Roundup of thoughts

 Here's a #wenhop update for #HLV #ULAVulcan by @jeff_foust@twtr.plus  N.E.T. 4 May and identifies several gating factors https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1628895407731343360?s=20 ULA's Tory Bruno says they are targeting no earlier than May 4 for the first Vulcan Centaur launch. Based on several issues, including BE-4 qualification testing and launch windows for the Astrobotic Peregrine lander.

Recently I realized that neither I nor anyone I knew could explain to me how a rapid test worked and what was in the various components, ie, fluid and test strip.  I found the excellent diagram below in this article https://asm.org/Articles/2020/August/How-the-SARS-CoV-2-EUA-Antigen-Tests-Work  (Thank you, Andrea Prinzi  https://asm.org/Biographies/Andrea-Prinzi ) The fluid is 99% saline The test strip (lateral flow assay) holds the magic, literally, gold atoms!  For now, I am satisfied. But why gold?

Here's a #wenhop update for @boeingspace #Starliner launching on an #ULAAtlasV Jamie Groh @Florida_Today cites NASA's Steve Stich, Mgr of Commercial Crew "from the station manifest perspective, the window is" ~15-30 April We're "80% through" the work to be human-rated & fly Read all of Jamie's story here: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2023/02/17/starliner-first-astronaut-mission-on-track-spring-2023-nasa-boeing/69912545007/ Image from Florida Today

Here's a #wenhop update for #HLV #SpaceXStarship Christian Davenport @wapodavenport quotes @Gwynne_Shotwell re: a planned a 33-engine static fire tomorrow 33-engines means Booster 7 Joey Roulette @joroulette quotes first orbital flight is expected "in the next month or so" https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1623391044464156674?s=20&t=U8mp87svwC9LRTief6KpGg Image from Teslarati.com

Here's a #wenhop update for #HLV #ULAVulcan by Eric Berger @sciguyspace@twtr.plus aka @SciGuySpace Eric concludes that “This very likely pushes the debut of Vulcan into May. The readiness of Peregrine, and progress made during Vulcan's testing, may push that date later into the year.” Read the full story here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/when-will-united-launch-alliances-vulcan-rocket-fly/ (FWIW, I think we'll be lucky if this flight, with Peregrine, happens in 2023.)