Potpourri
This month we look at some of the things affecting science and technology in the news.
Computer Prices are Rising
Acer, a major computer manufacturer, announced yesterday that prices on new computers were going to rise due to the tariffs imposed by the US Government.
Microsoft is also pushing the replacement of Windows 10 computers with newer computers. These computers require a TPM 2.0 security chip improving the protection of the data on the computer. But Microsoft is also encouraging a new AI chip to assist the new Copilot features it is trying to include in newer Windows 11 computers.
You may want to make your next computer purchases sooner rather than later in the year to save some money.
Space
There is a lot of news in the space industry where 2025 the expectation was for a booming year. That may be changing, and the space companies are pulling back as a result.
SLS
The Space Launch System is the super heavy lift rocket expected to bring Americans back to the moon. Last week Boeing, one of the four primary developers of the system, notified their employees to expect layoffs and indicated that the SLS may be letting go of more than 200 hundred people working on the project. There is concern that due to its high costs the program might be cancelled.
Boeing Starliner
The Starliner is a space capsule built by Boeing to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Its initial crewed flight started in June of 2024, but due to issues during the mission to the ISS NASA determined that the vehicle was not safe enough to return the crew to Earth. The plan was changed to send the Starliner back to Earth empty and send the astronauts back on a later SpaceX Crew Dragon which is expected to return this coming March. The Starliner did return safely back to Earth without its passengers, but its future still has not been determined.
United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Last year ULA made its first launch of the new Vulcan/Centaur rocket. This new rocket is supposed to replace the Lockheed’s retiring Atlas and Boeing’s Delta rockets. In October 2024 the second certification flight experienced an issue with one of the solid fuel boosters. This did not impact the mission, but delayed certification of the vehicle. ULA has now moved the current Vulcan from the launch pad to make room to launch Amazon satellites on one of the remaining Atlas rockets. At the beginning of the year, ULA had expected to launch 20 rockets in 2025 with 10 of them being Atlas rockets and the rest being new Vulcan rockets.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin makes the engines for the ULA Vulcan. They also build the New Shepard suborbital rocket and the New Glenn Heavy Lift rocket. New Glenn had its first launch this past January. New Glenn intends to be reusable like the New Shepard. Blue Origin decided to forgo the initial landing attempt for the first flight to reduce the complexity of the mission and then experienced loss of the second stage during re-entry after mission completion. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, funds and owns Blue Origin.
SpaceX
SpaceX considered by many to be the most reliable space vehicle ever created has had its own issues recently. There have been three failures of the second stage of the Falcon 9 since last July. One of these failures placed the entire load of satellites in an obit that was too low, ending in the loss of all of the satellites. Another left the 2nd stage stuck in earth orbit and a third one did return to Earth but outside of its return zone. SpaceX is investigating the issue and hoping to fix the problems.
SpaceX also had an issue with it massive Starship launch number 7. The Starship portion of the Super-Heavy/Starship combination “spontaneously disassembled” during its flight spreading parts over the Caribbean. This of course is requiring another investigation. The Super-Heavy/Starship combination is also expected to have a role in the American return to the moon.
Until Next Month
I had started to branch out and cover some short pieces on Health Technologies but decided to wait. There is a group in Texas that is trying to recreate the Dodo Bird by genetic engineering pigeons. I am not sure why they want to do this. I am working on an article on current AI technologies and another on why privacy stays broken. If there are any other topics that interest you, let me know. Until next time, be safe.
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