Oct 28 2021 - Space Tourism vs Space Colonization

 

There are two themes in the race to space.  The first is the space tourism race.  Titans of private industry are racing each other to space.  It sounds so fun and glamorous - take William Shatner's reaction:  “What you have given me is the most profound experience," an exhilarated Shatner told Bezos after emerging from the capsule. “I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now." That sounds like a lot of money to be made to get a life experience like this. CNN says that the big three are "not the only players in the game, and they may not be the only space barons for very long. There are hundreds of space startups across the United States and the world focused on everything from satellite tech to orbiting hotels." Space race articles often compare the current one to the space race of the last century. Except it isn't Western governments racing Eastern governments in a cold war scenario for military dominance as expressed through scientific and technological superiority.  And these led to increased industry and profits and economic growth.  A double win for the countries. The second goal of the space race is colonization. That's Elon Musk's goal - colonization of Mars.   Colonization is something that humans know a lot about.  In our recorded history, there have been three waves of colonization from the 1400s to the late 1800s.  From Wikipedia:  "The first wave of European expansion involved exploring the world to find new revenue and perpetuating European feudalism. The second wave focused on developing the mercantile capitalism system and the manufacturing industry in Europe. The last wave of European colonialism solidified all capitalistic endeavours by providing new markets and raw materials."   I notice that Wikipedia has no mention of human impacts - they do that in the entry on colonialism. Interesting that we're trying to sort through colonialism in our current era. With this facing us, the question is being asked in advance in relation to Mars colonization:  Is it ethical to go to the red planet?  There's more emphasis on questions like:  how will we get to Mars, who will build the rocket, can we get astronauts, and how to build habitats and live in them.   The question around ethics was investigated in a CBC series:  People may contaminate Mars. We can bring our microbes there and contaminate the indigenous life that's there. This topic is discussed in a CBC series HERE.   Currently the concern is that the answer will come from the billionaires who will be the first to get to Mars. This is a very big topic.  I expect we'll be doing a lot more "soul-searching" on it in the months and years to come. Our image is named Rocket Ship Ride.  I found this decay on a guard rail.  It seems perfect - leaving the planet behind in a trail of dust.

Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 13 2021 - Billionaire Branson Blasts into Space

 

I was scrolling past the Branson headlines yesterday to find out about banana slicers.  what did Branson do? He 'soared more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert.'  He was joined by SPCE.N employees - who unstrapped themselves and floated in and out of cabins with bezerkly goofy grins.     "We’re here to make space more accessible to all," an exuberant Branson, 70, said shortly after embracing his grandchildren following the flight. "Welcome to the dawn of a new space age." The race was on between Branson and Jeff Bezos, according to the Globe and Mail on the weekend. There are lots of headlines on 'the feud' getting petty. This is a highly publicized rivalry with fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, the Amazon (AMZN.O) online retail mogul who had hoped to fly into space first aboard his own space company's rocket.  There are tweeted comparisons of Bezos' "better" rocket vs Branson's. There was a congratulations on Instagram. Bezos said on Instagram. "Can’t wait to join the club!" The flight was moved up to occur before the Bezos flight scheduled for July 20th. A big party was held afterwards with space industry executives, future customers and other well-wishers  Joining the reception was another billionaire space industry pioneer, Elon Musk, who is also founder of electric carmaker Tesla Inc Branson says 600 wealthy would-be citizen astronauts have also booked reservations, priced at about $250,000 per ticket for the exhilaration of supersonic flight, weightlessness and the spectacle of spaceflight. Branson has said he aims ultimately to lower the price to about $40,000 per seat as the company ramps up service, achieving greater economies of scale. Colglazier said he envisions eventually building a large enough fleet to accommodate roughly 400 flights annually at the spaceport. I wonder what the reviews will look like. I am still thinking about the banana slicer.   At the bottom of one of the articles is a "Litter-Robot" ad for automated cat litter collection.  I don't know if this is a comedic video or an ad. The cost is $660. It is at litter-robot.com and has 8,247 reviews.  Here we are at reviews again.  I scrolled through a few - my estimate is that out of this enormous number of reviews under 10% have correct grammar, spelling or even make sense.  If I pick out the silliest, this could be a rival to the banana slicer. Our picture today - ripe tomatoes. This is a tomato year at Lilycrest Gardens.  There are around 40 - 60 plants in the field.   Each is staked and pruned perfectly.  This picture comes from Cole's Garden Centre where tomato plants this year showed up with a full crop.

Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca