been fun, but with your help I am on track to survive, thrive, and start a new life. Thank you for your help!

Russia/Ukraine/Lithuania

Since the last update, the only thing that has changed in terms of Russia/Ukraine is that Russia is pushing hard in more areas in an effort to seize territory and cut off reinforcements from counter-attacking. Of course, that works both ways and the recent deep drone strike(s) by the Ukraine are designed to put the Russians on the defensive. Expect it to get even more brutal and nasty here soon, and for the latest information on the combat check out the OSINT people I link to on Twitter (@laughingwolfone) as a good start.

Not exactly a daring prediction, but expect the Russian push to intensify so that Vladimir can “annex” the most possible territory even if he doesn’t really control it. The announcement of annexation is also likely to declare that any attempt to defend (in areas he doesn’t really control) or to take back what they have seized will be an act of war by Ukraine and NATO.

Yes, I expect Vladimir to expand things as they’ve spent the last 20 or so years preparing the populace for war, even nuclear war, with NATO and the U.S. If you aren’t familiar with some of this, check out Kamil Galeev’s extensive work on this and related subjects.

Right now, Lithuania is pushing as hard as it can to make this a NATO/EU war by cutting off access to the Kaliningrad enclave. For those who know not history, Commander Salamander points out a rather unpleasant historical parallel.

The Baltic states have been pushing for this to be a NATO/EU war from the start, and on some levels it is hard to blame them. They know they are on the list to be brought into Russkiy Mir by force. Vladimir has just reinforced that with a series of comments and provocations against them and Denmark. That said, I am less than thrilled with their efforts and this latest by Lithuania has the potential to go sideways in a hurry. Then again, that’s why they are doing it.

There are those who are already calling this the Cold War 2, and saying it could last generations. On some levels, I hope they are right. There is far too great a potential for this to become a hot war on levels no one will like. It will take competent, knowledgeable, and strong leadership to navigate either a cold war or a hot, and frankly I don’t see that leadership anywhere in sight right now.

Some Previous Posts:

Vladimir And The Ukraine

Answers, Ramblings, And A Bit More On Vladimir And The Ukraine

Your Must Read For The Day On Russia

The Puzzles In Play, And The Missing Pieces

Quick Thoughts On Ukraine/Putin

The Thing Behind The Curtain

Missing Pieces And Surprise Pieces

Accuracy, Reliability, And More

Putin, Trump, And The Coming Storm

Three Futures For Russia

Quick Thoughts

Saturday Update

Mismatched Locomotives

War, Ag, Demographics, And The Worst Is Yet To Come

Past, Present, And A Hungry Future

Huge Grain Of Salt

The Moskva

Retribution Inbound

Uncertainty And Preparation

Honest Question

Monday Morning Quick Brief

War Of The Memes

A Little Free Ice Cream

Rumors Of War

Three Times Is…

If It’s Wednesday, This Must Be Moldova

Going Nuclear

How To Spy On The Russians

Here’s Hoping I’m Wrong

Pins And Needles Time

Mock Away

Intel Wars

The Revenge Of HUMINT

A Funny Thing Happened

Rumors of Rumors

Ukraine, Uvalde, Oh My

Very Interesting

A Quick Russia/Ukraine Update

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Learning from what they don’t say

What leftists aren’t saying about the controversial lesbian kiss in Lightyear shows that they know the truth about conservative racial beliefs — and always lie about it.

I know conservatives are supposed to be racist scum, but look at what doesn’t get said about the controversy surrounding Disney’s new movie, Lightyear.

The Daily Mail’s headline: “Disney’s Lightyear FLOPS in opening weekend that saw it fail to topple Jurassic Park at box office after controversy over lesbian kiss and decision to ax conservative star Tim Allen as voice of Buzz”

Variety, in March: “Same-Sex Kiss Restored in Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ Following Staff Uproar Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill (EXCLUSIVE)”

The LA Times reports: “…it was reported that a previously cut kiss shared by queer “Lightyear” character Alisha Hawthorne and her wife was reinstated in the film….[I]ncreasingly loud conservative voices [] try to foment irrational outrage over any acknowledgement of the actual reality of LGBTQ people existing.”

And on, and on, and on.

Of all of those articles posted above, only the Daily Mail shows a picture of the couple in question. Notice anything?

Why aren’t the bigots overreacting to this? I was told there would be bigots!

Yes, they’re an interracial couple.

But the horrifyingly evil conservatives who hate the entire LGBTQIA2SNPZ spectrum, people of color, women, and the poor equally, aren’t saying “boo” about this interracial couple — even though overturning Roe v. Wade would apparently lead us to overturn interracial marriage.

And no leftist (a.k.a. “mainstream”) outlets have even tried to claim that horrifyingly evil conservatives might say such a thing. You’d think that one of us vicious racists would have said something racist about queer miscegenation, and that some leftist paper would have picked it up — and if we didn’t say it, they’d make something up and claim that we were thinking it. But we didn’t say anything, and they didn’t report on anything, and they didn’t even think about accusing us of racism because, well, it’s such nonsense that even they couldn’t dream it up.

What leftists aren’t saying shows us that they know the truth about conservative racial beliefs, even though they normally say the exact opposite.

Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 3

A few more background thoughts for our thought experiment. To build the future, we must know the past and understand why some of it was done the way it was done.

NASA has hated the idea of building anything in orbit. One of the things I heard mentioned about any of the ideas on using the Shuttle external fuel tanks was that it was too dangerous. To say that NASA was risk averse is an understatement of several orders of magnitude. If something didn’t work/didn’t work right, you most likely never saw it again. I think the only reason the Tethered Satellite System got a second flight was because the first flight didn’t work because of an idiotic (and unnecessary) change by NASA safety to the mechanism, and the blow back to not giving it a flight would have been huge. As it is, losing the satellite on the second mission guaranteed that NASA won’t touch tethers/tethered satellite again for a century or three. That will be up to industry (and I suspect NASA may try to block such).

Doing things like space walks are inherently dangerous. You are in a vacuum, with radiation, changing lighting (plus a freeze/thaw cycle) as you get a sunrise/sunset about every 90 minutes as you orbit, and require stability to get anything done. The first time I did work for NASA, I worked for a company that helped develop the “SX” wrench, which was actually a ratchet that could be used in microgravity. Add to it the fact that the spacesuits NASA uses for “extra-vehicular activities” aka EVAs, aka space walks, have issues. If you’ve been following recent news from the ISS, the last two or three EVAs had problems with water building up in the helmets to the point it was a real issue for the astronauts in question. They are actually not doing any EVAs right now while they try to figure things out.

There’s also the little matter of not wanting anyone to go Dutchman. Without tethers or some form of thruster pack, it would not be hard for someone to take a one way impromptu tour of low-Earth orbit. Dutchman is bad, okay? We don’t want anyone to go Dutchman.

So, no surprise that for the most part NASA has gone for the big module system, with as much automation as possible. Never mind the big contracts for the defense companies that build them, or the companies that spend thousands if not millions designing suits, etc. Leaving that aside, NASA has avoided doing anything that would require large amounts of EVA. EVAs are risk, and NASA wants no risk, zero defects, etc. They’ve worked hard to keep the need for EVAs on ISS to a minimum.

But, developing new structures, systems, and related infrastructure in orbit is going to require EVAs. Lots of them, and probably long ones. That means as the thought experiment progresses, we need to be thinking about new and improved spacesuits, new or novel means of safety to augment or potentially replace current tether systems, and even means of rescuing that person who goes Dutchman because you know someone will. Sooner rather than later most likely. Space is even more unforgiving that the ocean, so keep that in mind as the thought experiment unfolds.

Now, a few thoughts on what types of structures or facilities are going to be needed. We are going to need human habitation, and as we start to build orbital facilities or put together missions to the Moon and Mars, we might find ourselves actually needing something like bunkhouses. Specialized research facilities? You bet, all types including platforms for astronomy, space exposure, and remote sensing. Slips for assembling those missions elsewhere, from LEO to the Moon or Mars? Yep.

The only limits to this thought experiment are your imagination and that at first everything will have to come up from Earth. So, keep in mind current launch capabilities and near-term capabilities. All the more reason for creating industry in orbit ASAP.

So, let’s look at getting this underway. If you want, reply in the comments. If you come up with something larger than a comment, we can look at guest posts. If you want to take just one part of something, go for it. The idea is to get lots of ideas and innovations so that we can refine, expand, tweak, and otherwise help plot the next generation of orbital facilities.

Previous Articles In This Series:

Space Memories And The Future

Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 1

Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 2

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A Quick Russia/Ukraine Update

As I said a while back, I am happy to have been wrong about May. That said, while I have dropped the use of special weapons to 40 percent, I am not inclined to drop lower yet. Why? Internal rhetoric and the fact that things stood up have not been stood down. Until I see the internal discussions change, and things stood down and locked back up, I have to consider such things as still on the table. Not likely currently, but things change and they can change in a heartbeat.

The demented meat puppet is NOT helping things. Someone yesterday said he was trying to finesse things, which scares the everliving out of most sane people as he and his handlers don’t have a clue of how to do that. He and his administration continue to both needlessly antagonize Vladimir (and miss a lot of what is needed to deal with him and the situation) and present challenges to our allies.

In other words, pretty much same old, same old. No real change over the last few weeks. As for the actual combat, it is the grind previously discussed. The OSINT crew out there is doing an amazing job of not only covering the combat, but also the history, cultural, and other factors that go into this conflict. If there is an interest, I will put up a list of the OSINT people I follow. I will also say (again) that back in the early 80s I would have just about killed for some of the resources OSINT has today. And, not surprising, OSINT is largely beating the various agencies and organizations on a consistent basis. Only other thing is that so far the Ukraine has fought very smart. Conventional wisdom and a lot of current military planning is getting stood on its head and smart people are paying attention.

Some Previous Posts:

Vladimir And The Ukraine

Answers, Ramblings, And A Bit More On Vladimir And The Ukraine

Your Must Read For The Day On Russia

The Puzzles In Play, And The Missing Pieces

Quick Thoughts On Ukraine/Putin

The Thing Behind The Curtain

Missing Pieces And Surprise Pieces

Accuracy, Reliability, And More

Putin, Trump, And The Coming Storm

Three Futures For Russia

Quick Thoughts

Saturday Update

Mismatched Locomotives

War, Ag, Demographics, And The Worst Is Yet To Come

Past, Present, And A Hungry Future

Huge Grain Of Salt

The Moskva

Retribution Inbound

Uncertainty And Preparation

Honest Question

Monday Morning Quick Brief

War Of The Memes

A Little Free Ice Cream

Rumors Of War

Three Times Is…

If It’s Wednesday, This Must Be Moldova

Going Nuclear

How To Spy On The Russians

Here’s Hoping I’m Wrong

Pins And Needles Time

Mock Away

Intel Wars

The Revenge Of HUMINT

A Funny Thing Happened

Rumors of Rumors

Ukraine, Uvalde, Oh My

Very Interesting

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Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 2

Yesterday, I said that today we would look at some of the specialized facilities needed for orbital operations. Well, I was wrong. Before we get into that, I think we need to do a bit more background for the thought experiment.

Right now, pretty much everything we put up is cylindrical, for aerodynamic reasons. While aerodynamics don’t matter in orbit, they do on the way up because all the different stations have had to have their components made on Earth and carried up on rockets. Hence, cylindrical shapes. Even non-cylindrical items have to be carried up in cylindrical containers.

Now, in orbit, particularly the lower orbits, you do get drag. It’s why the ISS has a power module to raise it back up to altitude every so often. It’s why things dropped in orbit, be it a camera (butterfingers!) or something else, do eventually de-orbit and (hopefully) burn up on the way down. Problem is, the smaller/lighter the object, the longer it stays in orbit. Once you get up to GEO, that ceases to be a major issue, which is why all the big plans for space stations/colonies have focused on being built there.

Let’s revisit that debris for a moment. In the original post that sparked this thought experiment, I mentioned that someone could make a fortune devising a way to collect that stuff. It’s not just that a good bit of it could be recycled in orbit for other projects, it’s because it is a menace to ongoing low-Earth operations. That chip of paint is moving at a speed where it will do a fairly good imitation of a bullet if it hits something. That bolt floating around? It could do some serious damage to anything it hits. Many of the micropunctures experience by ISS and other structures don’t come from meteorites but from other space debris.

Keep that in mind because until someone does get the financial incentive to clean things up, the problem of debris is only going to grow. Especially if the Russians keep testing anti-satellite systems by taking out dead satellites in low-Earth orbit. That’s another reason the ISS has a power module: sometimes you need to change orbit to avoid that debris so the crew is not having to make emergency repairs. Or worse.

There have been a number of suggestions over the years to protect orbital facilities, from electrostatic means to actually building modules like submarines with inner and outer hulls. One of the more, er, interesting proposals was to put a big slab of something out a distance from a module/structure in the most likely direction for debris. The problem with that concept were/are: the cost to launch the big slab of something; and, it can only protect in one direction and you have debris coming front, rear, side, top, etc. There are some other minor issues of orbital mechanics and such, but those can wait.

So, let’s start making this a real thought experiment by considering the following information.

Initially, what gets built will have to come up from Earth. However, we are not necessarily constrained to cylindrical. What goes up will have to go up in a cylindrical container, but we could send up carbon-fiber or other advanced material trusses, frameworks, etc. that can take on pretty much any shape. Cubical, open framework, or even say a frisbee-like shape that could have significant safety advantages for in-plane orbital debris strikes. The only limits are our imagination and the constraints imposed by the height of orbit. Once you are at GEO, there’s pretty much no limit.

Now, add in two other factors. One, if one of the first things up is some sort of foundry operation, you can collect some of the larger chunks of debris and melt them down, reform, and start building. Admittedly, there are some legal challenges as various countries and others still claim ownership of dead satellites, major chunks of debris, etc. Though I will not that even though they don’t want anyone else touching their stuff, they also don’t claim liability for any damage caused in orbit or via re-entry by their stuff. For our purpose, let’s just treat it as a law-of-the-sea issue and plan on using/reusing the materials.

Second thing to consider is that lunar soil/dust is reported to make excellent concrete. If it is reductive concrete (or can be made so cheap and easy) all the better. Great for building a lunar base, and if someone developed a robotic system to grab such, get it to orbit, and send it to the appropriate orbit, who says your structures have to be metal? Add in spin-casting and you’ve opened up a new range of possibilities.

And, I’m going to throw in a third thought for the day. There are other resources available in/near Earth orbit. Start with meteorites and asteroids for metal, but keep in mind that depending on composition even non-metallic asteroids could potentially provide other advanced materials as well as base components.

Rant/ The STS/Shuttle system made use of an external tank that contained tons of oxygen and hydrogen, even after hitting orbit. There were several proposals made to use those tanks as the basis of a space station. NASA said it wasn’t possible, they weren’t interested, and they very much didn’t want anyone else (particularly a commercial operation!! Commercial was and is in many quarters a nasty word to NASA) to do anything with them so they actually expended energy to de-orbit the tanks during the launch process. Yes, the Shuttle actually went down, released the tanks, and then climbed back up to a higher orbit. Which is sad as there were proposals to instead raft the tanks together, inter-connect them, attach thrusters to keep them in a good stable orbit, and have those tons of oxygen and hydrogen available for future use. For now, we are going to need such until orbital and extra-orbital operations can secure those resources via other means. /Rant

So, we have options in regards materials, shapes, and more. We are not limited to low-Earth operations in anything except the short-term. So, are there any other pre-conceived notions we can and should stand on their head before we get started? Who knows, find out tomorrow on the next episode of “As The Satellite Tumbles”

Previous Articles In This Series:

Space Memories And The Future

Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 1

*****

Re-Imagining Space Stations, Pt. 1

Sorry to be offline a few days, again allow me to recommend not getting hit by lightning. Even with things going well, it doesn’t mean smooth sailing.

The other day, I shared some thoughts and memories about space. Part of that was a far too brief coverage of space stations. To be honest, I think we need to consider re-naming such as the “space stations” of the future are not that likely to look anything like what we are used to from Mir, Skylab, ISS, et al. In fact, I think we are going to see a range of highly diversified facilities rather than the all-in-one packages that we’ve had so far and that have been a staple of speculative fiction.

There are many reasons for this, and we are going to start today by exploring the problems with humans. Yes, we are problematic as a species on many levels and in space human physiology and the efforts to maintain it are extremely problematic for most non-human research.

Why, you ask? Let’s explore.

Right now, gravity is pulling a lot of the fluids in your body down. That why you can have swollen ankles and other edema, sometimes it shows in your abdomen, and it’s responsible for an extra pound or two on your weight. On Earth, the amount of fluid in our bodies is perfectly normal.

When you go to orbit and are in microgravity, gravity is no longer pulling that fluid down, so it shifts. If you go back and look at photos of various Shuttle crews, you will notice that for the first few days, their faces can look puffy to bloated. Then, over time, they return to something close to normal. What happens is that baroreceptors in the aortic arch and carotid sinus detect the “excess” fluid and kicks the kidneys and other systems up to get rid of it. Which is great as long as you are in microgravity.

The problem is, once you start to return to Earth, gravity becomes a thing again and begins to pull fluid down away from your brain. It’s even possible to pass out because not enough blood is getting to your brain. Something contra-indicated for pilots, mission commanders, and such.

Now, add to that the fact that being in microgravity also causes your muscles to atrophy. Most of our musculature developed both to deal with gravity, and to deal with doing labor in full gravity. In microgravity, you don’t have to fight gravity simply to take a step, so the body begins to get rid of “unnecessary” muscle mass. The longer you are in orbit, the worse it can get.

Combating these issues has been interesting. To be polite.

Both the Soviets and NASA experimented with negative pressure on the lower torso (see LBNP/Lower Body Negative Pressure experiments on Spacelab, and Soviet pneumatic trousers) along with fluid intake to try to get fluids back to “normal” before returning to Earth. If you are a geek like me, also look at the specialized systems tested and developed to deliver IVs on orbit, since gravity isn’t going to do the job. Other ideas have been considered, but it is still an issue.

Exercise is needed to combat muscle atrophy, and may also help a bit with the fluid situation (the data I remember was sort of iffy, and don’t recall LBNP to worked well for anyone). Exercycles and/or treadmills have both been used in orbit, and they do help with the muscle atrophy. If you want to have healthy people in orbit, no matter how long they are up there, they need to exercise.

Humans (and other animals) also need to go to the bathroom. Skylab reportedly had a good system. The Shuttle had a system that required its own dedicated training facilities as if you don’t get it right every time there was a mess to clean up. Heard of someone bragging about the high-tech toilet to one of the German researchers who helped design Skylab. The older engineer let the guy brag, then simply said “Ours worked.” Also was told flat out that the fecal matter floating about during an early Spacelab did not come from the primate facility as claimed.

Also, let’s face it, if it hasn’t already happened, humans will have sex in space. Because microgravity can prohibit a certain amount of, er, normal operations (every action creates equal and opposite reaction, tight confines, be it a sleeping pouch or space, are needed. For what happens if a participant is fertile, look to the Frog Embryology Experiment that flew on Spacelab J.

Point is, all of these things, along with just normal activities, create vibrations that mimic gravity. Some of the spikes are considerable. If the data is available online, look at the huge spikes recorded by the accelerometers in Spacelab when crew members were using the bike in the orbiter. I still remember sitting in Spacelab Mission Operations Control and, along with everyone else from the science teams on up, going WTF? at the data. It did impact the research, though I think NASA hates to admit that to this day.

So, while there are a variety of biological and physiological research that would not be impacted by such, a great majority of materials and other research would. So, future facilities in space are likely to be centered around a human-rated facility from which astronauts can go to unmanned facilities dedicated to different types/fields of research if and as needed. I personally think a lot of things can be handled by both onboard automation and robotic “ferries” rather than by humans, but smart money says always plan for a human to be able to get in to make repairs if needed.

Next, let’s look at some of the specialized facilities that are going to be needed to take orbital operations to the next level.

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Space Memories And The Future

Yesterday, John Ringo read this thread from Trent Telenko about the Ukraine and Spacelink and had a few words to say. Others, myself included, added more. If you haven’t read it, take a moment because it is a bit mind boggling to realize that in many respects, Elon Musk is the most powerful man in space from a military point of view.

I would expand on Trent’s ideas by pointing out that Elon also controls a variant of Project Thor, an idea discussed by the late Jerry Pournelle in his columns and in some small group discussions. Thor, as envisioned by Jerry, would be ‘flying crowbars’ in space. Simple iron rods fitted with a nosecone/seeker and guidance fins on the rear.

When needed, de-orbit so they come in over the needed area (Fulda Gap for instance), the seeker heads look for Russian tanks (which from the top do look very different from Allied tanks) and the crowbars maneuver to hit them at very high velocity. No more tanks. Iron because the things are going to vaporize and it is best if something that could potentially be ingested by our troops can also be handled/metabolized by the body.

I’m not recommending that Starlinks be used to take out individual tanks. I will note though that they could be used on launch facilities, command and control facilities, and even bunkers. In fact, it could be useful for Elon’s safety, and that of his family, to let the word go out that something like that is set up if anything happens. Might be bluff, might be real, not even Vladimir would want to find out for sure.

When you look at all he controls, and that some of that could potentially double as an ASAT or KEV, he truly is the most powerful person in space. And, he’s only going to get more powerful as his ventures expand.

One of the things I noted was that there have been calls for Elon to take over the Russian module and associated items as they pull out. I think building a replacement under contract to NASA would help hone his own operations while improving the ISS. I think going in as a partner would prove limiting.

I have no idea of what is on Elon’s drawing board for getting to Mars, but here are a few thoughts. Some of these may have originated at a dinner hosted by Jerry and Roberta Pournelle at a AAAS convention many years back. He invited myself, Fred Pohl, and two others who’s name I can’t remember (stupid lightning). While we touched on many topics, we also discussed Jerry’s plan for a private/private enterprise moon colony.

If SpaceX had been around back then, I think Jerry could have pulled it off. It doesn’t matter where you are going, you have to have the proper launch capability and you have to have a reasonable cost for the launch. Elon and SpaceX have both and are looking to bring the cost per pound to orbit down further.

Since doing almost anything to scale is going to require staging areas and such, a commercial space complex would seem a reasonable start. All-in-one stations like the ISS really aren’t optimal for quite a bit of research. Set up a manned operation with unmanned modules nearby, and you have a place where you can ramp up orbital operations, including assembly and even manufacturing, while earning at least some return from leasing out portions to researchers.

Second, there are a lot of dead satellites and debris up there. Come up with a way to collect the debris, and not only is your place in space safe, you should be able to make some money off it. Satellites have a lot of interesting materials in them, and some of it can be repurposed into new items/structures without the need to lift materials into space. A few legal issues would have to be explored, but between the dead satellites that are parked and abandoned, along with larger debris (boosters, panels, etc.) you could save a lot of expense in going elsewhere.

Now for the Boring Company. Any habitat on Mars is going to need to be underground. I suspect that is one reason for the Boring Company. Be a pity if some of that boring and sealing tech were leased to someone wanting a lunar base to use before the Mars missions. I will also note that lunar soil makes excellent concrete according to reports, which raises some interesting possibilities. Practice on the Moon, send robotic missions to Mars and there is a habitat ready and waiting for the first mission. Be a pity if there was an orbital component waiting as well.

It would also be a pity if the melting/smelting of the satellites/debris led to some ongoing resource extraction and manufacturing in orbit here or elsewhere. Not to mention the science fiction standbys of pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing, and other profitable operations that could become viable.

Nor would it all be on Elon and his companies. Other companies will want to be a part of things, just as they did early on with NASA. A good chunk of change could have been saved on the Shuttle galley, as a company offered to design and build one at no charge to NASA, as long as their logo (small even) would be on it. Of course, NASA said no. I think we can be reasonably sure Elon’s not averse to partnerships, joint ventures, and other such smart things.

Years back, when I left working for NASA the second time, both John Ringo and David Weber said I could do a lot better. Things haven’t gone as planned, but who knows, someone might have need for a slightly singed writer and planner.

*****

Wheat supplies at 10 weeks

Farmers and agricultural publications continue to provide detail that shows the seriousness our politicians aren’t yet really facing.

Menker’s team at Gro Intelligence finds, as of May 19, global inventories of wheat amount to 20% of annual consumption, meaning the world has just 10 weeks’ worth of global wheat consumption in storage.
“Conditions today are worse than those experienced in 2007 and 2008,” she says. “The lowest grain inventory levels the world has ever seen are now occurring, while access to fertilizers is highly constrained, and drought in wheat growing regions around the world is the most extreme it’s been in over 20 years.”
AgWeb, Is the World Really Running Out of Wheat? 06/07/2022

Note that AgWeb doesn’t answer the question that they ask. The answer appears to be, “Yes, we are running out of wheat.”

More specifically, the world would probably be okay if we were getting bumper crops in the US and Canada, but we’re not. We’re lucky in that the over-wet weather finally broke long enough for us to get wheat, corn, and soybeans planted, but we’re not going to get a crop that will compensate for the lack of wheat elsewhere.

Also worth noting: The price of beef is not looking too expensive right now relative to expectations. Unfortunately, that appears to be because beef farmers are afraid that the cost of fodder and grains will go high enough that they won’t be able to keep their cattle profitably, so it’s better to slaughter and sell them in the short term than raise them longer term. That keeps a lid on prices right now — higher supply — but reduces supply in the future dramatically, because we’re killing tomorrow’s stock today.

I reiterate that I’m not an expert on this stuff and am only repeating what I hear from people in the business who seem to know better. Feel free to argue: I’d love to find out that I’m wrong.