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Congress Hears Expert Testimony Suggesting That The SpaceX Moon Approach “Should Be Scrapped”.

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As a strong believer in rational evidence — especially when it comes to space science and engineering — I am very gratified that these concerns are now getting a much wider airing.

Afterall, we are all undoubtedly benefited — by critical testing of our dubious assumptions, in science.

And so, since this is all over five years behind schedule, once Tangerine 2.0 is gone, a more rational plan will come forward… perhaps not involving crews to Mars, at all. [Just as I’ve long suggested.] Here’s the latest, from Space.com:

…The former NASA administrator reiterated a previous recommendation he made to Congress, arguing that NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, currently planned for 2027, should be canceled — along with every other Artemis mission — so NASA and the U.S. government can rethink the whole plan for America’s return to the moon.

“We should start over, proceeding with all deliberate speed,” Griffin said. “We have lost a lot of me, and we may not be able to return to the moon before the Chinese execute their own first landing. Or we may; space is hard and despite the progress that China is making, mission success is guaranteed to no one. But though we may not win at this first step, we cannot cede the pursuit and leave the playing field to others….”

NASA and SpaceX’s current plan for Artemis 3 and other moon missions in the program relies on a complicated in-orbit refueling system. The current moon landing architecture requires a high number of SpaceX Starship launches in order to refuel the lander that would take NASA astronauts to the moon. The exact number still isn’t even known, though SpaceX estimates it could require 12 Starship launches to fully refuel the lander. The concept also remains unproven….

Furthermore, Griffin added, the length of time the lander would need to remain in orbit while the refueling flights launch and rendezvous with it would “almost guarantee” the propellant loaded into the lunar lander would boil off before the mission proceeds. “I do not see a way with the current technology we have to overcome those problems, and therefore we should not pursue that line of approach,” Griffin said….

There you have it. Please people: pay attention — and write your Congress-critters, about this.

Truly, let’s not waste high millions of dollars in taxpayer money, nor unduly risk precious NASA /crew personnel. We pretty well know this endeavor is as flawed — as Musk himself. Out.

नमस्ते

[U: Hinderaker Cannot Read Edition!] The Supremes Will Hold That The Plain English Reading Of “Born Here; Thus A Citizen Here” Is The Clearly Correct Reading. That Is All.

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

Updated, Sunday evening December 7, 2025: True to form, John Hinderaker indicates that rudimentary English grammar is beyond his meager grasp. Again. End update.

Much is being made tonight by the MSM, of the Supremes deciding today to take the question on cert., before judgment. This is, in my view, all just so much… noise.

The Court took the question to end the wasteful posturing in various appellate courts — torturing the actual words, to try to force a Trumpian meaning from them. Essentially, holding that the words mean the opposite of what they’ve said — for nearly 200 years. [“We do not hide elephants… in mouse-holes….”]

I for one know (as does Paul Mirengoff) the Court won’t give in to this malign idiocy. This will break 7-2 [Alito & Thomas dissenting] against Tangerine 2.0. Here is why — exactly:

…The Fourteenth Amendment begins with a clear and solemn guarantee: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” In 1898, this Court held that this provision means what it says, safeguarding U.S. citizenship at birth for all persons born in this country, with only a handful of exceptions not applicable here. United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898). In 1940 and again in 1952, Congress codified the language of the Citizenship Clause — incorporating the then-prevailing understanding of those words as construed by this Court’s decision in Wong Kim Ark.

Executive Order 14,160 purports to strip birthright citizenship from persons born in the United States to parents who lack permanent immigration status. The Order is squarely contrary to the constitutional text, this Court’s precedents, Congress’s dictates, longstanding Executive Branch practice, scholarly consensus, and well over a century of our nation’s everyday practice. Accordingly, the district court below, like every other court that has reached the merits questions, correctly held that the Order violates both the Fourteenth Amendment and, independently, 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a)….

As I’ve said on this topic, previously — I will readily admit to being… an optimist. But I am not a… wild-eyed one. The 14th Amendment means what it says.

Onward, with a chilly grin — out, to the trains. And… as ever, onward!

नमस्ते

Two Vast, Very High Tech “Solar Energy” Powered Balloons Will Launch Soon — Via NASA and NSF From McMurdo Station on The Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica).

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These new “zero pressure” balloons are dozens of times larger and taller than ordinary last-gen “weather” balloons. The sunshine heats the air in the ultra light bladder, providing lift, but onboard solar battery powered computers control special one way at a time vents, that either release the air from the bladder (if the whole shebang is rising too rapidly) — or alternatively open, to take in more of the outer (very-cool) air, to be warmed (also via the nearly-constant antarctic sunshine) if it has lost a bit of altitude when the Sun is nearer the perma-frozen horizon.

This is truly… revolutionary. The balloons stay aloft, essentially at a constant altitude for many months — with no external combustion / fuel source. Very impressive! Here’s the latest on the coming launches, from the NSF’s McMurdo Station on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf:

…The [NASA] program is supporting two missions this year: the Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) and the General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS).

NASA’s PUEO will be the first balloon mission to launch through the agency’s Astrophysics Pioneers program, which supports compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost. The PUEO payload is designed to detect signals from neutrinos, high-energy particles that travel across the universe undisturbed, carrying information about events billions of light-years away. The mission will search for radio signals created when these neutrinos from space hit ice. This will be the most sensitive survey of cosmic ultra-high energy neutrinos ever conducted, offering valuable clues about the highest-energy astrophysical processes, from the creation of black holes to neutron star mergers….

Zero-pressure balloons, used in this campaign, are in equilibrium with their surroundings as they fly. They maintain a zero-pressure differential with ducts that allow gas to escape to prevent an increase in pressure from inside the balloons as they rise above Earth’s surface. This zero-pressure design, polar orbit, and constant sunlight makes the balloons very robust and well-suited for extended duration flights, such as those in this campaign. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program. Peraton, which operates NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program. NASA’s balloons are fabricated by Aerostar.

The NASA Scientific Balloon Program is funded by the Science Mission Directorate’s Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington….

Excellent — we were in need of a smile, on this otherwise rather dreary and decidedly early… but wintery Friday.

[Indeed — the nightly cold, out on McMurdo Ice Station, Antarctica — that these teams endure… has me quite thrilled to be at only ~minus 7 with wind chills, here tonight in the City of Big Shoulders. They endure an absolute temp of ~minus 50 (and so, windchills of ~minus 70!), on the regular, at night — whew!]

नमस्ते

So — Mirengoff Is Pretty Courageous Here. He’s Come To Agree With Mainstream Thought, On The Law Of War. Excellent.

~ condor ~ 2 Comments

I will simply note that he is to be commended, here. But now he and others… need to act.

He no longer takes the view that Tangerine 2.0 is an omni-potent dictator [above the law of mere mortals], one who may impose his violent will on the world stage, without consequence. That is nice progress.

But now, he and ALL other sensible GOP operatives… need to stand as one, and insist that their Congress vote to sanction these clearly unlawful killings. And run Hegseth out of government (and if need be, Trump, too — under the 25th Amendment, if nothing else!)… That is the logical inference, of all that Paul correctly lays out.

Here is a quote from his post of the morning:

…My concern, though, is less with the killing of the two survivors — as indefensible as that might prove to be — than with the ongoing military strikes themselves. I believe they are unlawful.

The administration says the strikes are in furtherance of our efforts to combat “narco-terrorism.” But in my view, narco-terrorism is an oxymoron.

Terrorism occurs when random, unsuspecting people are killed or maimed in order to terrorize the general population. It is carried out for purposes of furthering a political/ideological program or, in some cases, just for the hell of it.

Narcotics trafficking fits none of this description. The victims are not random or unsuspecting. They are people who want to buy drugs. Nor is the purpose of selling the drugs political or ideological. It is commercial. The traffickers want to make money.

The administration seems to consider drug dealing by foreigners not just an act of terrorism by, at least in the case of Venezuelans, an act of war. It is not. It is a crime. See 21 U.S. Code § 952.

Furthermore, the crime of importing narcotics is not punishable by death. President Trump has at times advocated the death penalty for drug dealing, but U.S. law does not permit it.

Accordingly, Sen. Rand Paul calls the lethal strikes on drug-dealing Venezuelans “extrajudicial killings.” I agree.

The Trump administration claims that the Venezuelan government is behind the importation of narcotics by those running boats off that country’s coast. Apparently, Trump considers this an act of war against the U.S….

Ironically, Trump has just pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández who was convicted in a U.S. court on charges that he ran the Central American nation as a “narco-state” that helped bring South American cocaine to the United States. Hernández was charged during the first Trump administration. At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Hernández, as president of Honduras, helped to move at least 400 tons of cocaine to the United States while protecting traffickers from extradition and prosecution.

The pardon makes me wonder about the seriousness of Trump’s claim that state support of drug trafficking constitutes terrorism or war against the U.S. It also makes me wonder how much Trump really cares about such criminal activity. With Trump, things are often just personal. He dislikes Maduro. Apparently, he likes Hernández….

That last bit — in a nutshell — by Paul… makes the case for a 25th Amendment proceeding.

Buckle-up — and with Rand Paul — get it going.

Show us you mean… what you type.

Onward.

New Situation Report: Mpox, In The Americas… Yikes!

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To be certain, the risk to any single person in the US is vanishingly tiny, but if you are a man who has sex with other men, you should probably get vaccinated — and pay attention to alerts from your city and county public health authorities.

Global travel is a norm, now — and anyone can be from… anywhere. Still it is surprising to me, that globally, the highest number of Clade 2 cases have arisen inside the region of the Americas. I might have guessed that would be… Africa. Not so.

Here is the latest, on it all:

…Between 2022 and 31 October 2025, a total of 168,736 confirmed cases of mpox have been reported globally, from 142 countries and territories. The Region of the Americas (42.4%) contributes the largest proportion of cases, followed by the African (36.2%) and European (18.5%) Regions.

In the Region of the Americas, a cumulative total of 71,483 confirmed cases of mpox, including 154 deaths, were reported in 31 countries and territories between 2022 and 2025.

In 2025, a total of 16 countries (Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States) have reported 3,815 mpox cases, including three deaths, all in Mexico….

In the last three months, five new clade Ib cases have been confirmed in the Americas (United States: n=4; Canada: n=1), bringing the regional cumulative total of clade Ib cases to 12. To date, the United States (n=9 cases), Canada (n=2 cases), and Brazil (n=1case) remain the only countries in the Region to have reported cases of mpox clade Ib….

Now you know. Be safe out there. Onward, resolutely. And yes, Trump’s cancelling of USAID was a malign and stupid act. Out.

नमस्ते

[U] So Once Again, We See That Chaos Is The “Defining Feature” — Of Trump’s “Brand”. There Will Be Excess Mortality Among Very Young Americans. Mark My Words.

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I won’t bother to make a new graphic here. UPDATE: the guy is so like a “know-nuthin’ Mayor of Munchkinland”… I’ve decided to update the graphics. But we are ALL… trapped now — in his “know-nothing-ness“. Damn. End, updated portion.

Regular readers will recall that making a Hep B vaccine in bulk is a very delicate bio-science affair. So, from time to time, stock outs would occur — when an entire bulk run would not fully “yeast-rise” or congeal, if one uses the imperfect analogy of baking a [forty foot high!] “soufflé”. And back in the time when evidence-based human health science ruled the day (1928-2024), that was cause for concern — because the fear was that there would not be enough Hep B vaccine for all the newborns in the US that year.

Just ten years on now, we (under Tangerine 2.0 / Kennedy / Prasad) have reached a point where excess infant deaths may arrive, not for stock outs — but for. . . brain-failures: these idiots are reducing the wide recommendation for moms to have their newborns get the Hep B vaccine. And perhaps a decade from now, we will look back and wonder why so many more babies and toddlers in the richest nation on Earth… have… died. That — more than anything else, will be Trump’s lasting legacy. Here’s a bit, of the awful news today, from the NYT:

…The divisiveness and dysfunction surrounding the decision raised questions about the reliability of the process — and the future of the C.D.C….

For many public health experts, the vote also marked the end of trust in the C.D.C. and its vaccine advisers.

“Today is a defining moment for our country,” Michael Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota, said. “We can no longer trust federal health authorities when it comes to vaccines.”

In a statement, Dr. Richard Besser, president and chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the agency, said “policymakers, physicians, and families must turn to reputable medical and public health groups for guidance, and health insurers should do the same for informing what vaccines they will cover….”

“We know it’s safe, and we know it’s very effective,” Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, said on Friday, and he warned that if the vote passed, “we will see more children and adolescents and adults infected with hepatitis B….”

Stoooopid is — as stupid does. Damnation — an ugly Friday morning, indeed. Out.

नमस्ते

Colossally Stupid — And Clearly… Mindlessly… Evil: Hinderaker’s Latest Lies, Re J6.

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So — tonight, John opines [for the umpteenth time!] — like a burping warthog, that the J6 arrestees were mostly tourists and grandmas, who ‘wandered into’ the wrong place, at exactly the wrong time.

Y A W N.

His lies are so… tedious. There were dozens of local DC police officers beaten — and Ashley Babbitt (Ex-USAF)… she decided to charge through a locked but glass-paned interior door, toward the House floor — after repeatedly being ordered to stand down, or shots would be fired.

She died instantly, taking a bullet to the heart. She was ex-Air Force — she knew what that meant. To be clear, she did not “wander in” there inadvertently. No, she filmed herself driving across the country — hoping an insurrection could be triggered — and won. She boasted of it.

And yes — almost 1,600 were charged [and over 1,250 were convicted by juries of their peers — of felonies!], including Stewart Rhodes — the disbarred Yale lawyer who largely organized the attacks.

He was to serve 18 years, but [shocker!] Tangerine 2.0 has pardoned him. See at upper right.

And yes, John — it is good that there’s been an arrest in the ATTEMPTED pipe bombing case.

But if this guy is the one, he did not detonate… anything. No one is dead — by his hand. I don’t give a rat’s ass about his politics. He’s a criminal — if it was indeed his handiwork, and the government can prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. But I’ll wait to see — unlike Hinderaker, who wants to paint him as a “leftist“. The pipe bombs were left outside both the GOP offices, and Democratic ones — so, it is, to a rational observer — not prone to leaping to conclusions — hard to see how Hinderaker gets there five hours after he’s been ID-ed. But whatever, John.

Clearly, the DC officers remain the injured parties here. Equally clearly, Ashley Babbitt is still dead — due to her own insurrectionist choices. And the officer who put her down, will likely have nightmares for the rest of his life, about having to take a life, in the line of duty.

But he swore an oath to protect the Capitol — and the system of ordered liberty. One that until 2021, has always transferred Presidential power in a peaceful manner.

What of that, you bloviating butthead, John?

What of that?

Take a seat son. You are not fit for adult conversations.

O U T.

Update — Of Course, In Chicago (25-cv-12173), The Press / Intervenors Must Still Be Allowed To See All The Body Cam Footage — Despite The Suit’s Resolution: Basic First Amendment Law.

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The press parties have weighed in on USDC Judge Ellis’ docket, to remind that these are the peoples’ courts — and Bovino’s [and his officers’] body cam footage is presumptively a court filed document. And after a short period, it must be made available — to a free press, for reporting and opinion commentary.

This is the clear teaching of [most recently] Courthouse News Serv. v. Planet, No. CV 11-08083 SJO (FFMx), 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105197. An earlier case holding much the same is Oregonian Publ’g Co. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 920 F.2d 1462 (9th Cir. 1990).

I know that the able Judge Ellis will adhere to the law, but just in case — the older but highly relevant Supremes’ case on press access to court filings is. . . New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971). [This litigation forced the release of the so-called Pentagon Papers, during Nixon’s era.]

Now you know. Onward, resolutely. Bovino can run — but he cannot… hide. Grin. And if the public shames and shuns him — and his goon squads, for their repugnant conduct — all as captured on video cams they wore… so be it. That is the central function of a free press, in a free society — like ours.

नमस्ते

Well… This Is Just SILLY. Noem / Bovino Lawyers Claim Future Lawless Acts May Never Be Complained About, Again — In Chicago…

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This is not just incompetent grand-standing, by the Noemite lawyers. This is an intentional attempt to mislead class members about the contours of the coming dismissal.

Shumate et al., here preposterously imply that if Bovino returns, and cracks skulls again in Little Village or Evanston, that these same people — who protested this Summer and Fall in Chicagoland… will be prevented from suing for their ENTIRELY NEW injuries. That is obviously a false statement.

The claims from the prior period are gone — but this is not a “hall pass” to come back and cock-up, again for Bovino. What a bunch of losers / dead enders these folks are:

…After months of litigation, and just weeks after securing a sweeping preliminary injunction and a 233-page opinion justifying it… Plaintiffs are seeking to throw in the towel. This is transparent procedural gamesmanship. To be sure, if Plaintiffs want to stop litigating and this Court grants their motion for dismissal with prejudice, that is beyond Defendants’ control. But this gambit should be seen for what it is….

“A dismissal with prejudice is a ruling on the merits, because it carries with it a preclusive effect that prevents the plaintiffs from relitigating — in any court, ever again — [Ed. Note: this is true, under well-settled law, ONLY AS TO the specific acts of lawlessness by Bovino, et al., from the Mid-Spring of 2025 to November 18, 2025] any claim encompassed by the suit”; Phillips v. Shannon, 445 F.2d 460, 462 (7th Cir. 1971) (“A dismissal with prejudice is as conclusive of the rights of the parties as an adverse judgment after trial, being res judicata of all questions which might have been litigated in the suit[.]”) (internal quotations omitted).

This includes those members of the certified class who “will in the future non-violently demonstrate, protest, observe, document, or record at Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement and removal operations in the Northern District of Illinois….”

Now you know — sheesh. Don’t fall for this. At bottom, the Noemite lawyers are just butt-sore that they been out maneuvered, at every important turn.

Yet significantly, in this way, any GOP/MAGA judges on the random three judge panel in the Seventh Circuit are foreclosed from making rulings that might hurt other pending lawsuits, and litigants, in other Circuits — since Chicago activists have already peacefully run the Bovino “brute squad” out of town. [Fully 7/8ths of the some 6,700 people Bovino arrested around Chicago have already been set free (without anything more than a nominal $1 bond!), due to Bovino’s utter failure — to secure the required Fourth Amendment judicial warrants — and similar infirmities.] Onward!

नमस्ते

I’m “Shocked — Shocked, I Tell You”… That An Anti-Masker / Anti-Vaxer Is Now The FIFTH Head (In Just 2025) Of FDA’s CDER. Chaos Is The Whole Brand.

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The sooner 2026 mid-terms arrive, in earnest — the better. The utter lack of rigor in all these people, save Padzur… is maddening.

I am not surprised that Padzur, a great guy — has decided he cannot continue in the likely-to-be-lethal farce under Prasad and Kennedy. He’s retired, after 25 years in, at the agency (and less than a month as head of CDER), being essentially strong-armed into the job, after Tidmarsh resigned in disgrace.

Here’s the latest on the revolving door at FDA’s CDER, from Clinical Trials Arena:

…Høeg’s appointment to director of CDER follows a turbulent period for the department, which recently saw the retirement of former head, Richard Padzur….

Høeg’s appointment closely follows the sudden retirement of longtime FDA employee and previous Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) director, Richard Padzur, who only took the helm at the division less than a month ago.

Padzur was originally encouraged to take charge of CDER by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary after previous leader, George Tidmarsh, resigned following an investigation into his personal conduct revealing “serious concerns….”

During her short time at the agency, Høeg has voiced her scepticism towards the safety and value of Covid vaccines — specifically focusing on mask mandates, as well as the approval of booster jabs for use in children.

Before her CDER appointment, Høeg was in the headlines for exactly this reason, as the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) leader, Vinay Prasad, claimed that research she headed had uncovered 10 children’s deaths [Ed. Note: falsely, it turns out] linked to Covid vaccines….

This is complete… madness — and (confidential note to MAGA!) even US-born children will die, in excess numbers, because of it. Mark my words.

And, in a fun (but unrelated) Martin Shkreli footnote — he is mentioned in an AI / auto-generated financial rag story, as wanting a seat at a public company (as CEO, no less!) that is investigating optical computing. The story rather wryly notes that this would require White House intervention — not mentioning that it would take a full pardon, of his felony convictions for fraud… in order for him to ever be a ’34 Act registered CEO again.

Hilarious. Out.

नमस्ते