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NASA Needs Prize Contest Ideas
Michael Huang writes "If you like the idea of tech contests--think ANSARI X PRIZE and DARPA Grand Challenge--and you also like space, then NASA wants you. It needs ideas (and rules) for the Centennial Challenges, prize contests with $20 million funding in 2005. Current ideas (download Excel spreadsheet) include: Mars and asteroid microspacecraft missions, lunar robotic landing, robotic triathalon, rover survivor, Antarctic rover traverse and extreme environment computer. Wikipedia has good coverage."
I live in an area with lots of tall pines. My plan is to make the worlds biggest slingshot. So far I'm a bit short of orbital velocity, so I might apply for some money to get better rubber bands.
Artificial Intelligence. I mean robots, space missions, even just regular things are all cool, but Artificial intelligence would enhance them all. It would allow for more unmanned space flights, and lessen the amount of direct attention necessary for some given projects. Not to say that we are to rely on AI solely, but that it can be a great aide in what NASA is trying to do, and it would help other realms of science as well.
je suis parce que j'aime
They could start by trying to prove there is some on the third planet from that G3 star near the edge of the Milky Way galaxy.
Current ideas (download Excel spreadsheet) include: Mars and asteroid microspacecraft missions, lunar robotic landing, robotic triathalon, rover survivor, Antarctic rover traverse and extreme environment computer.
And Lander Fear Factor! The rover has to drink a wicked puree of something a rover would find revolting....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Part of the problem about using AI is that it is kind of an umbrella term which covers everything from expert systems, neural nets, adaptive computing, machine vision. Also AI techniques aren't always the best way to approach large engineering type tasks like space missions. While getting neural nets to perform intelligent behavious is helping our understanding what intelligence is and how it works most of these technologies just aren't ready for prime time yet
I have discovered a truly remarkable sig which this post is too small to contain.
how about a prize to the group that clears out all of the dead fodder and restructures them?
How about a contest to find the best method of begging congress for money? It pays for itself!
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
1. Start "Rover Survivor"
2. Sell the show to some TV channel.
3. Pay out Prize Money with the money from the TV-deal.
4. ?
5. Break Even!
Lets see NASA put all that human medicine/nutrition knowledge to use, and set up a "Survivor" program in ... say ... Mozambique ... that uses bare-bones scientific evaluation of bio-mass consumption to prolong human survival as long as possible.
... Perhaps we have, perhaps its not useful, but it sure would be interesting to see all the details about human sustenance that an underwater, sealed 'biosphere X' kind of project could provide...
Another idea is ocean habitats. It seems very strange to me that we haven't 'prototyped' long-term human sustenance studies by building an "International Ocean Station" somewhere in the Marianas trench or something
IF we've gotta live for 6 months on de-hydrated/hydroponic foods, lets do it in that other hostile environment we have yet to fully explore, provided by our Oceans, or Deserts, where ordinary 'normal' humans are also struggling to survive...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
How about a Gumball Rally?
I can see it now: "Now accepting applications for the Gumball Inerplanetary Rally - fewer cops, more space junk"
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Here's what I would do if I were to design a space contest: I would establish a contest so that the first person to collaborate with Dr. Robert Zubrin and get a human to Mars within 5 years would not only be rich beyond the dreams of avarice, but would become the most famous person on the planet. I would also sell ads like crazy, since that would get the funding needed - corporations would love to sponsor the first human Mars landing. It might be a tad tacky or crass, but it would get the job done. And then we would have a human on Mars within three years. ;)
Find out about the Lexus Rx400h Hybrid!
You're welcome.
666-607: 6th floor apartment of the beast
uh, How about saving me a seat on the next mission?
It might seem a bit far-fetched, but seriously, if I designed something for NASA that might really advance humanity, a space-flight isn't too out of the question, is it?
How about a space rally between earth and the moon?(something easy) You could use any type of space craft. You would need to take pictures of celestial reference on the way, land a flag on the moon, and come back, then crash on earth...
Oh and it could go ummaned if you don't want to bring some food along.
The other challenge would be to go and pick up the flag...
It's funny how I make sense to others and not myself...
The suits from the Apollo era are rotting away in museums, in spite of efforts to preserve them. I sometimes wonder just how long those suits on the International Space Station will be usable, because they NEED to be usable when an emergency happens. Next, the 1960s-era suits were also quite cumbersome to put on and work in. Fixing those two things will be essential if we want a long-term human presence in space.
Webcams in Space! Live webcam pics (or streams) of the Earth from orbit, maybe one on the Moon (pointed at the earth?). Someday, even one from Mars? I know they have pics from the mars rovers, but what about a continuous raw feed?
Why not a contest to see who can devise the best space-related contest, complete with rules. I think it would be positively groundbreaking!
Porn, pot are keys to NASA salvation
Laws are for people with no friends.
All the really cool stuff happens once we leave orbit, right? (Deimos, Asteroids, Europa, etc.) Because there is already a prize for getting to orbit, so now we need to develop cheap spacecraft that can go that next step. I suggest that NASA allow experimenters to develop different spacecraft components. Categoires include: 1. Electrical Generation Systems 2. Navigation 3. Main Engine 4. Ways to "see" objects (sensors?) 5. Ways to gather volatiles frozen on something. 6. Ways to tow something. NASA takes the entries, tests them on the ground, and then takes the first 10 workable entires in each category to LEO, where they test them in space. NASA promises to take the winner from each category, and scale them to build a ship, which will be used to visit some piece of rock floating somewhere. NASA pays the prize as "royalties" to the winner. Andy
Come over to my house and identify what's growing on the bottom of my tub.
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
Parent: +6 Insightful
I'm a researcher in AI, and I can do nothing but backup the parent's claim (sad as it is). When we use AI, we would expect a robot to be able to perceive its surroundings (analyzing sensory inputs), make decisions (reasoning) and act (generating actuator outputs).
I can only comment on the first, since I'm a Ph.D. student in Computer Vision. And the general picture is, to be quite honest, depressing. Forget all you've seen in e.g. Terminator (e.g. the robot analyzing its visual input, and all the nice text in the image): it ain't gonna happen for a long time! Although space missions are (presumably) less complex in terms of sensory inputs, the state of affairs in dealing with normal natural images gives a nice idea of what's currently (im)possible:
I'll provide an example here. I'm doing Computer Vision (face-detections), and the current state of affairs is about this: When finding faces in 800x600 images, this can be done in about 1 second (yes: 1 full second), at about a 90% detection rate and a couple of false detections per image. For more complex object classes that are not so nicely symmetric (think cars, houses, landscapes, etc.), the performance is dramatically worse.
You can look at the BitTorrent link. And ONLY if that doesn't work, use this. As for reasoning: this is still in it's infancy, but I'm not working in that field, so I cannot comment on that well. Any takers? ;)
Support a Europe-related section on Slashdot!
With that in mind, here's an idea for a new "grand challenge:" See how many private groups/businesses can do NASA's job better than NASA. Because government monopolies such as NASA, like private monopolies, nearly always tend to produce lower quality goods at an inflated cost to the detriment of the taxpayer/consumer, I guarantee you that the number of entries (and successes) will be higher than one might think.
Many Bothans died to bring you this sig.
I think they need to find some hot astro-babes. Then more people would watch the internation space station cams. More people watching means, higher ratings, higher ratings means more money from sponers.
---
Lousy rotten karmic retribution.
Well, what NASA needs more than anything, is low cost access to orbit. That is what the X-prize is about, but NASA could probably get more bang for their buck by having a prize for a high specific impulse rocket engine which can operate in atmosphere. Simply set a minimum thrust, maximum weight, and minimum specific impulse, and see what people come up with. Ion and plasma engines have Isp of 10,000 or higher, but can't run in atmosphere (and require power supplies). If the space shuttle had that high of an Isp, it would need a ton or two of fuel (just guessing, don't feel like doing the math at the moment).
Of course, who knows how someone would find a way to make an engine like that. However if it is something with a low cost of entry (unlike the X-prize) which every backyard inventor can work on, then you instantly have a few thousand amateur rocket scientists working for a prize of a few hundred thousand. A pretty good deal, I say.
Issues with solar flares etc can be dealt with by wrapping the entire thing in aluminium foil. Aluminium foil is reflective (I can't believe nobody's thought of this), so this should protect anyone inside, and that's assuming a solar flare occurs at all.
Communication costs are coming down all the time. Most cellular companies these days have excellent coverage and well defined roaming agreements.
So really, it ought to be quite cheap, but I think the reason it's seen as expensive is because it's professionals doing it, and they can't very well be seen stitching old sheets together and covering rusty Winnebagos in foil.
So what I'd do, if I were NASA, is set up an award of $6,000 for the first person to go to Mars and come back in one piece.
And if NASA's willing to do this, I for one would throw my hat into the ring.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Create an almost entirely closed environment (receiving only heat and sunlight from outside), that is able to support human life indefinitely.
I know the name is cringe-worthy, but (I think) it hasn't been done successfully yet, and it needs to be.
Innovations which address obstacles which have stood in the way of technological development in science would be of highest priority, were I to enter. Barriers in science such as the claim that NASA don't have the technology to fit a de-orbit module onto the Hubble so that it's eventual re-entry into earth doesn't threaten human lives, could be avoided. It would save a lot of time, money and other valuable resources including human labour if future obstacles were addressed in the design of new scientific material, instead of attempting to tackle the problem when its too late.
They're running a contest to find more contests? Will there be another contest to determine the prize for this contest?
Not that this wasn't entirely predictable.
...maybe a prize for "quality control" on some of those space craft, eh?
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
"download Excel spreadsheet"
Download OpenOffice Spread file.
this is slashdot?
Surely the Meglodon and the Kronosaurs will attack it?
Donald Trump invites 10 robots to help him run the new Trump Tower in Chicago.
"IG-88... you're fired!"
I predict the winner will be the first robot to construct a realistic looking hairpiece for the Donald.
a way of preventing slashdotting? Lord knows it would get enough use.....
RoseColor red={0, 0xffff, 0x0000, 0x0000};VioletColour blue={0, 0x0000, 0x0000, 0xffff};find / -name *mybase*|chown you
How about a contest to come up with ways to prolong the life of the Hubble telescope? It has been such a boon to astronomy and yet they plan on letting it just die. With some good minds out there and a little incentive maybe a safe alternative could be found to extend its life longer than is expected.
It's inevitable; an "Astronaut Training Reality Show," winner gets to go on a space mission.
These contests aren't about discovering the next technological advancement. If NASA needed a new technology, they could just use the $20mil and contract it or do it themselves. No, this is all about public relations and generating interest in the space program.
The training program is already configured like a reality show, just add camera crew. Contestants have to endure countless hours of torture, physical challenges, training and conditioning, and at the end of it all Simon Cowell decides who gets to goto the moon. Or something like that.
If nothing else it would be nice to see a good documentary on the training program.
How about a contest where NASA learns how to successfully recover Orbitors? We landed on the moon with the computing power of an Atari 2600 but the drive and ability of that era seem long gone.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
The quickest way to make this happen is a one-way trip. I doubt NASA is going to fund an group to kill someone, no matter if the person is a volunteer who's willing to do it.
[Now, there's other groups in the US government who might be willing to provide funds for killing people, I just don't think that NASA is the one, though]
But let's think about it -- you'd probably have to find someone who's willing to make the one-way trip, but wouldn't be crazy enough to commit suicide on the trip there. That's a pretty dedicated person. [Although, I am making the assumption that they'd be looking for a live human on Mars, and not just someone shooting a corpse up there because of a poorly worded contest]
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
First organization to actually help people wins! 300 million for a damn gravity probe goes a long way toward our underfunded public school system
I see one of the biggest things holding back the computer industry is the lack of a good battery. I want a battery that can power a laptop for a couple of years. We need more power!
How about some interval math implementations to alert people that hey, those numbers seem a bit out of range... they're probably not in the right units! There's nothing more embarassing than crashing a probe into Mars, except for crashing a probe into Mars because the units were wrong on the input data.
stuff |
Jerry Pournelle was suggested the following:
// TODO: fix sig
These challenges are not the same as X-Prize, as they have shifted from ones directly competing with NASA (e.g. independent, private launch capabilities) towards ones more complimentary to NASA (e.g. better Astronaut gloves, robotic insects).
If the US Government wants to encourage more independent space resarch, the Congress and President must work together to establish goals INDEPENDENT of NASA. One possibility is to simply have the Congress double the prize money for the next few X-Prizes once those details are finalized.
NASA will NOT spend its money to pay for the development of a competing private space industry.
The world will not get better through technology. We must seek to be better people.
Hey, thanks to the poster of this article. I have an idea that I really want to pursue and the money from this prize might just let me do it.
-Ben
Guess the contests will have to have nothing to do with model rockets or the ATF will whine and complain.
Here's my idea: 'best plan for developing and maintaining cheap space tourism', the prize money to be invested in the application of aformentioned plan.
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
Unfortunately, in Soviet Russia God smites YOU!
do you have a solid ref- apart from sci-fi? No disrespect intended but anybody can write anything in sci-fi, do you have a link handy to any military/ scientific work done in the past? (nice photos of course welcomed cos it's Friday afternoon at work...time for slacking off :-) )
Hey, did'nt they leave a flag on the moon last time they were there?
Artifiicial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
As a breathing being, I'm tired of the reliance of air to survive, so I'm planning of creating a pill (or suppository) that liberates me from the old-fashion oxigen need. This will greatly reduce $ for space missions...
My ransome, I mean...grant requirements - Imagine Dr. Evil with pinky in mouth - "One, million dollars..."
Esta es una firma en Espanol.
Just kidding folks. Now just settle down.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Easy contest to define, but maybe not so easy to win. Just specify the material properties needed for a practical space elevator, and offer a sizeable prize to the first group to present a sample of a certain size.
Also, you could offer annual prizes for the best results each year, even if they don't meet the final prize criteria. At least that'd give the research groups a short-term goal to reach for.
...warp drive
I'm a workstudy at a local college. The domain is NT4 server with 2k workstations. Our net admin is worthless, so I'm trying to figure out a way to limit the amount of spy/adware we have on our systems, which is alot.
I'd also like to limit installations that don't quite qualify as adware, like Yahoo Messanger and Google toolbar(questionable). I've limited access to the Program Files dir, no write access. But what I'm wondering is there a built in feature for NT4 to limit installs of any kind to users? If so please respond with any tips that may be useful!
Email will probably work best if you're really generous
spite_fowl@yahoo.com
Thanks!
PS: OT problem also, I've been trying to lock down the roaming profile, so that they download the profile from the server, but no changes are made and the local profile is wiped out on logoff, This has become a tiresome delimna, I can lock down the profile on the server, but the local profile remains and causes some problems. Any tips from MS admins would be helpful!
I know just the person for a one-way trip to Mars - determined, clever, very strong sense of self-preservation, deserves a one way ticket far, far away from the human race: Saddam Hussein. *And* it saves the government from deciding whether to shoot him or not.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Stark Draper Open Source Rocketry Award
I hereby, and until notice to the contrary, endow the Stark Draper Open Source Rocketry Award. This prize will consist of 3 ounces of gold or the monetary equivalent going to the next amateur team launching a vehicle to a height in excess of 200 kilometers, which in my opinion qualifies as an open source entry. These funds will be disbursed at my sole discretion.
For a an entry to qualify as "Open Source", for purposes of this prize, the team launching a rocket must make available sufficient information in machine readable form via the web to create and launch a rocket the same as the entry which travelled to 200 kilometers. The entry description should also include a description of safety procedures used to launch the rocket in question. The entry description considered must be public domain or available under a license that qualifies as Open Source according to the Open Source Consortium. The manufacture of the rocketry entry should be accomplished by tools and materials that are readily available to the general public from multiple sources or are themselves Open Source.
My primary intent here is to create an award that encourages free distribution of detailed rocketry designs that can be refined by a number of individuals similar to the way Linux kernel development has harness the energies of a large team throughout the world. It is not my intent to encourage entrants to relinquish their rights to patent protection by publishing their inventions (though the act of publishing may have legal ramifications). Candidates for the Stark Draper Open Source Rocketry Award may be relinquishing substantial rights to maintain intellectual property via trade secrets (and may be relinquishing foreign patent rights if they haven't filed by the date they publish on the web). Entry descriptions may be "dual licensed" (i.e. the entry description may be available on the web via the GPL, but the entrant might still charge corporations for whom the GPL is not an acceptable license a fee to get this same material under some other license which might not be an Open Source license). I will be loose in my interpretation of what "Open Source" means for purposes of this prize (though I may endow a future prize with a tighter definition).
There are real difficulties in applying the Open Source model to amateur rocketry. I would expect that entries to this contest might be using rather different sets of tools and materials--many of which will have proprietary components. It is my hope here to provide some basic designs that will be ready when techniques like those described in Marshall Burns's "Automated Fabrication" or Eric Drexler's "Nanosystems", make creation of small runs of complex machines relatively inexpensive. Still, gcc didn't need the linux kernel and BSD kernels to be ready and useful. Nor did linux need availability of an Open Source design for a microprocesser to be manufactured in quantity to be useful. I expect that over time, we'll see standards emerge for Open Source rocketry designs. I intend to revise this award description to reflect these standards as they emerge (for example, I can imagine that we might eventually want to specify that some specific Open Source tool describe the design and assembly of a rocket when we can assume that the lion's share of rocketry amateurs have access to tools compliant with specific standards). I will give folks advance warning of any such changes so that this minimally affects work that is in progress.
Background
My real goal in supporting space development is recreating the pos
Seastead this.
- COD DELIVERY / PAY BY THE KILO: NASA shall pay by the kilogram for goods delivered to the ISS. The price shall start at $5000 per kilogram for the first 100,000 kilograms delivered. No contract required, cash on delivery (COD). Goods desired can be any consumable and capital goods including liquid O2, liquid H2, military MRE's.
- RAIL GUN: Competition using railguns. Projectiles of various sizes in different classifications (class 1 = 1 kg, class 2 = 2 kg, class 10 = 10 kg, etc.). Prizes for longest distance, highest altitude, largest mass * altitude, most number of shots in 15 minutes, combinations of above, for each class.
- HIGHEST ISP: prizes for the highest ISP (standard impulse) per year's competition. Minimum Delta-V applies.
- OPEN AUCTION: Working on Experience Curve theory, NASA must purchase launch capability without specifying vehicle specs, and must do so in an open-outcry auction (delivery of this payload to this location (orbit), bidder must pay insurance). Payment to be made after sucessful delivery to specified orbit. Each launch shall be bid separately and compeitively. NASA will trust-fund guarantee at least a specific number of auctions will be held each year for the next 3 years to assist industry planning.
- NASA shall make available, for a nominal fee of $1, launch services in the form of tracking and telemetry recording/transmission, to any private launch company that has a previously proven launch capability up to an altitude of 100,000 feet.
Just some ideas here.-- Kevin J. Rice
Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
TRUE! why only us citizens? if they opened the contest to any other friendly country that doesn't has a space program, many great ideas will come! people from other places think, live, solve problems differently!
Check out Website development, maintenance and accesibility cons
Also, nuclear submarines generate their Oxygen by splitting watter into H2 and O2.
Unless someone's found a decent source of water on Mars, the technology doesn't apply.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
What about an electromagnetic assisted launch? I remember from my astro engineering class that a very significant percentage of any launch vehicles fuel is required to just get it to clear the tower. Why not build a scale model launch vehicle and tower that is capable of attaining a certian altitude using EM assisted launch. Make one of the requirements that you use 20% less fuel than a non-EM assisted launch. We already have maglev trains that go 300 MPH and roller coasters driven by linear induction motors, so it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to adapt these technologies to space launch.
If I drive fast enough at the red light, it'll appear green.
$20 million in funding? How about a contest to feed the hungry on this planet. Jerks.
I read one of A. C. Clarke's short story collections lately and came accross a story named "The Wind from the Sun". It describes a race around the moon done with solar sails.
Interestingly there are a bunch of problems involved with sailing through the shadow of earth which the story explains quite nicely. Even though one may think of such a race as boring since there is no water and wind people have to deal with there are many more issues which come up with solar sailing, well if somebody goes ahead and does it.
Here is a link: "http://www.ec-lille.fr/~u3p/textang/propha.html"
If you search with google then you find that people at NASA have been read this story too. I just couldn't find out what they think about this particular story.
As noted on the web page, there's the Centennial Challenges program is organizing a workshop in Washington DC on June 15-16. You can register online (please, authentic registrations only!). This sounds like an excellent opportunity to help shape history.
Here's the blurb from the web site:
To kickoff Centennial Challenges, NASA's new program of prize contests, NASA will host a workshop on June 15-16 in Washington, DC. The purpose of the workshop is to:
1. Gather ideas for Challenges,
2. Develop rules for specific Challenges and gauge competitor interest in various potential Challenges, and
3. Promote competitor teaming.
This workshop will be a key input into Centennial Challenges planning, helping to determine what specific Challenge competitions NASA announces in 2004 and 2005 and the rules of those competitions. All potential Centennial Challenge competitors, including interested members of industry, academia, students, and the general public, are invited to attend.
You forgot 7. Ways to blow up Klingons.
There is no God in Soviet Russian.
.PDF format
just a thought...
i know that there is a project that's nasa funded, but reducing the turnaround time on the space elevator would allow more projects to proceed, and at a reduced gravity-well cost.
just the design idea of using ribbon-cable, instead of a cable design solves a lot of repair issues.
...out how to do stuff (hence offering minimal prizes to entice other people into doing the research for them) but they now can't even decide what it is that they should even be trying to research. I find this worrying.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
When you get the AI sorted out, could you build me a robot doctor? Must be able to perform with >= performance to a human in the categories of:
outpatient
- most accurate diagnosis
- least expensive therapy reccomendation
- (some kind of metric for preventative therapies?)
inpatient:
- greatest patient survival
- least patient recuperation time
- least time to complete operation
- least scarring
slightly OT: I would love to see an non-profit organization set up that could collect monies from anyone and allocate them to a specific prize. For example, the organization would set up a list of space-based objectives like orbiting a man for 1 week without government funding, landing a man on the moon without government funding, or putting a man in orbit around mars. People, governments, buisinesses, and organizations could then donate money to whichever goals they thought their money would be best put towards. The organization would collect these monies and hold them in trust, applying whatever interest they earned back towards whatever goal they were put towards. As well, the organization could recieve requests and set up other prizes for space-related achievements. Upon the completion of any given achievement, the organization would pay out the prize money to whichever corporation or government (if that is permitted by the prize's rules) achieved that goal. Hopefully, there would be appropriate media hype of the event complete with recognition of the major donors to the prize.
This would be a long term project, and there would presumably be hundreds of prizes that people could donate to. As time goes on, each prize would grow larger with interest and donations - becoming more attractive until it is finally achieved. Prizes for second place could even be set up and if people think that they would encourage competition, they would donate to them too. As well, I see these prizes as something that governments could hopefully be persuaded to contribute to, as I predict many people would have nationality based prizes (i.e. prizes that are only open to american or japanese companies/citizens/teams).
Finally, it is worth noting that while you might end up with an enourmous amount of really low-value prizes, one could presumably collect multiple prizes with one mission. For example, it's not hard to imagine one mission qualifying for an orbit of mars, a human landing on mars, a sample return from mars, an surface exploration of mars' poles, and some space-habitation-endurance prizes.
I dunno how well this would work, I just think it sounds like the best way to get private companies involved in space while still ensuring that some actual science gets done. I also think it would be totally cool if I could donate $50 of my next paycheck to the quest for a semi-permanent lunar base.
It's time to deploy routing and switching throughout the solar plain of eclipse so there's no such thing as a communications blackout when something as minor as a solar mass maneuvers between earth and the objective. Then it's time to deploy the nuclear powered web cams so we have live feed from every body cool enough not to melt the chasis. (Obviously it'd be better to deploy useful tools capable of testing and measurement, but people eat up eye candy and will support NASAs deployment.)
Smaller is better so we can launch 10's of thousands, and not sweat a few lost/malfunctioning units.
Artificial intelligence would enhance them all.
Uh huh. Shall we get back to our chess game?
There's a 68.71% chance you're right.
Not into a chamber, since containing Little Boy in the back of a rocket would be a bit tricky. Simply firing the material into space behind the rocket should be fine. The trick is firing it accurately enough to actually get a supercritical mass back there.
Imagine Archimedes directing the soldiers to each focus the reflection from his shield on the ship far offshore. Now imagine that they're all holding superaccurate machine guns, each loaded with a belt of refined uranium ammunition. When good ol' Archie gives the order to fire, streams of uranium cruise toward a point. Since the soldiers have impeccable aim, the first few rounds all spend an instant very close to each other. Neutrons do their thing, fission starts, and a few microseconds later, you have Hiroshima in midair.
Now, our intrepid soldiers are somehow able to keep their aim steady despite the flash and shockwave, and the rounds fly straight and true despite the blast. The soldiers keep the triggers held down, each gun dutifully hurling its belt full of fuel into the center of the nuclear fire.
The reaction continues and instead of a single shockwave, the area is subjected to a steady, sustained force comparable to the instantaneous pressure at ground zero during a regular blast.
Now, arrange all these soldiers in a ring around the back of a rocket and have them fire into space. Wave hi to the Alpha Centaurians as you whiz past.
You heard me.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
So we read things like, "And in the Future, there will be robot factories that turn moon dust into fuel!" So who's up for building the first?
Here is a stab at requirements:
The money goes to the first team that builds a robot factory to convert moon dust to blocks of moon dust suitable for construction.
1. Internally powered
2. Acquires its own input material (lunar soil, lunar water, etc)
3. Shoots out enough 20cm x 10cm x 5cm solid moon bricks in a week to build a 4m x 3m x 2.5m moon brick building. Bricks should last 20 years in the lunar sun.
4. Stacks the resulting blocks for easy transport
5. Capable of unattended operation for up to 2 weeks (essentially at least a 2-week system-wide MTBF)
6. Not made of Lego Mindstorms.
7. You can turn it off
8. Substitute plain dirt on Earth for testing (or another suitable soil)
Requirement 2 will be fun! This is the digging part, yummy! And item 4 implies the factory can build a staging area. The robot factory might consider local resource exhaustion as a reason to mark the current brick dump and relocate the whole factory 500m away.
If such factories really exist or are in the making, please help me and reply with a URL?
Stupidly,
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MSNBC has an excellent article by Alan Boyle: NASA plans contests for space feats Excerpt: "The June 15-16 workshop in Washington will focus on drawing up NASA's first batch of "Centennial Challenges" -- government-funded competitions that would encourage non-governmental teams to develop technologies vital to NASA's exploration initiative. For example, a better astronaut glove might earn its developers $1 million, while the first team to put a privately funded lander on the moon could win $20 million."
nuf sed
Table-ized A.I.
1. Mock up that balloon lander, drop people from helicopters over one of the fourteeners in Colorado.
2. How about your very own mini mars lander remote control buggy, with stereo vision and Centrino enabled P4 to send back video signal.
3. Control the mars lander for 10 seconds.
4. Send your stuffed toys into orbit, with and hours worth of coverage on NASA TV. It should at least more interesting that what normally gets broadcasted.
Just say no to license servers!!