iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Moonrise over downtown Seattle imaged from Alki Beach

Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"Computers can't think" Okay, and container ships can't "swim," but who cares? If I want my 10,000 TEU container units delivered across the Pacific, I'm not going to hire a human to do that just because the human has a better breaststroke.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This as a tattoo for my right hand would *rule*.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Took my first ride in a #Waymo . It was remarkably unremarkable. Which is the whole point of good automation!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Nobody told me the Space Needle was a ⚽️ now!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Unironically, paintings like this by Bryan Larsen is how I feel about engineering sometimes: Confronting the arbitrary limits and punishments that petty people/gods have placed upon humanity, and saying "Oh, that? Yeah, we fixed that." www.bryanlarsenart.com

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Flying around Mt. St. Helens. I don't think enough people realize that the lakes here are *still* filled with dead trees from the explosion 46 years ago. Stuff's just got nowhere to go!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Space is cooling ~10,000 of these satellites right now.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Our crew. We get to meet *our crew*. 6 years ago, I started this new job because I missed the challenge of human spaceflight. Of engineering for our crew. *Our* crew. And we get to meet them in an hour!!!!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Come on down and find me at #AlaskaAviation day at SeaTac today! We've got planes! PLANES! MOAR PLANES!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Again: It's fine to be skeptical of AI. I know I am. But if your AI skepticism is anchored in how AI is portrayed in science fiction, then you are basically calibrating your fears based on page rankings on TV Tropes. Science fiction is *not* science precedent.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Nah. We already solved that threat. It's called Google Translate.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Huh. Claude has figured out that I don't want it to be flattering and affirming. That conclusion is accurate. But also very... flattering and affirming 😅

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

"No no, I don't think you quite understand. I said 'Tower', not 'Meower'. And no, I don't think the FAA would approve of doing that with a laser pointer. Also, I don't think you are taking this flight briefing very seriously."

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The perfect iPad space wallpaper does not exi...

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Where we came from and where we're going, together in the sky. What a time to be alive. 🌓🌍

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

This weird looking object Orion is pointing at is an International Docking System Standard Centerline Docking Target (IDSS CDT), Rev E. It's not just cool looking, there is a lot of information embedded in the geometry that a pilot can use. Print your own here! www.printables.com/model/143055...

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

The LROC Quickmap website exists, is free, and anyone can use it to make pretty much any map that you would want of any dataset covering any portion of the lunar surface. quickmap.lroc.im-ldi.com

quickmap.lroc.im-ldi.com

QuickMap

LROC QuickMap, a powerful map interface to browse Lunar data from NASA/LRO and other missions. Explore the Moon in both 2D and 3D. Developed by Applied Coherent Technology and customized for the LROC ...

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Found out a coworker has made it to his mid-20's without ever seeing or playing with a gyroscope. He doesn't know the meeting I scheduled with him tomorrow is to congratulate him on being one of today's lucky 10,000! *xkcd.com/1053/

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Update: Paul Ehrlich no longer contributing to the overpopulation problem*

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

I solve this problem with kids by pronouncing it "Kuroo-an-us" (slightly rolled r). Then if any kid corrects me, I get to tell them how "Uranus" is our mispronounciation of the god we now call "Kronos", and by the time a 12 year old untangles that 🤯, they've forgotten the butt joke.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Good question! Why people in space? In simple terms, because: 1) People good 2) More people more good 3) Maximum people maximum good 4) Maximum people need people space. In much more elegant terms 😉: youtu.be/XH8Dn_d5mIs?...

youtu.be

Blue Origin: For the Benefit of Earth

YouTube video by Blue Origin

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

It's perfectly normal to encounter the idea of datacenters in space and wonder, "Why?" As an aerospace engineer who has been in this industry for ~15 years, let me try to give some historical context: No one has yet found The Idea™ that makes space-based civilizations a profitable investment. 1/

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

"Endeavour, use caution when docking with station. Birds on the target"

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I keep encountering this misconception about datacenters in space. So let me make this clear: An individual satellite isn't the datacenter. The constellation of ~thousands of satellites is the datacenter. The satellites are single racks. And that's a very solvable power/thermal problem.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Respectfully disagree. Alive is better than inanimate. Vibrant is better than pristine. To me, bringing life (not just human life, all life!) to every part of the solar system that our technology can enable it to exist is a profoundly beautiful act of environmentalism.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Artemis II is taking humans back to the moon soon! Let's talk about their trajectory.

youtu.be

Artemis II and Lunar Free Return Trajectories

YouTube video by Max Fagin

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Lawyers, please, I am begging you. Just *try* talking to an engineer. We are just as nerdy as you and delight just as much in a well-constructed "You're wrong". It will save you from writing laws like WA HB 2321. Laws like this actually do make engineers not want to talk to you.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

THIS. We need to make "LOL, I suck at math" as shameful and unthinkable a thing for an adult to say as "LOL, I don't read books". Innumeracy needs to be as shameful as illiteracy. Not a self depricatory joke warrenting a "😜"

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Max Faget, NASA design engineer on Mercury, Gemini, Apollo *and* Shuttle.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Bolide in the sky on the drive back from Portland!

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Good design is redesign. That said, if this design could hurry up and converge already, my scrap part bin would really appreciate it.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

My high school friends in 2005: "You know what would be fun? Let's spend a year remaking #MontyPython and the Holy Grail and uploading it to this new website called uh... UTube?" Same friends in 2025: "Hey! Let's relive the time we did that!" Tonight at 6PM PT: youtu.be/0YjQArPxL5I

youtu.be

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 20th Anniversary Full Resolution Livestream

YouTube video by Max Fagin

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Most of what I know about mid 20th century pop culture, I learned from either Monty Python, or Tom Lehrer. Truly and unparalleled legend in the world of musical satire (and math, and science, and and and and and) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...

nytimes.com

Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

When I was a kid, my jazz pianist / computer scientist Dad gave me a book on the physics of music. I ate that kind of stuff up. Now ~20 years later, Minute Physics drops this banger of a video that covers the same material, but unlike a book, you can actually *hear* the physics being talked about 🤩

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Space folks: You should see #Elio! The world needs more movies that teach good lessons about friendship, family, and the importance of redundant distributed Space Domain Awareness capabilities for orbital debris mitigation.

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Reposted by Max Fagin

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 24/06/2025

Whew, what a day! Today we revealed the preview of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's epic cosmic movie🎬 #RubinFirstLook From wide-field and deep views of the Universe, to the dynamic and changing sky, Rubin is already bringing the night sky to life! 🔭🧪 rubinobservatory.org/news/first-i...

rubinobservatory.org

Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory | Rubin Observatory

From distant stars and galaxies to asteroids whizzing through the Solar System, this next-generation facility unveils its first imagery and brings the night sky to life like never before

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

In Southern California, and the heat has reached Flat Squirrel levels.

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Reposted by Max Fagin

Garrett Reisman @astro-g-dogg.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Unless these decisions are reversed, this will be remembered as a disastrous week for @NASA. First, I am not optimistic that whomever this administration nominates next for NASA Administrator will be nearly as qualified or enthusiastic about the agency’s mission as Jared. 1/

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

3D Printable Coordinate Axes. For when you need to illustrate spacecraft dynamics and sever the limbs of your enemies. www.printables.com/model/131135...

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Now, behold, I am become Max: Router of my foes, and also 4' x 4' plastic sheets for a project I can't wait to share with everyone.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

3D printed dinosaur parts for a friend. Actual dinosaur for scale.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I take back 85% of the jokes I have ever told about Harvard lawyers.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Passover is a joyus celebration of freedom and family coupled with terrible food. I'm glad that my juidaism permits a family brunch of bacon, steak, egg and toast skillets before we "enjoy" the gafilta fish and dry matzah.

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Growing up in Colorado Springs, I didn't consider this kind of weather shift to be weird at all. But now that I'm back... yeah. This is weird and fascinating. (Photos taken 24 hours apart)

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

"I can flyyyyyy... Oh wait"

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

The Breakthrough Awards + songs about science + Gilbert & Sullivan is striking a lot of my Venn Diagram. This is a *very* good parody of one of the hardest songs to parody well. Transcribed lyrics included next for greater appreciation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG02...

youtube.com

James Corden Opening Monologue and Song: 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony

YouTube video by Breakthrough

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Hello NASA JSC! I am at you for the next 3 days. Anyone I know here want to grab lunch?

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Max Fagin @maxfagin.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

SciFi authors: If you are looking for a convenient but also semi-realistic reason for why humans play a pivotal role in your galactic federation of dozens of alien species; this can be it: Because Earth's heavy gravity forced humans to develop an overpowered spaceflight capability as a baseline.

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