Slashdot Mirror
SpaceShipOne and Wild Fire to Go For the Gold
Fizzleboink writes "Space.com reports that with the upcoming January 1, 2005 deadline for the $10 million Ansari X Prize, Rutan and his team have given their official 60 day notice. Brian Feeney, leader of the Canadian da Vinci Project also reported today that his team is rolling out on August 5 with the balloon-lofted Wild Fire rocket."
first post.
Glad to see that there's some Canadian content! Hope it doesn't turn into another Avro Arrow...
http://beta.blockbuster.com
Finally! something that's not just a The Register reprint...
My guess is that the Canadians will come in second to SpaceShipOne
That's what I'd like to know. What's inside the Blue Origin factory...?
I'd also half-expected some fringe group with an electrogravitic ship to win this one, kind of disappointing no one's running with the hardshell-airship and electrie 'lifter' combo.
If they win, I will eat my socks.
Rutan is the man!
I suspect that in about 10 years, while NASA is still burning dollars as fuel to stay in LEO, Rutan and Steve Wynn will already have a hotel/casino on the moon.
Good luck, Godspeed, and give 'em hell!
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Mostly because the White Knight/SpaceShipOne combination has demonstrated it can fly to 100 km altitude, even though the last flight wasn't perfect.
Meanwhile, the da Vinci project has yet to prove it can fly to 100 km altitude with its final flight hardware; they probably need to do a couple of test flights before attempting to win the X-Prize.
But I wouldn't be surprised if they end up first on fuel usage- since they're using a balloon for the first stage.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
WHat's the point of sending people 62.5 miles by spaceship? WHat's wrong with airplanes?
I are winner
Re-reading the earlier article about James van Allen questioning the validity of human spaceflight, it struck me that his only argument was about scientific knowledge and research.
No mention of capitalistic exploit, such as mining of minerals; low-G manufacturing; etc.
He's probably right as far as it goes, but I don't think any of the teams competing for the X-Prize have scientific research as their primary goal.
If nothing else, just seeing the variety of launch vechile styles and different approaches to the same basic problem is worth the effort.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Slashdot is running a novell ad with an ugly naked man. It looks like Novell hired one of the guys from Lemon Party.
I also got a flyer in my office mail with a 55yo man hugging a 30yo black man.
Nobody is going to buy linux from this blatently homosexual ad campain.
The Da Vinci project looks to only have a couple of tests to date, and none carrying a passenger to any notable altitude. The most information I could find is here. Have they done the testing that SpaceShipOne has, or are they just making a hasty attempt to try beating the SpaceShipOne team? Hopefully it's been tested enough that nobody gets hurt.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
something to take my mind off of the perils of society. A good ol' boomin' rocket shitfest. Competition = good.
Too bad they're Canadian, though.....
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
I wanted to actually RTFA but i couldn't. one thing is that i don't remember hearing about a Canadian test shoot. so i wonder who in their camp is crazy enough to attempt this without even making sure that it really works. i used to think that Canadians were beer drinking mellow hockey guys that said ay allot but i guess they got some cahones in the great white north.
Did X Prize specify the maximum time allowed from launch to reaching the space?
The da Vinci Project Team is using helium balloon to lift its rocket for the first part of its journey, and SpaceOne is using WhiteKnight which goes round and round until it reaches a certain altitude.
Uselessful technology (Air-Charged
Oops. I'm a web developer and can't form a simple link. :)
here (real link this time)
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
For anyone who is interested, check out the Dynon EFIS-D10, a basically home-brew electronic flight information system that went up in SpaceShipOne.
You probably shouldn't click this.
No, it's not supposed to be a new form of transit. It's a new form of developing space hardware in the private sector. Early NASA and USSR flights focused on putting a man up high enough, then bringing him back down. That allowed them to test airframe, recovery methods, and engines without jumping straight to building a Saturn V. The knowledge gained from these flights was then used to put Yuri Gugarin (sp?) and John Glenn into actual orbit.
The point of the 100km flight is to reproduce much of that research. If we end up with 10 engines that can make the altitude, then at least some of those engines and airframes may be scalable to orbital flight. Even if they aren't, certain points in their design may be useful in designing cheaper and better airframes and engines.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
lunix is nicht teh oes. itz da whey of lief.
Does the great white north have enough hot air to fill their balloon? (or was it all used up melting the snow?)
There's one side that says sending humans like this is a dangerous waste. And the other just wants robots for now until we can terraform other planets and such. The better solution is to host consciousness on a computer. Assuming the requirements (assumedly duplicating the electrical signals in the third ventricle between the lobes of the thalamus) allow for durable containers, we can travel to the center of the sun even!
-I am an elective eunuch.
1 - Being a Canadian, I should be cheering for da Vinci. But Rutan is my hero.
2 - There's nothing on the da Vinci site about launching on Aug. 5. It looks like the site was last updated on July 10.
3 - The X Prize site looks like it has an interesting story, but you need a password to get at it.
4 - Similar to at least one other poster, I am seriously worried that da Vinci is not sufficiently tested.
Aargh, aargh, aargh, aargh!
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
3602700875
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
4021932467
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
994239673
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
2957001897
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
3474684180
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
1463242417
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
1471564441
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
3078013977
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
2502873577
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
2272500227
London, England - Top GNAA officials have confirmed the long-rumored launch of the company's new European division, putting to rest myths that the organization had reached stagnancy in its membership.
The announcement came on the heels of the 2nd quarter membership and financial report of GNAA, Inc, which had reported a 15% decline in new memberships, down from 250,000 in the previous quarter. Investor confidence in the public company's stock dropped shortly afterwards, amid rumors of corruption and poor management in the highest levels of GNAA.
"The launch of GNAA Europe should put to rest these myths, as well as open up an entirely new market," announced GNAA spokesman penisbird, speaking from the new GNAA Europe headquarters recently constructed in downtown London. "For years, statistics have shown that Europe, with its generally more liberal atmosphere than that of the United States, contains a higher percentage of gay niggers. As GNAA membership places stringent standards on both the race and sexual orientation of its applicants, a higher percentage of potential candidates can only work to our advantage. From our consumer polls and surveys, we expect to accept nearly 10,000 members into GNAA Europe in the first week alone."
The new GNAA Europe headquarters, described as one of the most technologically advanced and nigger-friendly corporate headquarters ever built, is a sure indicator of GNAA's current success. With its lavish outside garden, complete with African sculpture from renowned sculptor Gary Niger, as well as its grand lobby featuring a 3-story ceiling and ornate gold decorations, the building has attracted much attention from tourists and local residents alike. Even more impressive is that which is not seen by the casual visitor: the specially constructed "pleasure centers," accesible only to GNAA members, allow for extravagent orgies with more than 100 participants each. Located on the upper floors of the building, they provide food, entertainment, and bedding for orgy-goers, as well as a wide selection of sex toys, including whips, chains, lube, dildos, gloryhole booths, and even a sample of GNAA's mysterious new pleasure-enhancing drug, code-named "NIGGERSEED."
Since its inception in 1992, GNAA, the Gay Nigger Association of America, has been dedicated to uniting gay niggers for one common purpose: to be gay niggers. Its rapid growth after its IPO showed strong public interest in the endeavor, which is the first of its kind. More recently, GNAA has posted profits in excess of $500 million every quarter in the last 4 years, placing it among the most profitable of organization of its kind.
1031734551
It's NOT a given that Spaceship One will walk away with the X-prize. A lot of folks seem to think it is, but, those same folks thought shuttle flights were routine, uneventful, and safe. Flying into space is HARD. SS1 has a good chance at it, but this craft will be ready to give it a shot.
It would certainly go with the spririt of the X-Prize to see this true 'backyard' effort pull it out of the blue, and beat SS1 to the X-Prize finish line. Nothing against Rutan and his team, but, X-Prize was meant to spark the real backyard innovation. Da Vinci project is just that. I think it would be great to see them scoop the prize out from under the noses of the foks that spent 20 million to achieve the same goal.
Can I have one?
What's the point of sending people 62.5 miles by airplane? What's wrong with cars?
What's the point of sending people 62.5 miles by car? What's wrong with horses?
What's the point of sending people 62.5 on horseback? What's wrong with shoes?
What's the point in walking 62.5 miles? Can't you find everything you need within an hour's walk of the cave?
And that, of course, is the point...if you can't go 62.5 miles, you can't go 200 miles. You can't reach low-earth orbit, or high orbit, or solar orbit, or anything else. Orbital flight is currently a governmental monopoly. If you fail to see the point of orbital flight in the short term, then feel free to chuck your GPS receiver, cell phone, pager, and international internet connection in the toilet. If you fail to see the point of orbital flight and beyond in the long term, then feel free to mine your back yard for every element needed to support your lifestyle.
Yuri Gagarin.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
For something I just heard of today, it sounds quite clever.
You host consciousness just as the thalamus does, but on silicon instead of carbon. Its consciousness hosted on a computer, not a conscious computer.
-I am an elective eunuch.
$10M is a lot of money. What do these guys plan to do with it? Either team? I haven't heard much about that. Is there somone I should be rooting for? Is one team planning to live off the money and pass it on to their kids and the other planning to feed the hungry? Or what?
Moo.
well it's not your fault that slashdot doesn't come with a frontpage express editor ;-)
Too bad. I hope they are able to keep going, even if they don't win the X-Prize.
Liberal (adj.): Free from bigotry; open to progress; tolerant of others.
62.5 miles isn't the point. It's just a first step. The first cars couldn't drive as fast as a horse could run, and they were very hard to get started (some had a spring loaded crank you had to wind up to start them, others had to be push-started, a few even had lawnmower-style pullcord starters). However, within thirty years, they were going fifty miles an hour comfortably and somewhat safely. The first planes were slower than their contemporary cars, but look at them now: you can get anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Suborbital (or even low orbit) travel is the same way. Maybe you're wasting weeks of work to go 62.5 miles now, but in thirty years, you'll be able to get almost anywhere in the world in 90 minutes (with at most a local connection flight in between to get you to an airport capable of handling orbital launches), and quite possibly cheaper than conventional flight (you don't burn fuel in orbit, and even suborbital flight would be ballistic except during launch and landing maneuvers).
I was *so* close. Of course, both are incorrect anyway. They're nothing more than transliterations of the Cyrillic name. (Since Slashdot is too lame to accept Cyrillics, you can view his name here.)
;)
Even then it would still br Americanized. In Russia, the middle name is always used. The middle name is a "standard" variation on the father's name. Thus Mr. Gagarin would be known as Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin or simply Yuri Alekseyevich in conversation.
And why you needed to know this? No idea. I just figured I had to do something useful because I misspelled the guy's name.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I've driven Canada coast-to-coast a number of times, and the only place that red light right-turns are wholly illegal is Montreal. There are signs posted (French, even!) telling you not to turn right on red lights anywhere in Montreal.
Which makes PERFECT sense if you've ever seen how pedestrians behave in that city... there'd be fatal accidents daily, if it weren't for that law, I'm sure.
Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
Or maybe W17DF1R3, that would be 7337 as long as it didn't a-splode.
Here's your requisite 30%! ;-)
"We'll leave a jet-trail across the sky
Just like Armstrong and the guys
Vapour trail against the blue
I'd get off on getting higher
Is it over the Moon for the frequent flyer?
Straight to the arms of...
Jezebel, I hear you well
Or is it Gabriel? I can never tell
And the question's growing
'Cause it's not knowing
When it's coming, where I'm going"
-SOTW
[TMB]
With birth rates falling the way they do (both in developed and developing worlds), we'll have to have serious life-extension successes just to maintain something approaching the current population of Earth. Within a hundred years, we may be back down to several billion people.
My lifter works in a vacuum - build one and see for yourself. All it takes is a spare monitor, balsawood, wire and tinfoil. Vacuum's a little harder to come by - I tested mine at school in very low pressure and it doesn't notice the lack of air.
Slowly wandering off topic I know but ...
The only thing you listed that actually *requires* satellites is the GPS reciever.
Cell phones and pagers don't use satellites at all (the hard wired phone network they tap into does - but not for most calls because the latency of satellite communication is too high)
Satellite phones exist for remote places where there are no cell towers but they are extremely expensive to use and are hardly essential to most people.
Interestingly the GPS reciever works via satellites for the same reason phones don't (work well.) The significant amount of time it takes to transmit the signal creates a measurable difference in the timecode which can be used to determine your distance from each satellite - and in turn your actual location (one of two possible locations with 3 satellites within reach - the other possible location is somewhere well beyond orbit and hence is discarded by the reciever.
Precisely. van Allen might've been right when he said there was no scientific point to manned spaceflight... But he completely ignored the engineering point. Some of the stuff Scaled Composites has come up with is positively brilliant.
Sometimes we drink Ale.
Pubcrawler.ca
.
(Reuters) Iran & North Korea today has said that they will be the next spacefaring nations to compete for the X-Prize.
Officials with the Iranian & North Korean governments, in a joint communique, have said that, although their exact propulsion method is secret, it involves nuclear materials and if any United States or allied countries spot a rocket leaving Iranian or North Korean air space that seems to have abnormally high gamma-ray counts coming from them, they are not to be alarmed, as they are just "testing". Due to the prize rules, multiple launches are to be expected.
TDz.
IIRC, those that follow such trends predict the world population will peak at about 10 billion people, sometime this century. The birth rate in most countries is steadily decreasing.
His attitude is not so much 'can do' as 'I know what I'm doing and half of it i've done before...'
He's like a one-man aerospace industry!
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
If you're going to go watch the first shot and you want to party, hang out at the airport the night before. Mojave proper is dead.
Secondly, when the wind kicks up the night before, don't go home discouraged. It was gusting up to 70 mph around 3 am the last time around and when the sun came up, the gusts completely died off.
Don't expect to have a great view of what's happening. The spaceship is tiny when it's 200 feet away and invisible when it's 10 miles away. Maybe this time around, they'll turn on a smoke generator just before they launch so you know where to look but then again, they may not. Last time, the craft was almost directly in the sun and it was awfully hard to see until it was spewing smoke.
While you're there, be sure to check out the Aloha Air plane that peeled its skin in midflight. It's next to the two rightmost 747s that are parked half a mile northeast of the viewing area.
Don't forget to add an hour to clean off the vomit of you and your fellow passengers. A 90-minute sub-orbital flight would make your average amusement park rollercoaster seem like a few seconds on the La-z-boy.
Since you mentioned it, pretty soon it'll be quite easy to live self-sufficiently off your own property (if you've bought the additional mineral rights below it) given the molecular nanotech necessary to recycle everything (using FREE solar energy) on the molecular level. There's very little need for an influx of 'space resources' that aren't scarce & useful to begin with (excepting helium, helium3, and a few others). It's not like everyone on Earth is going to be self-assembling a skyscraper-castle on their property made out of solid gold that they leeched from the ocean.
So... there's better arguments for being pro-offplanet than some old-tech need to stripmine the solar system for elements we don't need. #1 being getting some of our eggs out of the cradle so we survive as a species, and #2 being able absorb a much larger slice of the solar energy pie so we can do more, faster.
--
Power to the Peaceful
Maintaining the current population of earth is quite unnecessary. The earth would get along just fine with 5% of the current human population. Just think of the benefits to the environment.
I wonder how they are going to retrieve the piloted balloon (short of venting helium). If their design becomes commercially viable, how much Helium is going to be wasted to get their rocket to launch altitude. While there wouldn't be a problem for small scale implementation, on a global scale of tourism / usage, surely the logisitcs would drive Helium prices / usage up, and supplies down.
Just a couple of pondering points.
InfoSec that matters, when it counts.
actaully you can find alot of gold and sewage dumps/processing centres, perhaps all those millions of people washing their hands with their gold rings wipes off? or is it a strange bacteria in humans which processes/collects gold from all food/waters which gets dumped into the toilet systems?
:)
Whatever the case, theres gold in those hills of shit.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
You are on the right track -- energy really is the ultimate limiting factor -- but solar energy is not as free as you'd like to think.
Solar energy both requires the materials used to collect the energy and the space for the collector.
There's also the problem of weather.
Now, the interesting thing is that the population problem is probably overstated -- population control is working. And we've got enough Uranium and Thorium available in the crust, especially with breeder reactors, for millions of years.
But there's plenty more reasons for why we still need to go into space.
Gentoo Sucks
More importantly, we were able to cross the atlantic by ship in 1919. Then a prize was offered of 25K to the first plane to cross the Atlantic.after 6-7 years, Charles Lindburgh with Spirit of St. Louis did it. After that the private VC focused on crossing by plane, not by Ships.
This will be the same. Most likely, Boeing or L-Mart will get into the game of trying to build an X-33 or DC-X or something that can do cheap flights. If not, then Paul Allen and a few more billionare who have vision (those that venture out of their area) will own this new industry.
And yes, it will happen.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Go baby go.
Good luck and God Bless.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
looking at the da vinci homepage i see the crew cabi n is "1.42 meter (56 inch) diameter sphere" and this is for 3 people in preasure suits ? who are they sending up? midgets?
Maintain?
I assure you. Birthrates may be dropping, but population growth isn't anywhere NEAR zero, let alone in the negatives.
Looks like it's largely a volunteer project, on the cheap...
I wonder if those are Canadian dollars, too.
Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
But their rocket won't fire its engines until it's already 80,000 ft off the ground and tethered beneath a reusable, piloted helium balloon. It will hang in an 80 up angle. [...]
A helium-fueled cold gas-reaction control system (RCS) will give the ship attitude control.
That's nice, except for one thing: Where are they going to get the helium? As I understand it that's a very scarce resource (wells in US and "The Former Soviet Union") only, with a rather limited capacity.
When the weight comes off the piloted launch balloon it's going to head up big time unless they vent much of the helium (or it's a collapsable pressure-vessel design). And using jets of helium for attitude control will be a big consumer of it, too.
Fix those two issues and it looks much better - but still not great. Going up with the ballon doesn't consume energy because you're neutrally bourant. But if you're not going to dump the helium you have to compress it to get back down, and THAT takes as much (or more) energy as lifting the rocket you just launched with an electric elevator.
It's still 'way better than rockets from the ground. But it's still a lot of fuel to take up just to compress the helium so the balloon can get back down.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
And you just dropped a 7200 lb rocket. Size of the compressor is not an issue.
Venting the helium isn't a big deal either, btw: It's not like Helium is rare or anything.
The reason that it can be true that 1+1 > 2 is that very peculiar nonzero value of the + operator
But If you need to place something in a specific orbit, the imprecise flight path of a baloon will make you burn more fuel adjusting your orbit.
It is also legal in Ontario to turn left on a red.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Places like India and China are intensely crowded already.
That's not strictly true - here's some interesting comparisons (mainly from Wikipedia).
Population density (people per square km)The world has changed and we all have become metal men.
I hope all of the teams keep going to where they do launch. Even if Rutan or the Candians do win shortly.
It would be a bigger sucess if a good precentage of the whole xprize group get a launch off.
Erm - learn your history.
t m
Lindburgh was not the first to fly the Atlantic, it was Alcock and Brown.
http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.h
Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, in a modified Vimy IV they made the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic. They took off from Lester's Field, near St. Johns, Newfoundland on June 14,1919. They landed June 15,1919 at Clifden in Ireland. The time for the crossing was sixteen hours, and twenty seven minutes.
The news of the adventure spead like wildfire and the two men were received as heroes in London. For their accomplishment they were presented with Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail prize of £10,000 by Winston Churchill who was then Britain's Secretary of State. A few days later both men were knighted at Buckingham Palace by King George V for recognition of their pioneering achievment.
I rather think Alcock and Brown http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/alcock.htm were ahead of Lindbergh, although his solo effort was a no less remarkable achievement.
Note that it is usually less typing to make a link than to add "remember to remove the spaces from the URL" (or something similar) to the end of your post.
I have no web references to offer, but suborbital airliners have been under discussion for years. In the version I remember best, the plane takes off from a regular runway and climbs to 40,000 feet, where it refuels in midair from a tanker. Then it goes into a steep, powerful climb out of the atmosphere. After the engines shut down, leaving only enough fuel for a powered approach and landing, the plane flies through a zero-gravity arc, re-enters the atmosphere, glides to low altitude and lands under power.
It is claimed that this proposed scheme would lower the cost of commercial airline flight for many reasons: Fuel cost would be lower because the boost engines would run for a much shorter time than jet engines and would use cheaper fuel, despite burning it faster. With midair refueling the plane would not have to be built to carry all the fuel it needs. Because of shorter flight times (2 hrs max to anywhere) the planes would be much simpler inside, with denser seating, little or no carry-on luggage space, and no food, restrooms or other amenities. People would be strapped in like astronauts (or sardines) for the duration of the flight and not allowed to leave their seats, which would improve in-flight security.
This is a reminder to all who are interested...
The #SpaceShipOne chat is still operational and will cover the upcoming 'X-Prize' flights. The response was overwelming for the Jun21 flight and is hoped that even more will join us this time around and make it an even bigger success. Support the flights!
The server : irc.freenode.net
The room : #SpaceShipOne
See you there... ;)
John B. -> Pandelirium
Admin/Moderator/OPs - SpaceShipOne CHAT
irc.freenode.net/spaceshipone
"Alcock and Brown." Reading those names reminds me of quite a few schoolboy jokes from many years ago that one couldn't possibly repeat nowadays.
I think Sammy Davis Jnr was involved in one of them.
No but, yeah but, no but...