Howdy, internaut! This post is about another kind of -naut, and space exploration in general.
Why I still like space exploration
Let's face it, the mid-2020s are not the best years for dreaming. The planet is kinda on fire and dictators are having fun. This also impacts the space sector: satellite constellations are growing at a ridiculous pace, and debris too. Let's not even cover the military side of things.
But on the other hand, science is making leaps here and there. With new probes, telescopes, and landers, we can look at new worlds in a lot of detail, and understand our own world better. Applying this knowledge on climate is often worth more than the rocket fuel we spent to get them up there.
For weather and relay sats, there is a case for weather balloons instead. They are reusable, cheaper, and take a lot less energy to launch. In fact there are many balloons in the sky [citation needed]. Makes me wonder how many sats they can replace? But hey, I'm not a weather scientist.
So, I still like space exploration. Sci-fi certainly won't stop being written anytime soon.
Including games! (video games or not)
Games, in spaaace!
As a game developer, I like gritty indie games like Kerbal Space Program. The sequel was a lot of disappointment for many, and I didn't buy it because my laptop is a potato.
But then, Kitten Space Agency arrived. I still didn't install it (for the same reason), but it's a much better developed game that actually has a chance of making it to my laptop. Also, the most technical among you will be absolutely in love with its various improved systems, if you played KSP a bit for comparison.
I like making orbital games as much as playing them, even the quirky turn-based ones like Triplanetary. 2D is a lot easier to program but still engaging. In early 2025 I made Solar Skipper. Not a very good game since it's a bit broken, but it was a lot of fun to make anyway!
Cool retro rockets
The other day I stumbled on an old British moon landing project with weird 1940s astronauts. Reading about this is like pre-transistor computers: things would have been much more rough and bulky to handle, but with a fancy retro analog feel.
Astronauts could have a day suit and a night suit, lower-tech than a suit that can handle both. It even has a badass cape for thermal protection. All in all, they would look like space Arthurian knights. That'd be really cool, right??
Unfortunately no because, among other things, this suit doesn't have active cooling and steamed astronaut isn't on the menu.
Anyway, that is all for space stuff. May the force (of gravity) be with you, and see ya in the next one!
Blog things
Happy new year 2026!
I changed this site's look again. It's a simpler sea of dark blue that still has nice little links.
I also set up a 404 page so that the various broken links don't put you in cyber misery. I'll still do my best to redirect correctly to the new pages.
Most importantly, I'm turning this blog into a digital garden. When I follow up on a subject I already discussed, instead of a new post, I will update the original post and I move it to the top of the list. I hope to avoid posts like "About bicycles, part 22".
Still not sure about how it'll mess up the RSS feed, but we will see it when we get there.