Author of The Moon: A History for the Future https://xitter.cf/t.co/C1MHjWie26 Views not discernible from RTs

Greenwich, UK
Joined February 2009
Updating: I lurk here, and sometimes post or reply, but most of what I post and engage with is over in the azure place.
Replying to @Eaterofsun
I will look for news here, but unlikely to tweet or retweet over the next seven days.
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Oliver Morton retweeted
New from @TheEconomist @Eaterofsun "[Stardust] stressed the degree to which the particles were part of an 'end to end' approach to geoengineering technology which the company hoped to provide to...governments" economist.com/science-and-te…
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Oliver Morton retweeted
Let's go to the tape: "I've received responses from both vendors, both SpaceX and Blue Origin, to meet our needs for a late 2027 rendezvous, docking, and test the interoperability out of both landers in advance of a landing attempt in 2028." youtube.com/live/iRbb1C0v2G8…
Lori - always appreciate the interest and commentary! We never officially moved the timing of Artemis III to 'late' 2027. A reporter wrote that after misinterpreting my quick response to a question during a budget hearing. In the same hearing, I also said we were gaining increased confidence in interoperability tests with both landers in 2027. I am quite sure at least one will incorporate an ECLSS demonstration. As for 2028, we have always said we would protect for up to two landing attempts, if required. That story has not changed, and the South Pole was always the landing target. The only goalposts that have moved have been in the direction of achievability--standardizing the architecture, adding missions, focusing resources, and rebuilding in-house competencies. We have tried to communicate to the greatest extent possible in this regard, while respecting the proprietary information of our commercial partners. I will say, I am very proud of the NASA team and the new pace we are moving at. The public will learn in the weeks ahead which astronauts will undertake Artemis III, and I would not be surprised if you see some early wet dress testing at 39B before the end of this year. Now, if your point is that the schedule is ambitious, I agree. And NASA’s recent track record on schedule has not been great, but when it comes to landing astronauts on the Moon, historically, our batting average was pretty good. I suspect it will be again.
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Oliver Morton retweeted
I had to laugh when @ZackPolanski was accused on @GMB of being angry, when in truth, he was answering in a calm and professional manner, while @edballs was tuning into the Incredible Hulk. Vote.GreenParty.org.uk and rattle the establishment
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Oliver Morton retweeted
This is pretty cool. @SurreySat has been engaged to develop the spacecraft platform for the Lazuli space observatory, which is Eric and Wendy Schmidt's idea for a privately-built telescope with a primary mirror larger than Hubble's.
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Oliver Morton retweeted
Vast has secured $500M in funding to advance next-generation space station technologies and infrastructure for America and its allies. vastspace.com/updates/vast-s…
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I've plotted the most expensive McDonald's burger and the least expensive MacBook over time. This analysis projects that the most expensive burger will be more expensive than the cheapest laptop as soon as 2081
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Alerts from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory have been flowing for about a week...how many have there been?? 🚨 So far, Rubin has generated....drumroll please🥁 ~1.7 million world-public alerts! That's ~1.7 MILLION objects that changed in brightness or position in just seven nights🤯
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The BBC (this is from the ten o'clock news last night) is blurring out some signs/banners in Minnesota demonstrations. a) Why is it doing so, and b) why is it not explaining why it is doing so to its viewers? cc @BBCRosAtkins, @BBCNews, @BowenBBC
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PS I reent having to come on to this site to ask this question: why is BBC presence on Blue Sky so very poor?
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Oliver Morton retweeted
I realized the Doom graphics engine running on a pregnancy test CPU could handle all of North American Air Traffic Control. I'm going to sit down for a bit.
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Reminder to the world: Greg Bear's novella Heads is very cool, dark and spooky
Quantum computing is best done in the permanently shadowed craters on the Moon
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Oliver Morton retweeted
Oh, just a caterpillar that keeps all the husks it shed from its head when it was smaller as a kind of elaborate hat … because why wouldn’t you? Congratulations to Georgina Steytler, who just won a wildlife photography award for this extraordinary image!
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Oliver Morton retweeted
“About 2:00pm on Saturday, mine workers found the object burning near a remote access road and alerted emergency services. Police said it may be "a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel or rocket tank", from a space vessel.”
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Oliver Morton retweeted
Your space agency doesn't care. • NASA Acting Admin. Sean Duffy has done zero interviews with space media since appointment. • NASA's senior exploration officials have not done press in a year. • Amit Kshatriya, who is now basically running the agency, has done zero press.
HLS is a public program. We deserve some sort of info, reveal, hell even hype? 2026 is the year to do this. With Artemis 2, starship orbit, refill etc. I remember when SpaceX had a whole unveiling of Crew Dragon. Let’s do the same for HLS.
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In 1940 George Orwell reported on the reading habits of children: Dickens, Shakespeare, Defoe, RL Stevenson and GK Chesterton. Incomprehensible now. I'm not sure our culture and politics can survive the accompanying loss of critical thinking, attention and intelligence.
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Oliver Morton retweeted
Instead of a clear answer on #Mars Sample Return @SecDuffyNASA goes off on a tangent and then another tangent about how interested Trump is in space, everyone thinks science is important etc.
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Someone should ask about Tianwen 3. Please!!
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Oliver Morton retweeted
I guess budget cuts at NASA have forced NASA to give up the table and chairs it would normally use for a press briefing. Tough times!
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So is this presser happening or what?
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