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Quick Googling now that I had time turned up this. It's the rocket body of the Soyuz SL-4 on TMA-22 mission that took US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to ISS on 16th November. Predicted re-entry location was in the sea south of Africa, but the predicted location isn't necessarily exact, plus there's several stages that would each break up across longer range. In any case it's certainly a good match for the vague "Mid November" reported.

boxcover and links here: http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=9318&p=3&topicID=11841579&commentPage=0

I looked at Dexpot some time ago, and while it looks lovely, I also note that the last release was a year and a half ago, with no news items on the website since then. Is this project dead? Though I am happy to note that the site actually loads now -- last time I looked it took *ages* to come up, and that was even without the benefit of a slashdotting.

Then again, I happen to be using Virtual Dimension, which likewise seems to be dead, with no releases since July 2005. I contracted this particular VD :) only after my previous love, Virtual Desktop Toolbox, went belly-up when the website disappeared and the sole dev vanished into thin air.

Cheers,

Actually, it's just the opposite. According to this page, NASA is restructuring the Prometheus program to be more comprehensive. The exact goals are as of yet unclear, but the program will continue. The full article you were looking at can be read here. Interestingly, the article suggests that the entire program is being shut down, whereas the only quote from NASA states that they're cutting back. I'm thinking that someone jumped the gun here.

This should explain it: Clickitty Click Click.

The reason private industry isn't in space is that there's no money in it. Until that changes, we'll do nothing but probes - and no one ever comes up with an idea for making it profitable.

Actually, it's not that there's no money in space. It's that there's a chicken and egg issue. Why would anyone invest in space before there's an economic incentive? But who's going to create an economic incentive if there's no money in it?

That's where NASA comes in. NASA should be using large (and comparatively cheap) boosters to send hundreds of metrics tons of space station and workshop equipment into orbit. Once they have the ability to build many things in space (and launch from a decent orbit *grumble*), then the possibility of mining becomes a reality. I don't know of a single investor who wouldn't jump at the chance of bringing back precious metals at a high profit margin.

No, you don't need the level of industry we have here on Earth. (At least not initially.) More than enough can be done with standard workshop equipment. Drills, laser cutters, PCB printers, plastic molding, etc. all exist in fairly small machines. The tradeoff is that your production wouldn't be very high until better factories are built.

Now imagine this. On Earth, 3D printing is a very difficult and expensive process. Gravity ensures that stability is a key problem during the printing process. But what if we were to 3D print in freefall? With no forces acting upon the object, many more materials and shapes could be printed. Imagine if robots could be used to "print" an entire space ship! You just can't do that on Earth.

Two words. Breeder reactor.

Two words: Doesn't matter. A breeder reactor increases the amount of energy you get out of a given amount of materials. It does not, however, magically create materials out of non-nuclear fuels. It really amounts to further enriching existing fuels. Yes, it will extend the time. No, it will not extend it indefinitely.

100% pure pie-in-the-sky. Even if we could magically tap huge amounts of solar power, where do you put the antimatter once you've created it? And once you have it, so what?

There's no "magic" to tapping the sun. You need heat on one side, and cooling on the other. That's how thermal generators work. My original plan was to put a station at about 0.1 au. Speaking with engineers about the issue, they explained that using mylar mirrors would provide you with the same amount of thermal energy at a much greater distance. There's an interesting discussion on this here.

BTW, you may find this, this, and this very interesting. Yes, that's right. NASA plans to launch an antimatter powered space craft!