On September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy proclaimed the exploration of space to be the “New Frontier.” As it turned out, JFK did not care that much about space—he launched the Moon race in May 1961 because he wanted a high-profile exercise in which to beat the Soviet Union, and to distract from the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion a few weeks earlier. … [Read more...]
Cruising with Cats and Dogs
January 7, 2025 by
How much would you pay to take your cat or dog with you on a cruise? For some people, the answer would be "a lot"! But the market hasn't addressed this demand. With the exception of service dogs (who are not pets, and no, buying a harness on eBay doesn't make her a service dog), pets are not allowed on any regular cruise ship. If you want to … [Read more...]
The Case for (Human) Life on Mars
December 16, 2024 by
A few months ago, the editors at Quillette asked me to review Robert Zubrin's newest book "The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet and Why We Must." As a fan of Zubrin's work, I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed the book. But I was pleased and amused to find echoes of work I had done as far back as high school in the 1970s, … [Read more...]
Turning the Page
June 4, 2024 by
It’s been a tumultuous seven years since I moved to Tucson to take up a new appointment at the University of Arizona. Multiple leadership changes, COVID-19, and launching a new NSF-funded Engineering Research Center have kept me busy, and I’ve built some great friendships. But all good things must come to an end, and after careful consideration, … [Read more...]
So We Rented a Tesla…
July 16, 2022 by
I’ve been paying attention to the Tesla ecosystem for years. I got my first ride in a Model S in 2013, and immediately fell in love with the neck-snapping acceleration. I thought seriously about buying one… but the entrance into the front seat required more gymnastics than I liked (I’m 6’4” and the doorway was just too low), so I never pulled the … [Read more...]
7th Interstellar Symposium
June 18, 2021 by
This fall, Tucson is going to be hosting two awesome symposia back-to-back (they're even at the same hotel): NASA NIAC Symposium NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is "NASA's DARPA"... the place where the space agency funds ideas that are too difficult, too far out, or too nearly-crazy to make it through the more buttoned-down … [Read more...]
Old Pueblo, New Space
November 22, 2020 by
David Wichner at the Arizona Daily Star has written a great article… but the headline writer missed a great opportunity to label it simply “Old Pueblo, New Space.” It mentions the Arizona Space Business Roundtable, as well as several of our former (and future) speakers. It’s nice to have something to point to when non-specialists ask you “So what’s … [Read more...]
Innovation out of Failure
September 28, 2020 by
This conversation with Andrew Lynn of Chapman University turned out well. As Andrew said: This week's Innovation out of Failure class discussion centered on a conversation I had with Stephen Fleming. With Stephen touching on everything from startup successes and failures to risk taking at a university vs. in business to the role of market forces … [Read more...]
Boomerangs
August 11, 2020 by
I suppose this is Part V of "Tucson after the Coronavirus" … although I was talking about "boomerangs" long before the virus. Back in the Before Times, when I used to leave the house every day, I took Uber and Lyft a lot. (We are a one-car family, and a bicycle won’t get me everywhere.) And, channeling Thomas Friedman, I always liked to … [Read more...]
Sonoran Desert Spaceport
June 9, 2020 by
After decades of failed promises and false starts, we finally have a thriving space launch industry emerging from new and traditional players in the United States and abroad. Multiple satellite operators—including Google, SpaceX, Amazon, Iridium, and more—have the financial wherewithal to develop constellations of hundreds or thousands of small … [Read more...]
