Highly recommended: Lonesome Dove series by Larry McMurtry

I love to read books that comprise a series. I enjoy being part of both the development of the characters in the story, and the development of the craft of the writer as s/he grows while writing. Consequently, I like to review books as the entire series, so that other readers like me will know whether or not they want to “get into relationship”, if you will, with the series. I’ve wanted to read Lonesome Dove for years. I kept myself from watching the mini-series, because I always like to read the book before seeing the screen adaptation. Finally, this winter, I read the series. 

An alternative approach to space exploration?

As engineers, we need to avoid getting stuck in the same old mindsets and attempting to solve problems in the same way over and over. Sometimes we need to toss out the old way of doing things and take a fresh approach.

Consider the approach that some of the commercial (privately held) space research companies are taking in doing projects, and compare that to NASA's traditional approach. Rather than lift the whole launch vehicle vertically using powerful rocket engines (high stress over a short time frame), they are using a high-altitude aircraft to lift the launch vehicle to 40,000 to 50,000 feet over a longer period of time -- a kinder, gentler approach.

Aircraft are a more mature technology, and statistically more reliable, more environmentally friendly, and less expensive to operate than rocket boosters.