According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump wants to make a splash in space. And he apparently wants to make that splash by orbiting the Moon.What a comedown from America’s past high…landing twelve humans on the lunar surface. But there is a way to outdo America’s past achievements. And to accomplish this in a shorter time with a smaller budget than the Trump team imagines. It’s a way to get to the Moon and to stay there permanently. A way to begin this process immediately and to achieve moon landings in less than four years. Turn to private industry. Turn to two companies in particular—Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Robert Bigelow’s Bigelow Aerospace. Because the approach that NASA’s acting administrator Robert Lightfoot is pushing won’t allow a Moon landing. Lightfoot’s problem lies in the two pieces of NASA equipment he wants to work with: a rocket that’s too expensive to fly and is years from completion—the Space Launch System; and a capsule that’s far from ready to carry humans—the Orion.

Neither the SLS nor the Orion are able to land on the Moon. Let me repeat that. Once these pieces of super-expensive equipment reach the moon’s vicinity, they cannot land. Who is able to land on the lunar surface? Elon Musk and Robert Bigelow. Musk’s rockets—the Falcon and the soon-to-be-launched Falcon Heavy—are built to take off and land. So far their landing capabilities have been used to ease them down on earth. But the same technology, with a few tweaks, gives them the ability to land payloads on the surface of the Moon. What’s more, SpaceX’s upcoming seven-passenger Dragon 2 capsule has already demonstrated its ability to gentle itself down to earth’s surface. In other words, with a few modifications and equipment additions, Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules could be made Moon-ready.Within the space community, there is a wide disenchantment with “flags and footprints” missions. Flags and footprints missions are those like the Apollo landings in which astronauts land, plant a flag, hit a golf ball, then disappear for 45 years.

Major segments of the space community want every future landing to add to a permanent infrastructure in the sky. And that’s within our grasp thanks to Robert Bigelow. In 2000, Bigelow purchased a technology that Congress had ordered NASA to abandon: inflatable habitats. For the last sixteen years Bigelow and his company, Bigelow Aerospace, have been advancing inflatable habitat technology. wooden rocking chair designsInflatable technology lets you squeeze a housing unit into a small package, carry it by rocket to a space destination, then blow it up like a balloon. restaurant chairs for sale in indiaSince the spring of 2016, Bigelow, a real estate developer and founder of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, has had an inflatable habitat acting as a spare room at the International Space Station 220 miles above your head and mine. buy wheelchair hong kong

And Bigelow’s been developing something far more ambitious—an inflatable Moon Base, that would use three of his 330-cubic-meter B330 modules. What’s more, Bigelow has been developing a landing vehicle to bring his modules gently down to the Moon’s surface. Then there’s a wild card—Jeff Bezos. folding deck chairs boatsBezos’ Blue Origin rockets already have a well-tested capacity to take off, land, then take off again. dining room chairs austin texasWhich means that in the next few years Bezos’ rockets, too, could land cargoes and passengers on the Moon.best ergonomic office chair affordable If NASA ditched the Space Launch System and the Orion, it would free up three billion dollars a year. wooden rocking chair styles

That budget could speed the Moon-readiness of Bigelow’s landing vehicles, not to mention SpaceX’s Falcon rockets and could pay for lunar enhancements to manned Dragon 2 capsules. In fact, three billion dollars a year is far greater than what Bigelow and Musk would need. That budget would also allow NASA to bring Jeff Bezos into the race. chair rail molding for saleAnd it would let NASA refocus its energy on earth-orbit and lunar-surface refueling stations…plus rovers, lunar construction equipment, and devices to turn lunar ice into rocket fuel, drinkable water, and breathable oxygen. cheap dining table and chairs perthNot to mention machines to turn lunar dust and rock into building materials. This new Moon program could be achieved within NASA’s current budget. In fact, members of the group I run—the Space Development Steering Committee—estimate the total cost of what I’ve described (Moon landings plus a permanent moon base) at ten billion dollars.

That’s just three years’ worth of the money currently being funneled into the SLS and the Orion. Also speaking in the Washington Post, President Trump says he wants to send “a clear signal to the Chinese that the U.S. intends to retain dominance in space.” Looping the loop around the moon without touching down would demonstrate only one thing: America’s fecklessness. But landing Americans on the lunar surface for long stays at an American base would send a message of a dramatically different kind. If NASA deep-sixed the Space Launch System and the Orion, then bought Moon-landing services from SpaceX, Bigelow, and, possibly, Blue Origin, America could land its citizens on the Moon in less than four years. But this time, thanks to Bigelow’s Moon Base, Americans be there to stay.There’s a new addition to the BUILD family and he might be our most challenging client yet. As any of you with kids know, going from a design conscious household to a design conscious household with a baby, tests out the modernist in the best of us.

Because when it comes to industrial design for the wee ones, there’s an avalanche of cheap, poorly designed, aesthetically irritating, easily available, publicly accepted baby crap saturating every corner of the market. Outfitting your home for a little one AND sticking to your aesthetic sensibilities takes time, energy and budget priority. While changing a diaper with one eye open at 3am on a screaming infant, do you really care whether your changing table aligns with your philosophy of design? If you’re design conscious you do. You’re the type who spends more time in the MOMA gift shop than the museum itself, you’ll wait in line in the pouring rain for an hour to see Objectified, and you always keep the most recent issue of DWR on hand. You understand that the things you buy are not only a reflection of your aesthetic beliefs, but each and every purchase registers a vote on how you think the world should look and work. You can’t turn it off, even when it comes to baby stuff.

So we thought we’d post a range of well designed household items to satisfy the little person in addition to keeping mom and dad in tune with their visual standards. Don’t worry, we’re not going all baby on you, we’re not going to make a habit of baby stuff posts. There’s plenty of blogs already doing a much better job of covering products for the design savvy tot. It’s just that, when we’re changing a diaper with one eye open at 3am on a screaming infant, we tend to think about this stuff. And we like to share. The highchair may be the most visually prominent baby item in the entire household –even more so than the baby. You’re going to be staring at this thing ALL THE TIME. This is a good place to spend some dough and get a rocket of a highchair. The Bloom Fresco justifies its cost in that it can convert to a bassinet and accommodate the full age range of kiddos. Custom built co-sleeper by SPD We searched far and wide for a co-sleeper but everything on the market could be described with the same terms we might use to describe a full diaper.

So we put pen to paper and spent some time down at our SPD cabinet shop until we came up with this little solution which stores bedding supplies below as the little one slumbers above –all within arms reach of momma. Bloom Coco Stylewood Baby Bouncer The true test of baby stuff is whether it looks good even without the kiddo. The Coco Stylewood Baby Bouncer looks so good you’ll wish it came in an adult size. It’s one slick lounger. phil & tedsmetoo – Portable Highchair Functional, minimal, packable and structurally sound. It’s also a great prop to explain the finer points of cantilevers to your dinner guests. BOB Sport Utility Stroller Just because it’s not made for the home, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider its impact on your household. While strollers, joggers and buggies are intended for everywhere but inside your pad, you’ll end up with one of these in your visual plane more often than you might think. Make sure it looks good. The Bob Sport Utility Stroller is a smart looking piece of equipment;

it’s got some sculptural quality to it and, parked just right in the corner, it can blend in with your Eames Lounger and Noguchi coffee table. Summer Contour Changing Pad While it takes a bit more planning, we highly recommend the contour pad and bathroom cabinet combo. 36” extra inches of countertop space in the bathroom allows mom and dad to eighty-six the full changing table and gain back valuable real estate in the home. It keeps the visuals simple and is highly effective. A variety of covers from Carter’s cool it up. Oeuf Classic Toddler Bed Simple, clean and modern. That’s all we’re asking for. Ikea POÄNG birch Rocking chair You’d think that the proverbial rocking chair would offer up limitless options of clean, simple design, right? For reasons as clear as diaper gravy, there are very few good looking rocking chairs on the market –Ikea actually makes one of the better models. It functions perfectly well without being over-designed. Molly Moon Parker Pillow