Seth Mitchell

Native Texan likes books and road bikes

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

@shipwreckedcrew The back office candidate swap now is the go to move by the save democracy party.

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

Hope this failure is quickly understood and addressed as competition in the space launch business is needed.

[Eric Berger @SciGuySpace]

The implications of New Glenn’s failure are probably worse than you think. I dig in here to some of the most serious concerns.

https://t.co/IkUTNjDvjI

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

May her memory be a blessing.

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

Emily Perez, USMA '05, was born on February 19th, 1983, in Heidelberg, Germany to a military family. While in high school, she helped begin an HIV-AIDS ministry. She accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she was a four-year letter earner on the track team, served as Cadet Command Sergeant Major, and graduated academically in the top 10% of her class. Emily was the first female minority Cadet Command Sergeant Major in the history of the United States Military Academy.

Emily deployed to Iraq with the 204th Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, in December 2005 as a Medical Service Corps officer. She was killed when an improvised explosive device exploded near her Humvee during combat operations in Al Kifl. She was the first West Point graduate of the class of 2005 to die in combat.

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

@mirandadevine The CBS news reader/reporter/actress just burned her own credibility up for nothing in return.

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

Great news!

[Texas State Parks @TPWDparks]

Meet our newest addition: Silver Lake State Park. 🥳

Just two hours west of San Antonio, this incredible landscape will expand recreational opportunities for Texans and generations to come.

📲 Learn more about this acquisition: https://t.co/YCYmogJKBZ

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

He’s not wrong.

[Antonello Guerrera @antoguerrera]

Former Ferrari chairman Montezemolo tears the new electric Ferrari “Luce” apart:

“I cannot say what I really think: I would harm Ferrari. We risk the destruction of a legend. So sorry. Take the Prancing Horse off. At least the Chinese won’t copy this car”

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

@mirandadevine Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?

[American Battlefield Trust @Battlefields]

Today, Monday, May 25, 2026, Americans across the United States are observing Memorial Day in honor of the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Military. Did you know that the precursor to Memorial Day, Decoration Day, originated in the years following the Civil War?

Learn more about the origins of Memorial Day below ⬇️ https://t.co/WEn6BioAym

[Supersonic Redhead🛫 @Supersonic_Red]

Good morning,

Today is not simply a long weekend or the unofficial start of summer. It is a day set aside to remember the men and women who never came home.

If you have the opportunity today, visit a war memorial, a cemetery, or a veterans monument. Stand quietly for a moment and consider the cost of the freedoms we often take for granted.

And if you cannot go, at the very least pause and remember why this holiday exists.

Somebody gave everything for all of us.

I’ll be back, later today. 🙏🏼

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

@johnkonrad Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art of War by Robert Coram has the details.

[Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard]

I am deeply grateful for the trust President Trump placed in me and for the opportunity to lead @ODNIgov for the last year and a half.

Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. He faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months. At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle.

[Jeff Bezos @JeffBezos]

Please do a quick read of this. It’s short, well written, and will remove a bit of wool from over your eyes.

[RBR Hub @RBRHub]

Dani Juncadella: "I came out of the pits and everything felt normal. After about a third of the lap I saw an ABS fault message that kept flashing on and off. I reset the message and that was fine, but then I realised the ABS wasn't working.

"I was driving without ABS, but it wasn't actually that bad, I could somehow manage it and adjusted the brake balance a bit to prevent the front tyres from locking up. The car was still controllable.

"I had the feeling they wanted me to come in to find the problem. But I thought it was better to keep going and maybe figure out what we could do. Then I started hearing noises. Eventually the car became undrivable, of course. At one point I felt something was going to break."

"I drove slowly back to the pits and we found a problem with the driveshaft. That then caused extra collateral damage to the rest of the car. That probably also caused the issue where the electronics went haywire and the ABS was switched off."

"We have repaired the car and I will drive the last two laps to check if the car is okay and to reach the finish."

"Of course it's heartbreaking, because we had a great race. We had a perfect race. I've been dreaming for a very long time of winning this race, so today it hurts."

"Tomorrow we're just drivers again. We do our sport. We love our sport, but in the end racing is like this."

"There are many things you can't control. It can hurt on a day like this, but it doesn't have to remain a big drama for very long. We'll be back next year."

"I think it was just something unlucky. It's a mechanical problem. The driveshaft was completely new."

"We drove very carefully in the last six or seven hours, because both cars were in a very good position. There was no reason to take extra risks. We didn't abuse the kerbs, we were just careful."

[https://t.co/VQ3SNwKGcb]

[Matthew J. Peterson @docMJP]

Many years ago, I used to start my classes with this point: you may think it boring, or not understandable at first, but the book you are holding in your hands has survived centuries if not millennia of human life, before any of the technology that made it existed, and was handed down by generations through wars, famine, fires, and floods—across languages and cultures and peoples and nations that no longer exist. And yet those people saved it and brought it back to life and spent years copying it, time and time again.

So if it’s still here—in your hands right now—a centuries or millennia old “bestseller”, because of generations of some of the smartest people alive saved it for you to read—well, you know it’s worth something.

Something worth trying to understand.

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

FORD is home safely. How great for the crew and the crew’s families and friends. Lots of work ahead to those who will prepare the carrier for the next deployment.

[𝐀𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 @AirAssets]

16 May 2026 0745 hrs Eastern time the USS GERALD R. FORD (CVN-78) a Ford class Nuclear aircraft carrier Returning home from a 330 day deployment. She was in Operation Southern Spear in Caribbean and also Operation Epic Fury in the Arabian Sea. Thank you to all the sailors for your patience on the extended deployment and welcome home !

#UnitedStatesNavy #ShipsInPics #CVN78 #USSGeraldRFord #USFleetForces #SouthernSpear #EpicFury #Caribbean #StraitofHormuz

[Niall Ferguson @nfergus]

“By my count, the syllabus assigns roughly 45 pages of canonical Western philosophical writing across the entire quarter, against more than 500 pages of contemporary work organized around identity, oppression and indigenous ways of knowing ... There is no Aristotle, no Augustine, no Aquinas, no Montaigne, no Locke, no Mill, no Newman, no Steiner, no Bloom — none of the writers who built the case for liberal education that the course claims to defend. A course advertised as a defense of liberal education has been built without the thinkers who defined it.” @imarinovic demolishes the disastrous new @Stanford freshman program.

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

@lucasaganronald Yes, it looks fine. But I’m disappointed that it appears only to be marginally different than the SL8. Is it possibly an indicator that the design engineers have reached the performance limits of the current UCI regulations?

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

There’s confidence, and Michael Jordan confidence—they’re not the same.

[Matt Smethurst @MattSmethurst]

A news reporter asked Michael Jordan if he thought the ’90s Bulls could beat LeBron’s Lakers.

MJ: Yes.
Reporter: By how much?
MJ: Two or three points.
Reporter: Why so close?
MJ: Most of us are almost 60 now.

[Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt]

SpaceX has just released a massive new list of changes in Starship V3, which is now scheduled to launch on May 19th:

Super Heavy V3 Changes
Grid Fin Redesign:
• Reduced from 4 fins to 3
• Each fin is now: 50% larger, stronger, repositioned for better catching/lifting
• Lowered on booster to reduce heat exposure during hot staging
• Fin hardware moved inside fuel tank for protection

Integrated Hot Stage:
• Removes the old disposable interstage shield
• Booster dome now directly exposed to upper-stage engine ignition
• Tank pressure + steel shielding protect structure
• Interstage actuators retract after separation for protection

New Fuel Transfer System:
• Massive redesign of fuel transfer tube
• Roughly the size of a Falcon 9 first stage
• Allows: simultaneous startup of all 33 Raptors, faster and more reliable flip maneuvers

Engine Bay / Thermal Protection Changes:
• Engine shrouds removed entirely
• New shielding added between engines
• Propulsion + avionics more tightly integrated
• CO₂ fire suppression system removed
• Simpler and lighter aft section

Propellant Loading Improvements:
• Moved from 1 quick disconnect to 2 separate systems
• Adds redundancy
• Reduces complexity of pad interfaces

Starship V3 Changes
Completely Redesigned Propulsion System:
• Clean-sheet redesign
• Supports: new Raptor startup method, larger propellant volume and improved reaction control system
• Reduces trapped/leaked propellant risk

Aft Section Simplification:
• Fluid + electrical systems rerouted
• Engine shrouds deleted
• Large aft cavity removed

Flap Actuation Upgrade:
• Changed from: 2 actuators per flap to 1 actuator with 3 motors
• Improves:, redundancy, mass efficiency, cost

Faster Starlink Deployment:
• Upgraded PEZ dispenser
• Faster satellite deployment speeds

Long-Duration Spaceflight Capability:
• New systems added for: long orbital coasts, orbital refueling, cryogenic fluid management, vacuum, insulated header systems and high-voltage cryogenic recirculation

Ship-to-Ship Docking + Refueling:
• Added 4 docking drogues
• Added propellant transfer connections
• Directly supports in-space refueling architecture

Avionics Upgrades
Massive Electrical System Upgrade:
• ~60 custom avionics units
• Batteries/inverters/high-voltage systems integrated together
• ~9 MW peak power capability

Better Navigation + Redundancy:
• New multi-sensor navigation system
• Designed for precision autonomous flight

Propellant Monitoring in Space:
• New RF sensors measure propellant levels in microgravity
• Important for orbital refueling missions

Camera + Connectivity Upgrades:
• ~50 onboard camera views
• 480 Mbps Starlink connectivity onboard
• Low-latency redundant communications

Raptor 3 Engine Changes
Higher Thrust:
• Sea-level Raptors:
• Increased from:
230 tf → 250 tf
507k lbf → 551k lbf

Vacuum Raptors:
Increased from:
258 tf → 275 tf
568k lbf → 606k lbf

Lower Mass:
• Sea-level engine mass reduced: 1630 kg → 1525 kg

Simpler Design:
• Sensors/controllers integrated into engine body
• Removes need for engine shrouds
• New ignition system for all variants
• Huge Vehicle-Level Weight Savings
• ~1 ton saved per engine across vehicle systems

Launch Pad 2 Upgrades (Starbase)
Faster Propellant Loading:
• Larger propellant farm
• More pumps
• Faster fueling operations

Chopstick Improvements:
• Shorter arms for faster movement
• Switched from hydraulic → electromechanical actuators
• Better reliability + redundancy

Stronger Quick Disconnect Arm:
• Reinforced and redesigned
• Swings farther away during launch

Launch Mount Redesign:
• Better load handling
• Improved launch protection
• Improved throwback reliability

New Flame Diverter System:
• Bidirectional flame diverter
• Designed to eliminate ablation/refurbishment after launch

Hardened Propellant Systems:
• Methane and oxygen systems separated
• Valves/filters moved into protected bunker
• Improves safety and reliability

SpaceX: "Together, these new elements are designed to enable a step-change in Starship capabilities and aim to unlock the vehicle’s core functions, including full and rapid reuse, in-space propellant transfer, deployment of Starlink satellites and orbital data centers, and the ability to send people and cargo to the Moon and Mars."

This is going to be an epic flight! 🚀

[Seth Mitchell @SethMitchell]

I’d love to see a launch in person.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Starship launch next week!