Not quite, there is a good reason why some of our most critical space launches here in the US are being powered by Russian Engines (at least for now) and it isn't all about cost. The NK-33 (RD-180,AJ26-58, RD-180, etc) has an ISP that most US/European rocket scientists didn't even think was technically possible with RP-1 until after the end of the cold war some heard rumors of the stats for the Russian engine that was supposed to power their moon shot and investigated. The Russians simply had a different design method than most other countries, they would quickly slap together and test prototype after prototype knowing they would fail but hoping that with each test they could glean enough information to build it better the next time until they finally had the production rocket. The US and European method was insane amounts of testing and design up front to try to have a production rocket on the first flight. Both methods have their advantages and downsides but both have merit.

"so that they merely never want to go back."

That kind of treatment is a double edged sword, it may make some go straight but it will turn the rest of them into heartless, merciless, vindictive psychopaths that will murder and/or die before they go back. I'm not saying prison should be a tropical resort but it also shouldn't be a training ground for worse criminals.

Running out of mono-propellent probably wouldn't be an issue because satellites simply don't attempt those kind of maneuvers without human input (at least I'm pretty sure), while that would definitely be a problem for LEO and Geostationary craft between those two orbits or are further out don't need regular boosts to stay going. And while reaction wheels do go bad pretty quickly (a decade or so) they aren't necessarily needed for a spacecraft to remain "operational". Sure without them they usually can't continue their primary mission but even if the craft has directional solar arrays slow rotation will give likely give them enough power for the satellite to remain in standby mode for decades, possibly a century.

Sadly based on past statements regarding high speed rail I would imagine that their ticket prices and revenue projections are highly optimistic. The initial numbers said that the project would cost around $36B, cost estimates have since increased to at least $68B. At the same time the projects ridership numbers have been practically disproved, a peer reviewed study suggested a ridership of between 23.4 to 31.1 million where the "official" numbers were 65.5 to 96.5 million. I love the idea of some level of public transport but it needs to be economically viable.

Again, any safety system is nice, but its benefits have to be weighted against its costs and risks. Airbags are a good example, some back of the napkin numbers suggest that airbags add somewhere around $15 Billion dollars of cost to US vehicles per year (13 Million new cars, 2 airbags @$600 each). Those airbags save somewhere in the neighborhood of 600-1000 lives per year, assuming those numbers are correct it costs over $19 Million per each saved life. Now I'm all for devoting a few billion towards saving lives but are we getting the best bang for our buck by using airbags or would that money be better used elsewhere?

People often make that statement but there is no proof that a LES would have been of use in the Challenger incident. There were no indications of a problem right up until the ET exploded, if a capsule had been on top of the ET stack there is every chance that it could have been crippled/destroyed in the explosion much as the shuttle was. And yes I am well aware that the at least one of the astronauts was alive after the explosion, in the shredded remnants of a useless cockpit. The only way to be reasonably certain of a successful escape would have been to have sensors to detect the issue and activate the escape system before the ET went up, and if such sensors had been available to even the shuttle it would have been possible to have detached from the ET and possibly (though it would have been quite risky) steer the shuttle around for a landing or at least a ditch in the ocean.

I suppose its not a bad thing to have just in case but I don't see the reasoning behind the fixation on it as a design requirement and their ranting about its "importance" in press releases. In almost 300 manned space launches a Launch Escape system has only been of verifiable use in a single incident(Soyuz T-10-1).

I'm sure what they are talking about is WILD animal herbivore populations, not domesticated herbivore populations. I think US populations have been decreasing slowly (probably an attempt to force prices up) but globally they're still increasing. I find it highly unlikely that there is any chance of a beef/pork/chicken die out unless purposely done or there is a global natural disaster (meteorite, supervolcano, etc).

News agencies fact checking government press releases? Not likely. And looking at the video links you provided they're showing the same 2 fires (CVS, Senior Center) and the same cars (Police Cruiser/Van fire, Police cruiser swarmed, black car on fire) over and over with a couple dozen people throwing stuff (pop bottles, rocks, etc) at something (cars/police), less than dozen actually on top/near it destroying and hundreds around it watching/video taping.

Those are the same numbers portrayed on every website & news service, but as your excerpt noted they're all directly from the mouth of the City government which has every reason in the world to embellish them. First off the fires, I can find only 4 considerable fires, a CVS, an under construction senior center, a liquor store and an abandoned warehouse (right next to the senior center). Cars? I can only find images/footage of about a dozen cars with heavy damage, though there are definitely a lot more cars with minor damage (slashed tires, broken windows, etc). Most of the damage to those cars is being caused by a very few people, one youtube video shows a single individual smashing 3 car windows in under 5 seconds. Officer "injuries" are a bit harder to track, but of the "98 injured" is being thrown around, of those at most 41 required "some form" of medical attention and only 13 apparently had injuries significant enough to take time off of work. And as far as the arrests, the BPD has released over half of those arrested, While I admit my numbers may be a bit low for Baltimore specifically, but the numbers/impressions out of the press & city government seem to be extremely high.

"......are not Constitutionally protected activities"

Of course they aren't, but really what percentage of the protestors in Baltimore are taking part in those activities? I'd wager that I can display that percentage on one hand. Yet we're told that its necessary to equip police like they're fighting a war, suspend civil liberties and arrest hundreds/thousands all because of the massive amounts of footage of the same 2-5 burning cars and 5-15 damaged businesses probably caused by no more than a few dozen miscreants.

Just put a small version of this thing on some spacecraft/satellite (ISS, Progress, Dragon, etc) and run it for a while, if it works the satellite should show some noticeable change in its orbit if it doesn't its garbage. Unfortunately the supposed thrust of this thing is so miniscule that it is the only way we're going to get definitive proof that there is an actual thrust from this thing.

I wonder if they'll last any better as a fixed battery vs a car mounted battery, I think the car mounted ones loose 20-30% of their capacity after 10 years. For example I've heard that a lead acid battery that will typically only last 5 years in a car will last 20 years in a backup battery bank for a home/business. If the pack only lasts 10 years then I highly doubt this will be economical ($108 a month? that's more than my entire electric bill) except in very specialized applications. If it lasts 20 or 30 years ($54-$36 a month) then we're starting to get into the realms of sanity especially in areas with high peak usage costs.

The SuperDraco may not be a "primary launch motor" but you wouldn't know it seeing a test firing. I didn't realize there was a 3D printing system out there that even came close being able to produce components that could take the kind of temperature/pressure you find in a rocket engine chamber. I'm sure there is some catch somewhere (heavier, longer individual production time, etc) but at least from what I can find it can't be much of a catch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Having a dedicated radio as well is of course a good idea but if its inconvenient to carry some headphones you're not going to carry around a dedicated radio and keep good batteries with it.