Letters to the editor

Looking Back—and Ahead

Thanks for an excellent article on The Hopkins Review. It explained so much and brought me up to date. I am old enough to remember Elliott Coleman enjoying a coffee in Levering Hall surrounded by his students. I will certainly subscribe. Maybe I'll even submit a poem one day.

Ray Copson, A&S '66, '71 (PhD)
Reston, Virginia

What's Made Possible

I was so glad to read the story about Belinda Jackson and her business, Picture it Possible. So nice to see our certificate graduate students' achievements from the School of Education lauded as well.

Annette Anderson, Assistant Professor
Baltimore

A Lunar Clarification

I wanted to write to you about "A Bigger, Bolder Moon Shot" in the Spring 2024 issue. Overall, I really enjoyed this article, but there was one glaring mistake. The article claimed on p. 52 that "the landing system, Starship, won't touch down on the moon but will hover above as an elevator descends to take astronauts and cargo to the South Pole. There, they'll spend six days … investigating the landscape and conducting research, while beaming up as needed (to sleep and eat, for instance) to the floating lunar lander."

The concept of operations for all Artemis human landing missions (whether contracted to SpaceX or Blue Origin) involves landing on the moon, not hovering. It appears as though the author is describing a space elevator, which is not planned for human landing missions and is fundamentally different from a traditional lander. While the SpaceX lander does use an elevator (instead of a long ladder), the lander still lands on the surface.

Thanks for a great magazine.

Bryce Liposky, Engr '22 (MS)
Covington, Washington

Editor's Note: Bryce, thank you for your comments and thoughtful note. We contacted NASA, and you're correct. A craft will indeed land on the moon. Once on the moon, astronauts will use an elevator aboard Starship to transport equipment and exit for moonwalks. We amended the language in our online edition.

Greg Rienzi

From X

Great to see this profile of the awesome work being done at (and the history of!) The Hopkins Review @lahartvillalta

Huge thanks to Aleyna Rentz for her deep dive into @Hopkins_Review history (all the way back to 1947!), a clear-eyed look at what it takes to keep a literary endeavor like ours afloat, and a celebration of THR's present and future. @Hopkins_Review