Reconsideration

"Jim Kingdon" wrote in message

Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
post.

He had me going up until about paragraph 3 or so (I think "We have a
space station, if we could just muster up the gumption to finish it"
was about when I stopped asking myself, "gee, what has Rand gotten
disillusioned about and what new direction does he see?").

Oh, good grief. Got me too. That's hilarious.

Jon

Jim Kingdon ) wrote:
: Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
: post.

: He had me going up until about paragraph 3 or so (I think "We have a
: space station, if we could just muster up the gumption to finish it"
: was about when I stopped asking myself, "gee, what has Rand gotten
: disillusioned about and what new direction does he see?").

Yeah, sort of like "sell the house, sell the wife, sell the kids, sell
everything, I'm gong into the commercial space business...now!", just in
reverse.

Let me reiterate. I want to be wrong, proven wrong. I want my scepticism
of commercial spaceflight to be absolutely disproven with success. I'd
trade my assessment for success in a heartbeat. I don't wish failure on
anyone because I want to be right. Hell, I want to be wrong! But, based
upon results thus far, what can anyone say?

Eric

On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 07:00:55 -0400, in a place far, far away,
(Eric Chomko) made the phosphor on my
monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:

Let me reiterate. I want to be wrong, proven wrong.

That's good, since you get your stated heart's desire every day,
multiple times, often in hilarious ways.

Jorge R. Frank wrote:

Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
post.



Ah, he got me fair and square on that one! I thought the whole
"Conversion On The Road To Damascus" scenario was a bit unlikely, but
considered he might have gotten a job with a major aerospace firm, and
was now going to start writing propaganda pieces for them.
I really get a kick out of April Fool's day... where else does one find
a day which is specifically set aside to encourage the telling of lies
and the misleading of people? Outside of one of Bush's State Of The
Union speeches, that is. :-D

Pat

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 17:20:32 -0400, in a place far, far away, Pat
Flannery made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:

Jorge R. Frank wrote:

Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
post.



Ah, he got me fair and square on that one! I thought the whole
"Conversion On The Road To Damascus" scenario was a bit unlikely, but
considered he might have gotten a job with a major aerospace firm, and
was now going to start writing propaganda pieces for them.

Actually, I am making my living right now off a major aerospace firm,
though as a consultant. It's in fact not in my financial interest for
CEV to die, but I still think that it's a misbegotten program.

Rand Simberg wrote:

Actually, I am making my living right now off a major aerospace firm,
though as a consultant. It's in fact not in my financial interest for
CEV to die, but I still think that it's a misbegotten program.



I think the odds of CEV ever getting built and heading Moonwards are
fairly slim.
We are running one hell of a deficit, and NASA looks like a juicy target
when budget cuts come along.
The scenario I think NASA should watch out for is losing a Shuttle on
one of its few last flights- the reaction to that would be so severe
that it might pretty well annihilate the agency.

Pat

Jorge R. Frank ) wrote:
: Pat Flannery wrote in
: :

: Rand Simberg wrote:
:
: I now realize that Mark Whittington is
: right, and that there's a very real chance that the Chinese will beat
: us to the moon, and lay claim to the strategic high ground. But we
: must accept that, and work to change that potential outcome, whatever
: it takes.
:
: First off, at the rate they are moving, the Chinese will be on the moon
: around 2025 if at all.
: Second, being up there doesn't give them the "strategic high ground" due
: to the time it would take anything to reach the Earth that was fired
: from the Moon. In fact, if you want to worry about the Chinese high
: ground scenario, watch out for stuff in Earth orbit, not way out on the
: Moon.

: Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
: post.

Yep, the most sense he's made ever and it turns out to be a joke.
Pretty bad timing given SpaceX's recent problem, if you ask me.

Eric

: --
: JRF

: Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
: check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
: think one step ahead of IBM.

On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 06:55:36 -0400, in a place far, far away,
(Eric Chomko) made the phosphor on my
monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:

: Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
: post.

Yep, the most sense he's made ever and it turns out to be a joke.

The fact that you think it's the most sense I've ever made makes the
joke all the more hilarious.

All I did was repeat all of the (to me, silly) space policy arguments
that I've heard over the years, and many people took it as a serious
post.

h (Rand Simberg) wrote:

:On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 06:55:36 -0400, in a place far, far away,
(Eric Chomko) made the phosphor on my
:monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:
:
:: Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
:: post.
:
:Yep, the most sense he's made ever and it turns out to be a joke.
:
:The fact that you think it's the most sense I've ever made makes the
:joke all the more hilarious.
:
:All I did was repeat all of the (to me, silly) space policy arguments
:that I've heard over the years, and many people took it as a serious
ost.

Hell, I just thought you were being sarcastic. Never even occurred to
me that it was April 1.

--
"May God have mercy upon my enemies; they will need it."
-- General George S Patton, Jr.

Rand Simberg ) wrote:
: On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 06:55:36 -0400, in a place far, far away,
: (Eric Chomko) made the phosphor on my
: monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that:

: : Umm, maybe you haven't realized it yet, but that was Rand's April Fools
: : post.
:
: Yep, the most sense he's made ever and it turns out to be a joke.

: The fact that you think it's the most sense I've ever made makes the
: joke all the more hilarious.

Yes, to you. Time will tell, just how funny vs. accurate you were with
your little 'joke'.

: All I did was repeat all of the (to me, silly) space policy arguments
: that I've heard over the years, and many people took it as a serious
: post.

Well, in lieu of the setback of SpaceX, what were many of us supposed to
think? How deep is the financial well?

Eric