Danny S. Parker
@ds-parker.bsky.social
Energy scientist, devout writer, history of the space age, military history, old Zennie, myeloma survivor.
Pinned
Danny S. Parker
@ds-parker.bsky.social
· Apr 16
Tom Wolfe wrote “The Right Stuff.” But based on what? Within “Aurora,” my fresh appraisal of Project Mercury, readers will learn that Rene Carpenter was the “color”ghost writer for many scenes in Wolfe’s gonzo account. TRS also benefitted from many interviews: fact versus fiction.
If you want science to flourish, provide capable innovators with ample, no strings attached funding.
sites.stat.columbia.edu/gelman/resea...
sites.stat.columbia.edu/gelman/resea...
sites.stat.columbia.edu
October 5, 2025 at 6:06 PM
If you want science to flourish, provide capable innovators with ample, no strings attached funding.
sites.stat.columbia.edu/gelman/resea...
sites.stat.columbia.edu/gelman/resea...
Well, Mark R. Sullivan was spot on, but did not go crazy enough 72 years ago: computer in your pocket and soon one that might reason better than you can.
August 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Well, Mark R. Sullivan was spot on, but did not go crazy enough 72 years ago: computer in your pocket and soon one that might reason better than you can.
Reposted by Danny S. Parker
The National Weather Service issued its first-ever heat advisory in Alaska on Friday.
Alaska Weather Office Issues Its First Heat Warning
Forecasters said it might hit 85 degrees in Fairbanks this weekend. The Weather Service has changed how it issues warnings there.
trib.al
June 14, 2025 at 2:40 AM
The National Weather Service issued its first-ever heat advisory in Alaska on Friday.
63 years ago Aurora 7 flew w/Astronaut Scott Carpenter, 2nd American to orbit Earth. Mercury training officer, Bob Voas, claimed MA-7 a triumph, but Carpenter was maligned by Chris Kraft. Why? My new book, Aurora, to show a critical change to Capsule#18 fated fuel a serious problem.
May 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
63 years ago Aurora 7 flew w/Astronaut Scott Carpenter, 2nd American to orbit Earth. Mercury training officer, Bob Voas, claimed MA-7 a triumph, but Carpenter was maligned by Chris Kraft. Why? My new book, Aurora, to show a critical change to Capsule#18 fated fuel a serious problem.
Set a course for k2-18b in constellation Leo.
More likely than not the Webb telescope has detected life on exoplanet.
Oops. 124 light years away. At Voyager 1 speeds (38,210 mph) would be a 2,176,296 year trip.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
More likely than not the Webb telescope has detected life on exoplanet.
Oops. 124 light years away. At Voyager 1 speeds (38,210 mph) would be a 2,176,296 year trip.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
Is Dimethyl Sulfide Really a Sign of Alien Life?
Dimethyl sulfide is in the news after NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected relatively high levels of it in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18 b
www.scientificamerican.com
May 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Set a course for k2-18b in constellation Leo.
More likely than not the Webb telescope has detected life on exoplanet.
Oops. 124 light years away. At Voyager 1 speeds (38,210 mph) would be a 2,176,296 year trip.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
More likely than not the Webb telescope has detected life on exoplanet.
Oops. 124 light years away. At Voyager 1 speeds (38,210 mph) would be a 2,176,296 year trip.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
Reposted by Danny S. Parker
Weather and climate research funds are being “chainsawed” from NOAA's budget. Last I checked, Louisiana & Florida, which are maximally susceptible to Hurricanes, voted Red in the last General Election.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
May 6, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Weather and climate research funds are being “chainsawed” from NOAA's budget. Last I checked, Louisiana & Florida, which are maximally susceptible to Hurricanes, voted Red in the last General Election.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Reposted by Danny S. Parker
Reposted by Danny S. Parker
At NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Manhattan, they specialize in planetary climates — especially Earth's.
The White House decided not to renew their building lease — where they’ve been for 64 years.
NASA’s total funding is 0.3% of the Federal Budget. Just saying.
The White House decided not to renew their building lease — where they’ve been for 64 years.
NASA’s total funding is 0.3% of the Federal Budget. Just saying.
May 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
At NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Manhattan, they specialize in planetary climates — especially Earth's.
The White House decided not to renew their building lease — where they’ve been for 64 years.
NASA’s total funding is 0.3% of the Federal Budget. Just saying.
The White House decided not to renew their building lease — where they’ve been for 64 years.
NASA’s total funding is 0.3% of the Federal Budget. Just saying.
Aurora is not only a more fully revealed story of Astronaut Scott Carpenter & early NASA, but also the dynamic insight of Rene Carpenter & Project Mercury.
May 14, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Aurora is not only a more fully revealed story of Astronaut Scott Carpenter & early NASA, but also the dynamic insight of Rene Carpenter & Project Mercury.
Very impressed by JetZero. What Musk should have been doing.
Why? Politics will never be solved. Waste never be eliminated- entropy.
Yes. Greater efficiency & better machines. But increasing human suffering=wrong direction.
www.jetzero.aero
Why? Politics will never be solved. Waste never be eliminated- entropy.
Yes. Greater efficiency & better machines. But increasing human suffering=wrong direction.
www.jetzero.aero
JetZero
The future takes shape
www.jetzero.aero
May 11, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Very impressed by JetZero. What Musk should have been doing.
Why? Politics will never be solved. Waste never be eliminated- entropy.
Yes. Greater efficiency & better machines. But increasing human suffering=wrong direction.
www.jetzero.aero
Why? Politics will never be solved. Waste never be eliminated- entropy.
Yes. Greater efficiency & better machines. But increasing human suffering=wrong direction.
www.jetzero.aero
St. Mark’s Episcopal church in Cocoa, Florida. Live here.
Then & now after the Flight of Aurora 7: May 24, 1962. Scott Carpenter: sons Scotty & Jay. Kris keeping up w/ Rene Carpenter. Candace just behind.
Then & now after the Flight of Aurora 7: May 24, 1962. Scott Carpenter: sons Scotty & Jay. Kris keeping up w/ Rene Carpenter. Candace just behind.
May 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal church in Cocoa, Florida. Live here.
Then & now after the Flight of Aurora 7: May 24, 1962. Scott Carpenter: sons Scotty & Jay. Kris keeping up w/ Rene Carpenter. Candace just behind.
Then & now after the Flight of Aurora 7: May 24, 1962. Scott Carpenter: sons Scotty & Jay. Kris keeping up w/ Rene Carpenter. Candace just behind.
There is a possibility that AI will help end human disease in the next decade.
www.science.org/content/blog...
www.science.org/content/blog...
The End of Disease
www.science.org
May 7, 2025 at 4:21 AM
There is a possibility that AI will help end human disease in the next decade.
www.science.org/content/blog...
www.science.org/content/blog...
Another impact of trade war & domestic uncertainty: European travel to the U.S. is down by ~10% while U.S. travel to Europe is up. May increase as foreign destinations become cheaper sans tariffs.
www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/i...
www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/i...
International tourism to the U.S. slumps, but Americans can't stop traveling overseas
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines say international and premium travel is robust while domestic coach-class travel and some corporate travel has slowed.
www.cnbc.com
April 23, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Another impact of trade war & domestic uncertainty: European travel to the U.S. is down by ~10% while U.S. travel to Europe is up. May increase as foreign destinations become cheaper sans tariffs.
www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/i...
www.cnbc.com/2025/04/23/i...
Astronauts Deke Slayton & Scott Carpenter during jungle survival training, 1963. Slayton was grounded w/ AFIB, but was head of astronaut office. Slayton grounded Carpenter as “unacceptable to management” = Kraft & Slayton. (NASA)
April 18, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Astronauts Deke Slayton & Scott Carpenter during jungle survival training, 1963. Slayton was grounded w/ AFIB, but was head of astronaut office. Slayton grounded Carpenter as “unacceptable to management” = Kraft & Slayton. (NASA)
Tom Wolfe wrote “The Right Stuff.” But based on what? Within “Aurora,” my fresh appraisal of Project Mercury, readers will learn that Rene Carpenter was the “color”ghost writer for many scenes in Wolfe’s gonzo account. TRS also benefitted from many interviews: fact versus fiction.
April 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Tom Wolfe wrote “The Right Stuff.” But based on what? Within “Aurora,” my fresh appraisal of Project Mercury, readers will learn that Rene Carpenter was the “color”ghost writer for many scenes in Wolfe’s gonzo account. TRS also benefitted from many interviews: fact versus fiction.
Science fiction’s colony-ready Mars in 1949. Endpapers of Robert Heinlein’s “Red Planet.”
Heinlein’s wildly mistaken guess of atmospheric pressure: ~30 kPA. Earth sea level press= ~100 kPa.
Near vacuum Martian reality (~0.6 kPa) only came w/ NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1965.
Heinlein’s wildly mistaken guess of atmospheric pressure: ~30 kPA. Earth sea level press= ~100 kPa.
Near vacuum Martian reality (~0.6 kPa) only came w/ NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1965.
February 28, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Science fiction’s colony-ready Mars in 1949. Endpapers of Robert Heinlein’s “Red Planet.”
Heinlein’s wildly mistaken guess of atmospheric pressure: ~30 kPA. Earth sea level press= ~100 kPa.
Near vacuum Martian reality (~0.6 kPa) only came w/ NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1965.
Heinlein’s wildly mistaken guess of atmospheric pressure: ~30 kPA. Earth sea level press= ~100 kPa.
Near vacuum Martian reality (~0.6 kPa) only came w/ NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1965.
Aurora 7: 24 May 62, Astronaut Scott Carpenter & 2nd U.S. orbital flight— collected more scientific data than any previous mission, U.S. or Russian. Flight director, Chris Kraft, admitted most successful of Project Mercury till 3rd orbit. Later, Kraft condemned Carpenter. What really happened?
January 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Aurora 7: 24 May 62, Astronaut Scott Carpenter & 2nd U.S. orbital flight— collected more scientific data than any previous mission, U.S. or Russian. Flight director, Chris Kraft, admitted most successful of Project Mercury till 3rd orbit. Later, Kraft condemned Carpenter. What really happened?
Reposted by Danny S. Parker
JHG seemed to relish using his Mercury capsule numbering to wrangle the superstitious crowd. “Thirteen was my lucky number,” he mused.
January 14, 2025 at 6:29 PM
JHG seemed to relish using his Mercury capsule numbering to wrangle the superstitious crowd. “Thirteen was my lucky number,” he mused.
Aurora: Astronaut Scott Carpenter trained many weeks w/John Glenn prior to 1st orbital flight— long hrs checking out problems w/Mercury capsule #13 @ Hangar S at the Cape.
Lunch? Quick burger at “White Caps Drive In”— now Shepard Park.
Carpenter Diary: 16 Oct 61
Lunch? Quick burger at “White Caps Drive In”— now Shepard Park.
Carpenter Diary: 16 Oct 61
January 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Aurora: Astronaut Scott Carpenter trained many weeks w/John Glenn prior to 1st orbital flight— long hrs checking out problems w/Mercury capsule #13 @ Hangar S at the Cape.
Lunch? Quick burger at “White Caps Drive In”— now Shepard Park.
Carpenter Diary: 16 Oct 61
Lunch? Quick burger at “White Caps Drive In”— now Shepard Park.
Carpenter Diary: 16 Oct 61