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Community Space captain Amidst the non-stop madness of American politics right now there's one story of Trumpery that seems to have been missed by most of the mainstream media (or "enemies of the peo- ple", if you prefer). And that's that he wants men on that rocket. What rocket, you ask? NASA's Orion rocket, that's what rocket. For those not in the know, NASA has been developing a new generation of rockets called the Orion for the further exploration of the solar system. So while Elon Musk's SpaceX has been garnering most of the publicity (mainly by explod- ing in spectacular fashion on the launchpad), NASA has been beavering away without fanfare. The first big test of Orion is due in 2018 when an unmanned flight is planned to circle the moon. Apparently the Trump transition team has been on to NASA saying they are not happy with the lack of bodies in the tin can (as David Bowie might have phrased it). Maybe that whole lack of fanfare thing doesn't sit easily with the new administration. Whatever. The high-ups at the space agency insist that any decision about the Orion flight will be "driven by the data", but the boffins are now running around conducting feasibility studies into every aspect of what it would take to make it happen. It's ironic that in push- ing for astronauts to be on board Orion, Trump and his team seem to be displaying such faith in science, given that when it comes to climate change and the environment they think they're all a bunch of lying charlatans. Driving ambition The problem with cutting-edge technology is that no matter how impressive it is, it can sometimes go wrong. As if to illustrate this, a landmark race between two driverless electric cars in Bue- nos Aires last week demon- strated just how far we've come in developing the technology and how far le we have to go. The race was between two "Devbots" controlled by artifi- cial intelligence soware and a laser-based sensors. At one point a stray dog wandered on to the track and the cars slowed down, took evasive action and avoided a collision. The pooch was removed from the track unharmed. Then one of them crashed because it simply misjudged a corner. The organisers, Roborace, insist it's all a useful learning curve and they have plans to pit 10 teams of robotic cars against each other in the future. Disconnector's advice to spectators would be to sit well back in the stands. Brought to book Readers may or may not be aware the publishing craze of the moment: kids books for adults. There are spoof Enid Blyton books and I-Spy books, but by far the most successful is Random House's resurrection of its Ladybird imprint with Ladybird books for Grown-ups. Sample titles include the The Ladybird Book of the Meeting and the Ladybird book of the Hipster. Now they are going one step further with a Ladybird Expert series. The first three in the series are on evolu- tion; quantum mechanics; and climate change. Interestingly, the climate change book has been penned by no less a personage than Prince Charles. Disconnector can't help but wonder whether HRH will slip a copy into Donald Trump's pocket when he visits the UK. Who knows, maybe Trump is a climate change denier because he's never actually read up on it. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Deputy editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Insights editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathewbeech@fav-house. com; News editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Networks correspondent: Lucinda Dann, t: 01342 332083, e: lucindadann@fav-house.com; Reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Nigel Searle, t: 01342 332009, e: nigelsearle@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. 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If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk William Marchan t@richonlyinname As Co-op Energy sneaks an SVT price rise thru under cover of BG rumblings, one wonders how much its bailout of GB Energy Supply contributed. Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 Ofgem figures show switching in 2016 highest for 6 years. But number of Big 6 customers on expensive STVs hardly moves. Two markets now? Daniel Walker-Nolan @DWN85 If British Gas loyalty scheme is opt-in it seems unlikely the disengaged will benefit - certainly not as much as they would from lower prices Jim Watson @watsonjim2 I agree with @LordsEconCom that support for most mature low carbon techs should be via single competitive auction to reduce costs Gareth Miller @garethmillerCE Would be simpler & less messy to take an egg out of an omelette than to do some of what Lords propose Richard Howard @RichardHowardPX @timfarron Just outlined vision for UK to be energy self-sufficient. Is that possible? Jon Ferris @fractalgrid Chatham House reports current biomass policy not fit for purpose, and output likely to displace other renewables. Nina Skorupska @NinaSkorupska @AEBIOM @EREFEU feels like Groundhog Day for the Biomass industry, same old questions being posed that have already been answered Doug Parr @doug_parr Just as UK Govt is selling off its own Green Investment Bank, China decides to set up some of their own Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH MARCH 2017 | 31