Conspiracy Theory Department

When I heard on the news this morning that the European Cryosat mission had failed, I was immediately struck by the thought that it was very convenient to the oil interests and Bush administration that a satellite dedicated to measuring the effects of climate change had been lost (and a replacement will take a minimum of three years).

Not that I'm suggesting anything.

In other news, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has successfully tested a scale model of an uncannily Concorde-like supersonic airliner.

Over the weekend, I successfully tested a scale model of a paper airliner, which will go into full production in 2009. After more testing, obviously.

And I was going to add: Woomera: what an utterly fantastic word. In my top 10, definitely. I read a Hugh Walters book called Blast Off at Woomera as a child. Probably among the things that got me hooked on science fiction.