RD-180 part two

…But having mulled over the facts I have to back off of my earlier fury some. “Our side” has produced the Saturn V F-1 engines, after all. Five of these pushed astronauts and hardware all the way to the Moon. Not only did we get them back, but in succeeding missions we even sent a moon buggy to drive around the lunar surface. That in addition to the lunar lander and Apollo service craft. We made it several times, and then built the Skylab. A booster stage was used as housing for a capacious station, sent up in one flight.

Today we have the Delta-IV heavy, which can throw quite a bit of weight into orbit. There are also the solid rocket boosters which flew the shuttle, and can be re-purposed for other craft. If we ever get the Space Launch System built, that will be an enormous booster, possibly bigger even than the Saturn V. Our side has accomplished a lot too – and made mistakes, just as the Russians have.

Fair is fair. Enough of this subject. Thanks for reading.

 

RD-180

So far the fall of the once exalted,

our technological wunderkind thought
so superior in so many ways. Humbled
by a simpler engine design producing more power.

The so-called backwards industrial power of Russia

came up with a rocket technology so far ahead,
we still do not have anything like it. Even today,
the Russians have more powerful rockets than us.

Our distracted, cellphone-glued society can stay

oblivious as long as we want. But we are being
surpassed and bested on the world stage.
In a state that refuses to go along with a
national education standard, instead turning
out religious-ideological lockstep copycats...

Perhaps we deserve to be bested, lost as we are

in the illusion of our own superiority. Blinded
to the necessity of hardware and engineering hard work –
we instead disparage science and research, and follow
the cultural dictates of our new Chinese masters.
And we keep buying Russian rockets, unable to muster
the will to even design anything ourselves anymore.

Pathetic.

 

 

Disco 2000 NYC

They found a way to be free,

Partying all night and getting paid;
it was a club-funded drug spree,
For those bodies it was easy to get laid.

Outrageous costumes to outdo each other,

Cutting catty remarks their casual chat,
They forged careers out of party matter.
Sex was their first and last fringe benefit.

The “piper still had to be paid,”

skittish club owners placated,
Police scrutiny dodged or avoided,
Drug dealers paid (or laid) off.

The final outcome was predictable,

Murder and addiction took their toll;
Casual barbarism seemed despicable
From these kids dressed up as trolls.

Some clubbers used up their fame fast,

Best years spent, their lives soon crashed.

     - end

a big WTF

Robin Williams   1951 to 2014
 

How one can have everything,

be on top of their game, with
money and loved ones and fame.
Then get depressed and rob
themselves and us of it all.

What horrible thoughts,

what cruel stabbing words
or depressing circumstances
could cause him to do this?

We will never know,

since he took that to his grave;
Left  behind three unreleased movies
and decades of laughter to savor.

Your self-inflicted act was inexplicable.

Words do little justice to an untimely fall.

     - end

 

Fair Exercise

The traffic is here, crowd noise is clear,

can hear performers from far and near.
Congestion and celebration are common:
Time to get out two-wheeled transportation.

Then it is ride the scooter to work,

leave the car parked in the driveway;
Or perhaps ride the bicycle to the store,
A way to exercise and buy groceries too.

Still one must dodge pedestrians on the sidewalk,

pedal furiously to stay ahead of impatient cars.
No matter how you get here to there,
the traffic is always hectic at the fair.

At least I can safely surmise,

It is good to get the exercise.

In another week it will all be done,

Driving the car again will be fun!

     - end

Summer Reading Options

Mirror Worlds www.createspace.com/3633147

A Strange Enterprise www.createspace.com/4281639

Future Property www.createspace.com/3859469

Shadow Intersection www.createspace.com/4113022

 

- Thanks for taking a look.  Enjoy!

 

 

slipstream

Skipping across time like a rock across water,

First I'm here, then there, then somewhere else,
where the hell did this day go?

Wasn't I paying attention, or

maybe I just wanted to get through it ASAP -
Mondays are like that.

Hereby resolve to be paying close attention

to every Saturday and Sunday I have left.
Weekdays too, if they are worthwhile!

How long will this resolution last?

Don't know, I cannot remember when
I made the last one.

Time to move on.

 

 

Copy Paste Reality

Cut and paste without haste.
Saving text from one program,
copying it into another -
Good old OLE...
practically drives the Internet,
most peoples online experiences.

Want to find info on something?

Highlight it, copy it and paste
in the search box of your preferred
Web browser. You are pointed to
whatever it is you seek.

This is used countless times

each day by so many people.
A simple capability that
drives much of civilized activity.

Wish I could copy and paste

the car of my dreams to the homestead,
house of my dreams to some vacant place,
the perfect lover to couch or bed.
Perhaps someday the uber-rich can.

Copy and paste your desired perfection,

debit the appropriate account.
Copy and paste more money into the bank.
Ultimately something has to pay the price.
Somewhere, somehow, the
universe will be debited.

When something copy and pastes
our universe into another,
will we feel anything, or
wonder why our lives change so?

Probably not, and we will just keep

muddling along like the human race
always does.

     - end

 

State of positivism

With all of the recent bad news about water quality, crime, inner city shootings and the like, it is easy to forget. But there truly is. Volunteers and groups have conspired to make many recreational spots around our state very enjoyable. From improvements at Big Creek and Jester Park, to the building of Honey Creek Resort at Rathbun, to the miles and miles of bike trails laid, a lot has been done right under our noses.

When one shuts off the TV and gets outdoors, you see this first hand, of course. There are always drawbacks, obstacles. But when you get on a beautiful trail and pedal under shady lanes, or wade in a small stream and feel cooling waters, it is brought home: Life here has its pleasant moments, serene moments. After a time outdoors, you can go back to the office menagerie refreshed and renewed.

This year, nature has decided to bless Iowa with cooler than normal July temperatures. Yet another reason – a big one – to discover all of the places our state has to offer. Have a great summer.

 

-end

Dead File

Dead

File

Blog

Is

Here.

Let's light this candle

In the beginning, there was Sputnik, its tiny beep

mocking our mighty colossus with real achievement.
Hasty meetings and hurried conferences later
we made a couple of attempts before we matched the feat.
The race was on, and all we knew
was that ours kept blowing up.

But we kept trying, and the Soviets kept

handing us our heads on a platter.
We sent up a chimp, they sent up a man.
We sent up a man, they extended their flight times.
We increased ours, and they sent up two people.
We finally sent up two, and they sent up three.

Tweaking the Eagle's beak repeatedly,

visions of the Master designer laughing...
Doggedly we kept at it – longer missions,
Greater achievements. EVA, docking,
living in space for two weeks in a tiny capsule...
We pulled even, and began to pass a little.

They started work on a giant rocket called the N1,

We got the Saturn 1b rolling out and launching.
A disastrous fire knocked us back a year or so,
Soviets gleefully hurried to catch up, even though
they were working on spy Almaz outposts too.
We got three men to orbit the earth, and they built Soyuz.

Then came December 1968, when we all-up tested, and sent three

human beings to circle the Moon. A master stroke,
a lucky flight, and a bible verse read 244,000 miles distant.
We were really on our way, there was no stopping us now.
The Soviets blew up a few N-1's before throwing in the towel.
We landed two on the Moon July 20, 1969, and the world cheered.

After that it was anti-climactic. Apollo 13 made us hold

our breaths, but we soon resumed breathing and forgot to
be excited about space exploration anymore. It took Carl Sagan,
Voyager deep-space probes to stir up interest again.
“Look, Ma, we sent a spacecraft to Saturn, Uranus, Neptune!”
The photos were amazing, the feat was incredible.

The Shuttle slammed us back to Earth.

At nearly a billion bucks a copy,
we orbited satellites, telescopes, experiment pallets – all good.
And people were bored out of their minds. Oh, but wait,
we can build a station – and so we did. Routine access to space,
even tourism, man! Wow. It did generate some curiosity.

Then we killed the Shuttle program. Something once mocked

became missed, as only the Russians retained transportation to
space and the ISS. Finally a couple of private companies got
going, and built vessels to send cargo to the ISS. But a US
astronaut launch capability? Fingers drum the desk as we wait.
They say a private company will launch a crewed spacecraft by 2018???

Faith that sustained me through all those Shuttle years is

severely strained by the notion of some little for-profit concern
actually launching a person safely into orbit, and returning them.
Still, SpaceX has sent up cargo. A few others are making headway.
Sierra Nevada did drop-tests of an aerodynamic spacecraft.
Orbital Sciences is also sending cargo containers to the ISS.

Activity is building, and perhaps I will live long enough to

see the dream of a Solar System being colonized actually occur.
It took Spain a long time with their colonies. As it did Britain.
But it eventually happened, and we know how it turned out.
If I could live another hundred and fifty years, I could see it all.
Then again, knowing human nature, I probably would not want to.

But it will happen,

one way or another,
for good or ill,
and humans will flock outward.

Take note, ET's:

Ready or not,
we are coming.

   - end

Peace, that elusive human quality

When one watches a documentary on the mega-weapons built by the Nazis, even as they were losing WWII, it is astounding. Massive bunkers and fortifications, Ballistic missiles, super tanks. They glorified military power, and yet were crushed by the “inferior” societies they sought to conquer. Just seems to reinforce the idea that warfare seduces more financing than peace ever could.

The present-day defense budgets of major nations, especially the US, underlines this.

Is warfare hard-wired into the human psyche? After we evolved learning to fight off fierce enemies like saber-tooth tigers, we made the shift to killing each other quite easily. We have been doing it ever more effectively, ever since.

Now comes word that someone shot down a civilian airliner with 298 people aboard. Senseless slaughter more on the scale of the Nazi regime. For what? The slaughter of humans by humans goes on. Blame gets thrown around, and the crazy game continues.

It seems like people who have the social and industrial ability to wage war on a massive scale would also have the capability to wage peace. Factories that build weapons can build cars, refrigerators, washing machines, or solar panels. Strategists who work on war plans could work on Peace plans. Humans can engineer large-scale projects in the pursuit of peace as well as war. So why don't we do more of this?

Perhaps the glory, excitement of warfare is too easily inculcated into our youth. Perhaps the instinct is hard-wired, as stated previously. Whatever the cause, we have a duty as an enlightened species to do better than this. We have a duty to work for cooperation, justice, elimination of disease and starvation and brutality. We evolved a higher order of consciousness to make amazing advances. In a hundred thousand years, we evolved from simple hunter-gatherers to a civilization sending space probes beyond the Solar System. It seems ridiculous that we spend so much time trying to kill each other.

Here is hoping that we can somehow find the will to do better than we have. Thanks for reading.

Time Depots

Little time machines are scattered across miles

of farmland, prairie and woods – they stand empty,
or have been moved or even demolished.
But they still speak to us through photographs today...

Once they were gateways to a better future.

Youngsters dressed in their Sunday best

waited on wooden platforms for the giant
engine to come puffing and belching along.
Well-dressed parents nervously checked the time.

When a steam engine came into view,

what a sight it must have seemed,
sending pulses and moods higher all around.
“Alll aboard” for greener pastures ahead!

Now the narrow, tall wood-frame stations

are a gateway still, but to a past that
bespoke of simpler times, needs, wants.
No unknown promises, rather known achievements.

The grainy photos of excited townsfolk standing on

a huge engine, waving and smiling evokes the spirit
of excitement that pervaded those days so long ago.

We feel a glimmer of that once again, as we view

them through the lens of a future they might barely
comprehend, and certainly might not approve of.

- end

 

How to Have Fun

Take a dash of purpose, add motivation,

Allow it to steep in sunshine for a few hours.
Heat the mixture in a passion of love,
immerse it in tender congeniality until
fragrant and soft to the touch.

Consume in moderate measures,

allow the joy to permeate your being,
step outside your door and dance.
Sing determination to live fully,
ignore judgment and comment,
and shout out at the top of your lungs,
“Fun! Fun! Fun!”

Or if you prefer, find a good book to read.

 

     - end

 

Two Voices

The first intoned a gentle refrain:

Southern express route, Northern Special,
Vent car before unloading - Manifest Present,
load limit serial number chemicals inside...
On and on went the official inscriptions.

The second screeched louder than a sticking brake:

KUSH, Vanity Rulz, M8domin8m, Charles was here,
KULZ, SPS6, Always into Something...
Graffiti noise insinuated itself over every orderly
procession of wheels, walls and welds.

I sat there on a bike, musing on the discordant

harmonizing of civilizations influences.
Suddenly a telltale rumble, the loud thrumming
of diesel locomotives pushing the entire
two-toned visual orchestration on by.

Informing voices faded from concern as I

watched the big yellow engines pass.
Time to pedal through the now vacant crossing;
home, dinner and a hungry cat await!

There will be many other chances to watch

those discordant long-distance voices sing
their endless competition with one another.

The switching yard is right around the corner.

 

 - end

 

 

Nature failed to dampen our spirits

A festive weekend was dampened by frequent rain.

Hot humid air the gift we carry into another workweek,

and yet fun was still had by many...

Intermittent fireworks punctuated relaxed times;

The annual antique auto show entertained,

80/35 Rock'N'Roll concert livened up the city,

moderate temperatures kept misery at bay...

Another long weekend is over,

Memories will ring and fade.

It was fun while it lasted,

Time to resume the workaday parade.

 

     - end

 

Raining insects

Lightning and thunder outside

predicts another intense downpour;
ants, flying and crawling all over my room.
They seemed to boil out of a windowsill.

Their swarm storm ignited my own storm-fury,

so I bought some heavy-duty insecticide;
soon toxic peretherin soaked the room,
a short time later, ant bodies littered the floor.

The rain outside finally subsided,

and the ant storm inside was abated
by a fine mist of lethal droplets.
All in all, quite a day for soaked
lawns and carpets both.

At least the dead ants could be vacuumed up,

not so the swollen ponds and rivers.

We need to build a pipeline to the desert

to dispose of all this excess water.
Better yet, send all of the bugs down there too.


   - end

barren lands for future plans

     You drive around two-lane highways, mere ribbons that cut through massive mountain ranges.  Twenty shades of brown, and a few of green, greet your eyes.   The morning mist and shadows, or afternoon rain in the distance, adds a measure of interest.  The miles between attractions eventually are consumed.    And then you arrive at a giant array of radio-telescopes, peering into the universe's past.  Or a city made famous by a supposed flying saucer crash.   Or a giant missile testing range.   Or a purpose-built private spaceport.  

     Desert cacti and heat surround bright spots of technological accomplishment and research.    Scientists and entrepreneurs are helping create the future out in this barren wasteland.   If they succeed, it will become hot real estate in more ways than one.   Heat from rocket exhaust, heat from thousands of visitors car exhausts, heat from politicians eager to get on the bandwagon.  

     Right now, the desert heat surrounds hope and a two-mile long runway.  A few dedicated faithful are working to break it all wide open. I sincerely hope they succeed, if only to not see such a facility as the Spaceport go to waste.   But already I hear that businessmen in Dubai want Sir Richard to build a duplicate spaceport there, and he is seriously considering the idea.  A few other space companies, notably SpaceX, are using the Spaceport to test their own methodologies for getting people in orbit.   A lot is brewing out there in the hot desert scrub.  It will be fun to watch all hell break loose - someday.

     Right now, the security people watch out for stray cows, and the fire crew is bored, washing their shiny vehicles for the umpteenth time.   But it is coming.  Very definitely it is coming, I can feel it.  

What an experience it will be when routine space travel finally arrives out in the New Mexico free range!

land of space enchantment

I am currently touring New Mexico space sites.  For inspiration in writing and in general.  Thoroughly enjoyed Roswell and the Alomogordo space museum.  Now sitting in Truth or Consequences, eagerly awaiting a tour of the Spaceport.   It has been fun - especially some of the geographical and historic sites I never knew existed around here.   Everything from Chisum cattle empire and Billy the Kid to various gorgeous mountain passes.   Cloud Croft was a beautiful 'discovery'.    Onward and upward.

Pride day is here again

Pride day – what a statement.

Do I celebrate my Pride at coming out? That was long ago.
Am I proud of my accomplishments since then? Of course.
I am proud of the friends I have made, great times that were had.
Proud of some of my behavior, taking the high road.
Not so proud of other behavior – I am too fallible at times.

Proud to have stayed alive and relatively well,

when so many others have passed, some by their own hand.
There are forces out there trying to undermine us.
Luckily there are other forces trying to help us.
I'm proud to be a survivor, and see the changes
taking place (despite frequent economic and political difficulties.)

Our city and/or event organizers have moved the celebration,

then charged higher entry fees. Everything seems to cost more,
from the entry bracelets (and don't you dare go in the wrong door)
to the food to other items. All of a sudden they all think we are
rich – this while state industry is being privatized and jobs cut.

The truth is, a lot of us are really struggling out there,

and a glossy Pride celebration with high costs for everything
is not going to change that. I hope some of that money gets
to those in need of help. That would make me really Proud
on this, the latest iteration of the Stonewall liberation anniversary.

But I am grateful for all of the progress that has been made

since that fateful day in 1969.

Thanks for reading.