February 6, 2026

“JOURNALISM”:

Seriously, no matter how much you despise these guys…

Posted at 7:51 am by Stephen Green

STAY SAFE:

Posted at 7:40 am by Stephen Green

“FINALLY,” INDEED: NASA finally acknowledges the elephant in the room with the SLS rocket.

The reality, which Isaacman knows full well, and which almost everyone else in the industry recognizes, is that the SLS rocket is dead hardware walking. The Trump administration would like to fly the rocket just two more times, culminating in the Artemis III human landing on the Moon. Congress has passed legislation mandating a fourth and fifth launch of the SLS vehicle.

However, one gets the sense that this battle is not yet fully formed, and the outcome will depend on hiccups like Monday’s aborted test; the ongoing performance of the rocket in flight; and how quickly SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn vehicle make advancements toward reliability. Both of these private rockets are moving at light speed relative to NASA’s Slow Launch System.

During the news conference, I asked about this low flight rate and the challenge of managing a complex rocket that will never be more than anything but an experimental system. The answer from NASA’s top civil servant, Amit Kshatriya, was eye-opening.

“You know, you’re right, the flight rate—three years is a long time between the first and second,” NASA’s associate administrator said. “It is going to be experimental, because of going to the Moon in this configuration, with the energies we’re dealing with. And every time we do it these are very bespoke components, they’re in many cases made by incredible craftsmen. … It’s the first time this particular machine has borne witness to cryogens, and how it breathes, and how it vents, and how it wants to leak is something we have to characterize. And so every time we do it, we’re going to have to do that separately.”

Good lord. We really could have used a WickWick Event before the first one ever flew.

Posted at 7:33 am by Stephen Green

OOPS:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

BILL AYERS AND BERNARDINE DOHRN SMILE:

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll

I DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD GET #1 NEW RELEASE WHILE ON PRE-ORDER:  Done With Mirrors: A Collection of Short Stories (Sarah A. Hoyt’s Short Story Collections).

DONE WITH MIRRORS

From Prometheus Award winner Sarah A. Hoyt comes a dazzling collection that showcases why her work has appeared in Analog, Asimov’s, and Weird Tales—and why readers can’t get enough.

Magic-soaked noir in 1920s Denver. Mirror-hopping time lords fleeing across infinite universes. Survival in John Ringo’s zombie apocalypse. Murder and mystery in the world of Darkships and Rhodes. Each story in this collection pulls you into a different world—and refuses to let go.

Previously published in acclaimed anthologies from Baen and Chris Kennedy Publishing, these nine tales span Hoyt’s most beloved universes alongside standalone adventures. Whether she’s writing in Ringo’s Black Tide Rising series, exploring her own Darkships and Rhodes worlds, or crafting speculative noir that defies categorization, Hoyt delivers the vivid storytelling and emotional resonance that has earned her a devoted following.

From rain-slicked streets where magic and murder collide to the far reaches of space-time itself, Done With Mirrors demonstrates the genre-hopping brilliance of one of speculative fiction’s most versatile voices.

Nine stories. Nine worlds. One unforgettable collection.

With an introduction by Holly Chism.

Posted at 7:00 am by Sarah Hoyt

TEACHERS COLLEGES NEED TO STOP. JUST STOP:  Pretty Much Illiterate.

The kids can’t read because no one teaches them how to.

Posted at 6:00 am by Sarah Hoyt

February 5, 2026

YEAH, PRETTY MUCH:

Posted at 10:05 pm by Glenn Reynolds