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NASA Expands Role of International Space Station

coondoggie writes "NASA is looking for a few good experiments to run in space. The space agency this week said it was seeking research ideas (PDF) from private entities who want to do research on board the International Space Station. NASA said it was looking to expand the use of the ISS by providing access to the lab for the conduct of basic and applied research, technology development, and industrial processing to private entities — including commercial firms, non-profit institutions, and academic institutions. NASA said using the ISS as a national lab could help develop a number of applications in areas such as biotechnology, energy, engineering, and remote sensing."

153 comments

  1. They should put an ad on Craigslist by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It worked for me when I was renting out a room.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by natehoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Penthouse apt for rent. Very cozy efficiency. Fully furnished. Magnificent view. Reserved parking for your vehicle. Onsite gymnasium. Great weight loss program (disclaimer: weight is not the same as mass). Exclusive community in a unique private out-of-the-way setting. Heat and utilities included. No pets. $40,000,000 a week.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Sounds like typical California real-estate prices

    3. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, ISS isn't nearly high enough to appreciably affect your weight (I think you're between 90% and 95% earth surface gravity at that height). You're not really in microgravity, null gravity, or anything close to that on the ISS. Just in freefall, same as on a parabolic flight.

    4. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      Turn in your geek card, please.

    5. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Hmm... sounds like the Super Adventure Club from South Park...
      No thanks. ^^

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    6. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Lord+Pillage · · Score: 1

      I think what he meant is that at that distance from the planet, Earth's gravity is still 90-95% as strong as at sea level (the force of gravity is related by the inverse square of the distance). I'm not sure of the accuracy of that statement, however, I do believe the term micro-gravity applies to sustained orbits around Earth.

      --
      try { Signature mysig = new CleverAttempt(); } catch(NonCleverSignatureException e) { postanyway(); }
    7. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Of course, they're out of this world!

    8. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by EvilBudMan · · Score: 1

      One good experiment would be to drop a rope and see if an astronaut could climb back to terra firma.

      Whoops!

    9. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by natehoy · · Score: 1

      You're not really in microgravity

      Free fall makes a perfectly good microgravity environment. There may be gravitational forces present, but they are compensated for by the free fall, and therefore you are in a microgravity environment.

      But, let's take your definition of "microgravity" which apparently means "no body close enough to have its gravitational field felt regardless of compensation" for the sake of argument. It's not what the term means, but let's assume it did.

      Bear in mind that I never used any term containing the word "gravity" at all. I used the term "weight". In an environment where there is no effective gravitational force, there is no weight.

      In the ISS, I would "weigh" very, very close to zero, despite my round tummy.

      That weight is accurate in Metric AND Imperial, by the way. Just in case you needed that clarified.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    10. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by suomynonAyletamitlU · · Score: 1

      You and AC are more or less correct. You may recall that gravity acts as though it was a point source at the center of mass; the difference in distance from the center of the earth between you and the ISS is relatively small.

      Google puts the radius of the earth at 6378 km, and Wikipedia puts the ISS orbit at about 340km (perigee / apogee in the sidebar, if you don't know the terms), which is only about a 5% increase. So if earth is 1 Gee (and it is), at ISS height you would get (1/1.05) Gees = .95 Gees, more or less.

      In particular AC had it exactly right; it only seems like there's no weight because you're constantly falling; "weight" (not mass, as natehoy said) means force, every force has an opposite, and there's no force opposing you if you're in freefall, until you hit something.

    11. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      Nope. Grandparent _specifically_ said 'weight' which IS near zero on the ISS.

      Your mass also does not change on orbit. And gravity force does become a little bit smaller on the ISS, but it's irrelevant because it's counteracted by the centrifugal force.

    12. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      Weight doesn't mean just any force, it means the force you exert upon whatever is holding you up in steady-state. In the ISS, the steady-state is no force against the support.

    13. Re:They should put an ad on Craigslist by Amiralul · · Score: 1

      Also, the Moon is on a freefall too. A closed freefall, like ISS or Moon's is called an orbit.

  2. Art Bell? by XanC · · Score: 2, Funny

    Tell me we're not doing remote sensing experiments on the ISS!

    1. Re:Art Bell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they mean telepresence.

    2. Re:Art Bell? by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1

      What else can they do? It's just a bunch of folks floating around with clipboards doing what machines could do better, faster, and cheaper. It reminds me of those minimum wage workers who stand around on street corners waving signs, a job done just as well by a wooden post.

    3. Re:Art Bell? by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      They need those people up there to whack a malfunctioning device with a hammer. It's hard to teach a monkey when to stop.

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    4. Re:Art Bell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but you can't get a tax credit for putting a signpost in.

    5. Re:Art Bell? by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Just give them banana's when they stop. Karl Pilkington says it works.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    6. Re:Art Bell? by d_p · · Score: 1

      I think you mean remote viewing. Remote sensing is performed every time someone points a camera out of the window.

  3. Oooh, Oooh, Idea! by Revotron · · Score: 2, Funny

    Plane on a giant treadmill... in space!

    1. Re:Oooh, Oooh, Idea! by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh come on a LOT better idea list.....

      1 - how long do lawyers last in space without a space suit.
      2 - effects on lawyers when exposed to explosive decompression.
      3 - effects of solar radiation on a lawyer in a space suit.
      4 - effects of solar radation on a lawyer without a space suit.
      5 - effects of amoebic dysentery on a lawyer in micro-gravity.
      6 - how long do lawyers last as an ablative shield during re-entry.
      7 - what is the maximum ballistic speed a lawyer can reach.

      etc...

      Oh and as a control do the same experiments on MPAA and RIAA executives.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Oooh, Oooh, Idea! by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

      Two great things about using Lawyers for research are:
      1. The researchers don't begin to feel attached to the lawyers.
      2. The SPCA and PETA won't bother you.

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    3. Re:Oooh, Oooh, Idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I could clap with a key board. Consider the plus signs as a clap, during a standing ovation + + + + + + + (ok, this goes on for 30 or so minutes) + + + + + + +

  4. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by toastar · · Score: 0

    Fine, Keep your money. But when the planet gets ready to explode, your grandkids are last in line on the spaceship

  5. ...the 100 mile high club? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Come on, we all want to know how sex in space works. Its probably the simplest experiment that would generate tons of interest.

    1. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Do you have any idea how difficult it is to clean "bodily fluids" out of the air in zero-g?

      Yes, "zero-g sex!" was my immediate reaction to this article as well.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come on, we all want to know how sex in space works.

      Two words: Velcro kneepads

    3. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Do you have any idea how difficult it is to clean "bodily fluids" out of the air in zero-g?

      No. And neither do you, but I bet there's anime that has already solved this problem for us.

    4. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      actually quite easy. all you need is a rapid air turnover in that area with an absorbent air filter. all the floating "goo" will travel to the filter and stick.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    5. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come on, we all want to know how sex in space works. Its probably the simplest experiment that would generate tons of interest.

      already tried :)

      howver it doesn't work really well, since the lack of gravity makes it really difficoult for a man to have an erection

    6. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 1

      Swallow. /problem

      --
      Loading...
    7. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Or your mom. Breathing in and farting at the same time. Nothing ever gets out of that black hole again. /ducks :D

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    8. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by EvilBudMan · · Score: 1

      That has already happened and it works so move on to something that hasn't been done.

    9. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Already been done on a plane like they use for astronaut training I think, but from what I gather it was more like floating together because the motions of sex lead them to drift apart. I'm sure you could make it happen by pinning against a wall but then it'd probably be like on earth except much more awkward. And even if they hadn't, I think this generation has seen too much porn to care about porn in space. At least moviesex in space, if not the real kind.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    10. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      A few loops of elastic would take care of that problem...

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    11. Re:...the 100 mile high club? by King+Coopa · · Score: 1

      It's been a dream of mine to write a new Karma Sutra book based on zero-g. The possibilities are endless!

  6. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Revotron · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Okay, so let's cut all government funding of NASA because you don't want to support "intellectual curiosity". While we're at it, let's cut all government grants to US higher education institutions. After all, that's intellectual curiosity, too!~ And let's stop giving out government-awarded scholarships to promising students. Why the hell should we all pay because they want to learn more, do some research and solve our problems?~ And none of this publicly-funded disease research shit. Let the big pharma corporations handle it, we all know they're open and willing when it comes to sharing their discoveries and creations.~

  7. Case in point by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1, Insightful

    NASA emphasizes the utter uselessness of the ISS by asking people what interesting things can be done with it. This after spending billions of dollars and over a decade of work. This money should have been spent exclusively on robotic probes. There is no compelling case here for manned exploration.

    I know, I know, the "get off this rock" crowd will now inundate us with their magical-religious space adventure cult emotional arguments.

    1. Re:Case in point by toastar · · Score: 1

      as a "get off this rock"'er, personally it's a logical conclusion to come to, The planet has limited resources. the universe, eh not so much. Robots don't do so well when you leave the solar system, Just try doing surgery across the country more or less send commands that will takes years to get there. sending a person just makes more since, granted it will probably have to be a generation ship. manned exploration is pretty important prereq for building a generation ship.

    2. Re:Case in point by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Insightful

      NASA emphasizes the utter uselessness of the ISS by asking people what interesting things can be done with it.

      Yes, and the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is useless as demonstrated by NASA asking people what interesting things could be photographed with it. Manned stations, robotic probes, equally useless!

      P.S. I agree, more robotic probes. But seriously, sending out a call for researchers to propose experiments is not an indication of uselessness.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    3. Re:Case in point by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      With all due respect, "getting off this rock" is a fantasy. Consider this: How much money, time, and resources would it cost to move 10 million people (a miniscule fraction of the earth's population) "off this rock" in a manner that they could survive for 100 years (a miniscule fraction of humanity's longevity up until now)? Put them 1) in earth orbit, 2) on the moon, or 3) on mars. Have them be 1) totally dependent on earth for their consumables and other resources, 2) dependent on earth only for half, and 3) completely self sustained. At the end of the 100 year period they should be completely self-sustained in any scenario you choose.

      Please don't make extensive use of the old "we don't know what super-advanced technology there will be" trick to pretend that at some point it will all be really cheap and easy. Historically, that has never happened. Powerful new industrial technologies have always been expensive, and this particular case will be no exception. Creating large scale habitation is also always expensive in direct proportion to the inhospitability of the environment and its distance from vital resources.

    4. Re:Case in point by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No, not equally useless, one is practical and the other is not. You are creating one of the usual straw men. Assuming for the sake of argument that they can do the same things, manned space flight does it far more slowly (much longer project lead times), far more expensively (need to support delicate human life), and far less ambitiously (anything beyond low earth orbit is beyond prohibitively expensive). Let's see, which one would be a better way to express our penchant for exploration, curiosity, and scientific investigation? It is a no-brainer, pure and simple.

    5. Re:Case in point by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sorry, you said that asking for suggestions on research to be done just emphasizes its uselessness. That's not a strawman, that's what you said. It's not my fault that same logic applies equally to things you like such as MRO or Hubble.

      Let's not assume that manned and unmanned missions can do the same thing, because they can't. Manned missions can't visit Saturn or Mars yet for that matter. And there are plenty of experiments that are much more easily performed with human supervision than without, and with pre-existing infrastructure than without. ISS is already up there, and contains space-shuttle-payload size bays designed exclusively for research. It isn't useless, the space agencies involved are already performing experiments on it. Expanding the number of experiments done is expanding its usefulness, not admitting it isn't useful at all as you claimed.

      Again, we're in agreement that robotic probes are cheaper and better for exploring the solar system and beyond. I disagree with your stance that the ISS is useless. And your statement that asking for research to be conducted on it demonstrates this uselessness is factually and logically wrong.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    6. Re:Case in point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you very much. You have helped me realize the futility of our dreams, and I'm now cutting my wrists after having poisoned my family and pets. Enjoy the extra elbow room for about 3.7 seconds, gravitybitch.

    7. Re:Case in point by tophermeyer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Creating large scale habitation is also always expensive in direct proportion to the inhospitability of the environment and its distance from vital resources.

      Right. So if we never spend the time and money to learn how to make it work right here in LEO with a small population we will never learn how to make it work on a larger scale. New industrial technologies are expensive. For example: Can you imagine how costly the first functional farm tractors were to small time farmers that hoed their few acres with animal power? But do you see how the development and refinement of those technologies have led to wonderful advances in how farms are managed?

    8. Re:Case in point by FSWKU · · Score: 3, Insightful

      With all due respect, "colonizing the New World" is a fantasy. Consider this: How much money, time, and resources would it cost to move 10,000 people (a miniscule fraction of England's population) "to the New World" in a manner that they could survive for 10 years (a miniscule fraction of human life). Put them 1) on a ship, 2) on an island, or 3) on the mainland. Have them 1) be totally dependent on England for equipment, resources and tools, 2) dependent on England for only half, and 3) completely self-sustained. At the end of the 10 year period, they should be completely self-sustained in any scenario you choose.

      Please don't make extensive use of the old "we don't know what advances there will be" trick to pretend that at some point it will all be really cheap and easy. Historically, that has never happened. Larger, more advanced sailing ships have always been expensive, and this particular case will be no exception. Creating large-scale colonies is also always expensive in direct proportion to the inhospitability of the environment and its distance from the resource support of the crown.

      Nobody is saying that it will be cheap or even easy in the remotely near future. But is that really a valid reason to not even make the attempt? You have to start somewhere, and it will NEVER be cheap/routine if we as a society don't start working toward that goal. Along the way, we can use the technological advances derived from such exploration to (hopefully) better life for those here on Earth. Even something unrelated to ship construction or propulsion systems (such as a self-sustaining food/oxygen supply) could be scaled up to benefit people in the more remote regions of the world.

      --
      "So after all this, you make my case for me. To end this stalemate, you must die..."
    9. Re:Case in point by Princeofcups · · Score: 1

      I know, I know, the "get off this rock" crowd will now inundate us with their magical-religious space adventure cult emotional arguments.

      And what is the use of that knowledge to a rock bound species that just sits in its own wastes watching its resources dwindle?

      --
      The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
    10. Re:Case in point by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 1

      The planet has limited resources.

      Says who? The planet may have "limited resources" the way we are using them now but who says there won't be renew-able energy discovered or developed at some point? Why couldn't we find a super-efficient way to harness the energy from the sun to power everything and stop using the "limited resources", for example? I personally believe we have everything here we need. If we make it to another planet and find a way to make it habitable then cool, but we need to focus on finding a way to survive here indefinitely.

      Of course, by the time we have that all figured out the A.I. we will have created will become the top of the food chain and we'll be annihilated in the robot wars, anyways.

      --
      Loading...
    11. Re:Case in point by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Sure, construction of the ISS was flawed & expensive (most likely also largely because of the costly mistake which was the Shuttle and the push to save its face...to make it usefull for something; so "hey, why don't we design a space station around modules meant to be launched by Shuttle?!"); could be done much cheaper via autonomous rendezvouz of modules probably. And that's how few upcoming, certinly in some aspects better (and cheaper) space stations will be built. Better also thanks to ISS, our training ground - we have problems even with toilets...

      OK, you might consider such acitivities a waste even when they will be much cheaper and more refined. But it's not either-or...especially since the budget for ISS was miniscule in comparison with some really wastefull activities. And it helps keep the public attention at NASA, hence perhaps keeping alive unmanned exploration, too. And we have to refine the basics, they will come handy at some point.
      Especially since autonomous probes will have some serious limitations for a long time. Humans also have them of course; but why not combine the two, their strenghts? Does a fleet of robots which are mostly autonomous but occasionally teleoperated by members of small crew orbiting the place really sound so bad?

      In the meantime, if the ISS is mostly complete, why not use it to advance our knowledge in the best possible (call for proposals is about that really) fashion?

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    12. Re:Case in point by sznupi · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it's also a nice bonus of progress? iniaturization have taken its toll and the typical experimental equipment is now somewhat smaller slightly faster than expected, with more place for experiments (there was a story recently about miniature experiment containers for the ISS). Or maybe some better communication with the ISS won't mean overburdening the crew with excessive amount of experiments.

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    13. Re:Case in point by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      However, a manned mission could in fact visit Venus...briefly.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    14. Re:Case in point by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Don't bother. Way too many /.ers have been raised on science fiction bullshit to ever really contemplate the scale involved or the challenges involved (or impracticality of) actual space colonization. It doesn't do any good to point out that it would be MUCH easier to build a sustainable colony at the bottom of the deepest ocean on earth than to build one anywhere out in the black.

      Barring some amazing discoveries, it's pretty unlikely that any other body in our solar system could ever support even a small colony for any length of time without massive imports of resources from earth. It's a nice dream, but a dream is all it will remain. Our course true believers always fire back with the "But what if an big asteroid is heading for earth?" scenario. But unless the asteroid in question is going to reduce earth to dust (and that's a BIG asteroid indeed), it's still going to be a lot easier to survive here than anywhere out there.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    15. Re:Case in point by Nadaka · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is actually quite false.

      Building an air tight pressure vessel capable of supporting an internal pressure 1 atmosphere higher than the outside pressure is a solved problem. Hell, we can even make it inflatable and almost but not quite arbitrary size and shape.

      Building an water tight pressure vessel capable of supporting an internal pressure over a thousand atmospheres less than the outside pressure is a ridiculously hard problem that is almost but not quite solved for a 6ft wide sphere with a skin taking up more than 10% of its diameter. Without revolutionary new materials, that proportion of the thickness of the wall increases dramatically as the size of the space increases and in most cases is not even approaching practical for shapes other than a nearly perfect sphere.

      The big cost in dealing with space colonization is getting raw material from the bottom of our relatively deep gravity well. And that is a problem that can be mitigated by bringing material from the much shallower gravity wells of the moon and asteroids once there is some infrastructure out there.

      However the big costs of colonizing the deep sea will always be the engineering and material required to keep 7 miles of water from finding even the tiniest path to the inside of the vessel.

    16. Re:Case in point by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1

      You do not provide a valid reason for the attempt. You do not "have to start somewhere" to carry out a pointless project. The technological advances will be few and far between. If you want technological advances, fund them directly. Don't make up a pie-in-the-sky fantasy and hope that something randomly useful comes out.

    17. Re:Case in point by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1

      Read the parent. Tell us how you can put 10 million people in space for 100 years. You can't. You would have to invoke the old super-powerful future technology trick repeatedly and on a grand scale. Grow up. This is reality, not Battlestar Galactica.

    18. Re:Case in point by Nadaka · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I did read the parent post. Did you?

      Tell me how you can put 10 million people at the bottom of 7 miles of ocean for a hundred years (and have them not be dead in a fraction of a second).

      That is a much harder problem to solve that building a space station capable of supporting the same population in orbit for a hundred years.

    19. Re:Case in point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Big technological leaps require big monetary investment. We are reaching the limit of what we are able to research in small groups with limited budgets. Just as we reached the limit of what an eccentric man and his personal funds could research. If the will to spend big on big technological advances is not there, humanity will flounder. As much as "getting off this rock" is sci-fi fantasy, it is the ONLY way to ensure the survival of the human species. If we do not get off this rock there is a 100% chance humanity will become extinct.

    20. Re:Case in point by iso-cop · · Score: 1

      So, you would rather that NASA go off and do "whatever" with no input from anyone else?

    21. Re:Case in point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      according to that logic, we should have never gone to the new world, or even left africa for that matter.
      if people like you ran things, we would still be running after antelope with spears and the number one cause of death being mauled by predator

    22. Re:Case in point by lennier · · Score: 1

      With all due respect, "colonizing the New World" is a fantasy.

      That's an excellent analogy since the New World didn't have oxygen, water, plant life, gravity or indigenous lifeforms either.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    23. Re:Case in point by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      Perhaps it's also a nice bonus of progress?

      Certainly. I agree with the other post you made about how the ISS was anything but an ideal project partly due to being saddled with the role of make-work for the Shuttle. Yet we can't go back and fix that (or not build it at all), it is what it is, and it's a unique science platform. It wasn't that long ago that missing modules meant there was little room for science and a lot of the inhabitant's days revolved around operating the station. Now that it's near completion, and technology on the ground has progressed so much (like those Cube Lab things you mentioned), there's both space and motivation to increase the science workload by extending offers to the (scientific) public.

      It's hard to see how this is a bad thing. Heck, sending open calls for research proposals that make use of NASA-operated scientific instruments, which started catching on with Hubble, has become standard practice almost. That the ISS is ready to be used the same way is kinda exciting. Unless nobody actually submits any proposals. I just don't think that's likely.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    24. Re:Case in point by KeensMustard · · Score: 1

      And indeed, the same argument can be made for the plan for a Popsicle Skyscraper and Giant Escalator to Nowhere. Nobody is saying that it will be cheap or even easy to freeze a humungous Cordial Skyscraper in the remotely near future. But is that really a valid reason to not even make the attempt? You have to start somewhere, and it will NEVER be cheap/routine if we as a society don't start working toward that goal. Along the way, we can use the technological advances derived from such engineering challenges to (hopefully) better life for those here on Earth. Even something unrelated to building Escalators that Lead Nowhere or giant popsicle skyscrapers (such as big ass freezers) could be scaled up to benefit people in the more remote, hotter regions of the world.

    25. Re:Case in point by lennier · · Score: 1

      Right. So if we never spend the time and money to learn how to make it work right here in LEO with a small population we will never learn how to make it work on a larger scale. >

      Make what exactly work? Self-sufficient sealed ecologies running on nothing but vacuum, sunlight, radiation and recycled water?

      It seems like it would be a whole lot cheaper to learn to do that right here on earth where we have plenty of all those, plus gravity, plus lots of free rock, plus a huge margin for error if you screw up. All you'd have to do would be build some sealed domes like Biosphere 2. Build them in the Antarctic or Sahara, and if the technology works, build thousands of them. There's your O'Neill Colony right here on Earth. As a bonus spinoff, you get to save the world by creating lots of living space, energy and crops. With not a drop of propellant spilled.

      Or are you assuming some magic LEO resource which will make something very hard achievable in orbit, yet will remain impossible (and not far cheaper) on the Earth's surface?

      I don't see the economics working out in favour of orbit.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    26. Re:Case in point by lennier · · Score: 1

      This observation seems so obvious there must be a formal science-fiction law for this somewhere. But in case there isn't:

      Cull's First Law of Space Colonisation:

      Any conceivable technology capable of making space even marginally self-sustaining is capable of turning Earth into an ecological paradise, for far cheaper.

      So no-one gets to go into space to 'escape the crowded and over-polluted Earth'. We might have outposts in space, but compared to anything reachable out there Earth is already paradise. Those who do go into space will be living on Earth's handouts, knee-deep in zero-gravity sewage and CO2 poisoning and mutant space fungus. Space is Earth's basement. Someone living on a garbage dump in Kolkata is already far resource-richer than Heinlein Base and the entire L5 Federation combined.

      Space Economics 101: You can't breathe vacuum, solar flux or nickel-iron.
      Space Economics 102: It's cheaper to get to Antarctica than Mars, and you get free penguins.
      Space Economics 103: Recycled urine is probably the most valuable resource in space.

      It strikes me that the only possible argument which has justified the dream of self-supporting space colonies being much better places than Earth (instead of, as seems obvious from the above, far worse) is the Ayn Rand philosophy that enforced isolation from society is intrinsically ennobling, and that therefore the political act of breaking away from Earth would be enough to jump-start magic uber-tech capable of turning space into a garden, and space pioneers into instant rugged supermen.

      The experience of the Back to the Land Movement in the 1960s-70s - and of many cults and intentional communities - suggests otherwise. Isolation is just isolation, and its effect is usually negative. I would therefore expect a lunar or L5 colony to be much less efficient at technological innovation than an equivalent Biosphere II type experimental lab on Earth.

      And unless you had complete social isolation, any transmissible disease which threatened Earth would also take out all of the Solar System. But again, if you had space-hab technology, it would be deployed more cheaply first on Earth, and the bio-locks could be closed there just as easily as on Mars or Luna. Even an asteroid strike would be less damaging to Earth than to a space colony.

      I really think the only thing that has kept the O'Neill Habitat dream alive is an anti-social philosophy which, of all people, Open Source and Free Software advocates ought to be able to recognise as false.

      The Earth faces huge ecological and social problems in the short term, and a realistic view of the future suggests that we are going to face and overcome them right here on Earth. That's surely a vision to live for.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    27. Re:Case in point by stiggle · · Score: 1

      Its part of Obama's plans to commercialize space.

      Commercialize manned launchers, commercialize the target for those launches.
      If companies start seeing benefits from experiments conducted on their behalf in the ISS, then they will be willing to put more money into extending its life & getting more people up there - which will hopefully bring more money into the space program.

    28. Re:Case in point by Lex.Luthor99 · · Score: 1

      Thank you very much. You have helped me realize the futility of our dreams, and I'm now cutting my wrists after having poisoned my family and pets. Enjoy the extra elbow room for about 3.7 seconds, gravitybitch.

      Not OUR dreams. YOUR dreams. I also have dreams, like the one where I wake up in giant, beautiful house and realise it's mine. Or the one where I can fly. But I recognise that the corporate good differs from my personal desires, and that accepting that some dreams don't come true is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. But all means, kill yourself because nobody bought you a sweetie when you wanted it.

    29. Re:Case in point by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Pressure is the ONE big problem of colonizing the sea. Colonizing space has *hundreds* of problems, pressure being just one of them (and a minor one at that). The biggest problem of colonizing space is resources. You make the presumption that there are sufficient resources out there to even build an infrastructure in any practical manner, but that's FAR from clear. And even if there were large quantities of water out there somewhere, and it was practical to mine it, and we had a way to convert it efficiently into oxygen; we would still need some pretty revolutionary advances in propulsion technology (and efficiency) just to GET to it.

      If you really want to explore space, your money would be MUCH better invested in developing new propulsion technology down here on earth than in sending up more shuttles and useless ISS missions. Until we have a way to travel a *lot* faster and a *lot* more efficiently, we're just throwing away our money in space.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    30. Re:Case in point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sun will burn out at some point. A large impact may end our existence. A GRB may total us. A shift in orbital behaviour that disrupts
      the environment enough. A super-volcano, ... A lot of things make the assumption false.

      If we stay here, we die here. Fortune favours the bold. Early adopters of change benefit from doing so.

      I say we use the space station for the following:

      A place to experiment on micro-spaceships. Tethers, various sized/shaped solar sails, micro ion
      drives, micro mass launchers.

      A place to experiment on closed loop re-cycling. Find a way to re-use everything we send up.
      Each pound of mass costs a lot to get there, how can we keep it there and reuse it. Even
      if it's just for a mass driver!

      Very large thin film mirrors, from folded films(think protein folding type techniques or
      cellular tissue techniques).

      Energy beaming from some of the micro-space ships(aka energy harvesters) to
      the ISS, to earth...

      Micro-space ships recycling-harvesting space debris.

      George MacDonald

  8. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by icebraining · · Score: 1

    unconstitutional

    [citation needed]

  9. lava lamp by rev_sanchez · · Score: 3, Funny

    I say we send one up there and plug it in and point a webcam at it.

    --
    If you didn't come to party don't bother knocking on my door. Prince '1999'
    1. Re:lava lamp by natehoy · · Score: 0, Troll

      "Can it blend... in Zero G?"

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:lava lamp by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Don't even need the glass container

  10. Cosmic Exploration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LSD. In space.

    1. Re:Cosmic Exploration by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      LSD. In space.

      That's kind of redundant, isn't it?
         

  11. Pull my finger . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    . . . in space?

    It might figure out that missing methane mystery.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  12. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I am in complete agreement. I don't want to be forced to pay for those things. I can pay voluntarily, thus if those institutions want my money, then they shall have to take part in activities that benefit me.

    'Moral good' is no justification for breaking the law, and all of such spending is in violation of the Constitution. States are free to spend as their constituents desire.

  13. You mean to say by countertrolling · · Score: 1

    That they are just now doing what they were supposed to be doing since the beginning?

    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    1. Re:You mean to say by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 1

      In short, yes. Sucks, don't it?

    2. Re:You mean to say by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      Well, I have to grant that they just finished the thing... I think. I suppose the first experiment should be a better toilet and other waste disposal problems. Farming.. And cooking. There are few things more important than good food.

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    3. Re:You mean to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mining common nearby rocks for their aluminium, silicon and oxygen (assuming a moon or mars base, not in LEO of course).

  14. Out of interest by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

    What kind of work is useful to experiment on in microgravity?
    I know there's some material science stuff but what else?

    1. Re:Out of interest by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What kind of work is useful to experiment on in microgravity?

      Don't know how useful it is, but Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki has demonstrated that soap bubbles retain their color in space, answering a scientific question from her daughter.

      Again, how useful this is will depend on the person.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    2. Re:Out of interest by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Haven't they already done all the metal foaming and silicone crystal growth experiments in microgravity? What other materials science experiments are left?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    3. Re:Out of interest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Foaming is nice and all and can produce interesting materials, but at this point in the game it really doesn't seem that useful just yet. When it comes to material science, I think it's much more important right now to do serious work in collecting and utilizing raw material resources in micro-gravity.

      I'd say we bring up some nickel-iron ore aggregate (similar to that which is likely in metal rich asteroids) and experimental packages to try various automated methods of collecting, smelting, refining, and extruding it in microgravity. This is to see if you can make ingots or wire spools that would useful for construction and manufacturing. Subsequent series of experiments would involve testing highly automated processes for working with those forms of processed material in microgravity. These experiments could be mounted on a package external to the habitation modules and the astronauts can do the occasional EVA to make alterations or figure out what kind of wear and tear is to be expected. All of this would be very useful information for the future.

      The sooner we can figure out how to do a lot of (preferably automated) industrial-type mining and manufacturing processes in space, the sooner we'll be able to do a lot more up there without the expensive cost of bringing stuff up from Earth's gravity well.

    4. Re:Out of interest by Dysproxia · · Score: 1

      I'm just amazed they were able to transport the soap bubbles to space intact.

  15. Justifcation for it's existence? by AnonymousClown · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    So, if they're asking for ideas, then that means they never had a plan on what to do with the thing once it was built?

    And in the meantime NASA has been struggling for funding for scientific projects.

    Nice. Taxpayer money at work! Way to go Washington!

    --
    RIP America

    July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

  16. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by countertrolling · · Score: 1

    We'll them on the one with Rosie O'Donnell and send it to the sun.

    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
  17. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Article I, Section I: "All legislative powers herein granted..."

    Nowhere after that statement is Congress granted the authority to do whatever it wishes. Congress is extremely limited in its powers. As James Madison said, "The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."

  18. Suggestions by kenp2002 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sadly since I pissed off 1 to many NASA engineers in the past (blah blah Crusader project by UDLP, blah blah trying making some money... blah blah blah remote mining and processing project... sub orbital meteor mining is a stupid idea...)

    Anyway they'll no likely to talk to me (ever again) so here are my suggestions. Please feel free to run with them:

    1: Sex (Duh. We all want to know.)
    2: Artifical ring construction via centrifical force =

    Take a spinning sphere and launch a tethered satellite while still spinning. from the teathered satellite launch another teather out such that the secondary teather is long enough to have the circumfrence of the satellite's oribital circumfurance. See if you can get it to hook up back to the original satellite to create an artifical ring on which we can construct stuff. (may required 2 satellites at opposite sides.

    3: Behavior of molten metal in low gravity for crystal structure analysis (see if effect is more brittle or harded.)

    4: Better estimate of open space survival time of a human being.

    5: Field test atmosphering re-entry capable space suit for orbital deployment of troops (GETA LL WARHAMMA 40K ON YA!)

    6: Polymer extrusion and blown film line test in low gravity for polymer chain linkage testing.

    7: Smoking in the cargo bay in low-G (Can you blow smoke rings in low-g)

    8: Will a paper airplain with a weight of less then .5 lbs survive re-entry to Earth?

    9: Subspace structural testing to see if spacial structure exists (e.g. test if space itself has an actual shape, e.g. a quantum of space itself (rather then an infinitly divisible continum))

    10: Test if the bullshit in DC is so thick you can really smell it on the ISS.

    Just a few...

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    1. Re:Suggestions by natehoy · · Score: 4, Funny

      centrifical

      teather(ed)

      oribital circumfurance

      atmosphering re-entry

      is more brittle or harded

      paper airplain

      infinitly divisible continum

      The first requirement of submitted proposals to NASA is to do so in English. We all know how well foreign languages (or measurement systems) work out. C'mon, this isn't rocket science! :)

      It does lead me to one important question, however...

      Polymer extrusion and blown film line test in low gravity for polymer chain linkage testing.

      How do you spell "polymer", "extrusion", "gravity", and "linkage" correctly and use them in a coherent-sounding sentence, then get "airplane" wrong? ;)

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:Suggestions by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Will a paper airplain with a weight of less then .5 lbs survive re-entry to Earth?

      Even if it does, good luck finding it. If you put a tracking device on it, it will likely weigh too much for the test.

    3. Re:Suggestions by dunezone · · Score: 1

      The first response to some interesting ideas is to insult the writers English skills?

    4. Re:Suggestions by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Ohhh I like that idea... a REALLY FRICKING HIGH HALO jump...

      I guarantee they can get a few marines with more balls than brains to try that one.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    5. Re:Suggestions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people piss in a jug so they can pour it on their cornflakes every_damned_morning.

    6. Re:Suggestions by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 1

      Well, this discussion shows what has become of slashdot lately. 74 post as I post this, and basically nothing but spelling nazis wanking of to their assumed wit, libertarian numbnuts wanking off to their supreme "knowledge" of the constitution, general numbnuts wanking off to their own lack of vision. That, and a negligible amount of actually interesting posts. We are at a signal to noise ration of about 1:20 to 1:30 here, guys. Way to go, that's probably a new low.

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    7. Re:Suggestions by Tsunayoshi · · Score: 1
      --
      "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live." - Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"
    8. Re:Suggestions by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

      There is a difference between poor English and lazy English. I'm more inclined to be lenient of grammar and flow issues than I am of systemic failure to even begin to care about spelling, especially because I don't know what languages the OP speaks and what their English proficiency is.

      The poster you are replying to has a point in that "The first requirement of submitted proposals to NASA is to do so in English". If the author does not care so much about their ideas to make sure they are spelling words centrifugal or circumference correctly, why should anyone entertain the proposal to study those things?

    9. Re:Suggestions by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Halo would probably work if you were simply jumping from the height of the ISS. The problem is that when you are on the ISS, you are in orbit. You're travelling at 8+km/s horizontally. Shedding that speed is what causes the re-entry heating.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    10. Re:Suggestions by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      .6: Polymer extrusion and blown film line test in low gravity for polymer chain linkage testing.

      Nanotubes too. We need to figure out about lowering the tether from space.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    11. Re:Suggestions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get me a good bottle of moonshine or everclear (I'm gonna need it on impact), and I'll jump from the ISS. As for burning up in the atmosphere, don't worry, all the alcohol will have been consumed by then. There will be no party fouls.

    12. Re:Suggestions by lennier · · Score: 1

      4: Better estimate of open space survival time of a human being.

      I think the ethics board might have something to say about that one...

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    13. Re:Suggestions by kenp2002 · · Score: 1

      lack of coffee. I spit out /. posts in the morning while drinking coffee waiting for the wife to get ready (we car pool) so I write in a hurry. No time for spell check.

      --
      -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    14. Re:Suggestions by kenp2002 · · Score: 1

      I used to work for a company that dealt with additives for (Hod help my spelling) Flurothermalploymers. I did computer matenance on a rehometer that they used to see if they got "shark scales" when extruding basically fishing line. The chemist Ludima was always curious on how when pulling the raw line out what extruding in low-g would do.

      I bet there is more then 1 Dyneon employee that would be interested in those results.

      --
      -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    15. Re:Suggestions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      welcome to the internet, sir.

      Also: writer's

  19. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You probably should read the Constitution more carefully if you think that funding education, research, and national defense are counter the Constitution's purpose.

  20. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'll bet the use of your taxes to pay for public libraries really pisses you off too! You just sit there drinking your tang, typing on your computer and watching your satellite TV, bitching about all the money wasted on the space program...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  21. What is the payload weight of a shuttle? by boneclinkz · · Score: 0

    I would like to see how much weight Dave Tate could bench press aboard the ISS.

    1. Re:What is the payload weight of a shuttle? by natehoy · · Score: 1

      Fully-laden? What do you mean, and African or European Shuttle?

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  22. Whose lab is it anyway? by Chonnawonga · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wait, they want to turn the International Space Station into a national lab? What about all the other countries with a stake in this real estate?

    1. Re:Whose lab is it anyway? by natehoy · · Score: 1

      Same deal as the Russians taking tourists up, I suppose. Many of the support systems are common, but as I understand it each country has some allocated space. The science experiments would probably be subcontracted out to NASA and NASA would do them in its allocated space.

      --
      "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
    2. Re:Whose lab is it anyway? by xOneca · · Score: 1

      I was to say the same! BTW, I like the idea of the lab...

    3. Re:Whose lab is it anyway? by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      That was just so much NASA PR (about the only thing they do well anymore). NASA has always regarded the ISS as their exclusive territory. Remember how pissy they got when the Russians wanted to bring up a tourist (just because they realized it would give the Russians another "first" in space)?

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    4. Re:Whose lab is it anyway? by cynyr · · Score: 1

      Why can't we do what ever we want with our part/time/money put into the station. Also, there may be a condition that this gets shared internationally.

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
  23. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Dishevel · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I am so fine with that. Can we stop paying for the poor too? I just want the Government to give me 3 things. A standing military, infrastructure (Power, Water, Sewage, Transportation and Data), and to protect my ability to Pursue happiness.

    I do not need my government to give me stuff. By the pursuit of happiness, I mean of course things like keeping monopolies from abusing their positions and encouraging real competition in the market place. So I can get rich if I really work at it.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  24. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Dishevel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well it was before the Supreme Court fucked the citizens of the US out of their freedom with a truly horrible interpretation of the commerce clause.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  25. National lab ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The International space station is now a national lab.

  26. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Wow you're a major socialist...

    I only want 3 things.

    1 - to actually own the property I paid for... no your plot of land and your house are not yours, they belong to the feds,state,and city. any one of them can come and take it when they please.

    2 - to actually be free to do what the hell I want as long as I dont hurt others.

    3 - to get the hell off my lawn!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  27. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Does pursuit of happiness include an education? Millions of extremely hard working but uneducated people would suggest that this is the path to being tired and poor, not rich.

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  28. ZERG!! by locopuyo · · Score: 1

    How do the Zerg fly in space?

  29. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by sznupi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If only the world would be so simple...

    "Paying for the poor" helps to keep the place nicer all around, meaning you have more chance at all of "pursuing happiness". BTW, inancing first two things inevitably gives more opportunities for that pursuit to quite small group of people. And as to your ability to pursue happiness...people have shown time and time again that they generally have a hard time at moderation, a hard time not living on the credit of future generations (this graph is especially "inconvenient")

    No, I'm afraid it's not so simple.

    --
    One that hath name thou can not otter
  30. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by CraftyJack · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I should not be forced to pay for the intellectual curiosity of others.

    Actually, it's intellectual incuriosity that I'm tired of paying for.

  31. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I do not need my government to give me stuff."

    Uh.. except apparently for military protection, electricity, clean water, sewage disposal, a ride, and access to information. No stuff there. Well, at least nothing "the poor" would be interested in: you certainly won't have to worry when they come through your windows in the night.

    The US Constitution states that is is our right to pursue happiness, not that the government will help us in our pursuit in any way. (I assume that's the pursuit to which you refer.)

    BTW, when you're rich (and old, and nobody likes you or the way you smell), what will you do then? I know of some hot real estate deals on Mercury, if you're interested.

  32. Weren't these kinds of ideas... by thepainguy · · Score: 1, Troll

    ...supposed to be proposed before the ISS was launched?

    I'm sorry, but I'm a big fan of NASA and I find this whole effort to be ridiculous. The ISS was sold as a tool that would provide all of these critical capabilities and now, all of a sudden, they have to drum up business.

    Sorry, but the ISS has officially become a Solution In Search Of A Problem.

  33. ISS? by h2k1 · · Score: 1

    Am I confused? How an International Space Station becomes a national lab? Isn't it supposed to be International?

    Does anyone can tell how much each country/space agency puts in (costs, investigation output, media coverage, etc.) the ISS?

  34. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by JavaBasedOS · · Score: 1

    But why do you want to get the hell off your lawn? It's such a nice lawn...

  35. Yet another ad hominem attack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Used because there is nothing else for you to argue with.

    1. Re:Yet another ad hominem attack. by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      It's not ad hominem, he pointed out that he's using the fruits of his tax dollars as we speak, so they weren't wasted. The proper counterargument is to argue that the space program didn't really provide these things, probably since they would have come about through private enterprise eventually. I don't actually believe that would have happened by now, but that's pretty much the only way to claim it was "waste" when you are using the fruits of that waste.

  36. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

    Nowhere after that statement is Congress granted the authority to do whatever it wishes.

    Err, huh? Collecting income taxes is already legal under the 16th amendment. And the part you cite talks about *legislative powers*. Nothing in that text limits about how the federal government may spend that tax revenue once it's been collected.

  37. They already have an unused experiment by zogger · · Score: 1

    To be more accurate, mostly unused, and that is recycling of *anything* that needs to be hauled up there. They should be exploring repurposing/reuse of any of that thousand$ a kilo stuff they haul up. All of it, no exceptions. I know they recycle astrowhizz now, but they should be doing it with everything. "Trash runs" back are silly. Space faring people will be recycling everything, so the sooner they develop the tech, the better, and that won't happen until they get a mindset change. There really should be no such thing as "space trash", it should be "temporarily not needed valuable materials which we will need later". Once it is launched, it gets used forever, one way or the other.

      Heck, I am in favor of them leaving the last shuttle up there as well, see if they can keep it running and rebuild it for a real space ship. Not needing to do re-entry and expensive launch anymore, that cuts down on a ton of the maintenance already.

    We do something like this on the farm with older trucks. Once they aren't really road worthy, but still driveable, they just get used exclusively on the farm. The dump truck I use hasn't been road registered for years, but will still crank and run and dump. Why waste a still functioning truck? And when a piece of gear *really* isn't functional anymore, we still scrounge parts and stuff from it to build into something else or reuse it somehow. No waste. If it is steel and cost loot in the past, it is kept and reused somehow, like a little torch and welder action, got another useful trailer. Will=way

        So, why waste a still functioning shuttle spaceship, especially once it is already up there? We have enough old aero-crap sitting in museums, or tech morgues like I like to think of them, plenty to "inspire the next generation of sci-nerd-youths", whereas a space based working environment and functional space ship in orbit is more useful, or has more potential, put it that way.

    They need a mindset change more than anything else to start this experiment. Too many decades of easy money methinks.

  38. Gravitational Constant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The one constant whose accuracy to this day is horribly disappointing really should be easier to measure in microgravity, or not?

  39. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by waimate · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Libraries? Schools? A police force to catch your mugger?

  40. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly you have never read the Constitution.

  41. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by not-my-real-name · · Score: 1

    Wow you're a major socialist...

    I only want 3 things.

    [items 1 and 2 deleted]

    3 - to get the hell off my lawn!

    You want to get off your own lawn? Be my guest.

    --
    un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
  42. Funny how clone53421 won't say anything now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're not saying too much now, are you clone53421, after you've been exposed for being a libellous little scumbag eh? It appears that the truth's out about your signature you used to libel another person here with.

    Despite your stating you obey laws and such, it shows in your signature that You do anything but obey laws, based on your libellous signature.

    What you're getting in return just really only serves you right that you're being exposed for the worthless ne'er do well you are, with a hooker (or shall we say 'dancer', which is only hooker spelt sideways when you come down to it) for your wife.

    The ac exposing your libelling others only has 1 thing wrong. You do have a job. As your 'dancer' wife's pimp.

    Don't worry. I'll be sure to give you job performance feedback the next time she gives me a b.j. for peanuts in the 'private room' at the strip joint, as to her 'job performance'.

  43. Experimental circum-lunar mentos derby. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've got one! It involves mento's, and a certain popular carbonated - and very acidic - beverage.
    Rigorous testing would test trajectory, distance, and possible orbital acceleration or coupling. And eventual return paths - if any.

    Electrical and mechanical effects on the ejecta would need to be scrutinized. And their interaction with other bodies in LEO.

    It would probably be remotely activated, from down here, to ease cleaning problems and expedite the delivery of adequate quantities or detergent and paper towels.

    I'm sure adequate support could be found through a convergence of campus fraternities.

    If that doesn't work, start an urban legend and see if the busters can be interested in it.

    Just. You know - an idea. Just trying to help. Do my part. :)

  44. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by lennier · · Score: 1

    I just want the Government to give me 3 things. A standing military... and to protect my ability to Pursue happiness.

    Good luck getting those two to coexist.

    The purpose of a standing military is 1) to route your tax dollars to defense contractors, and 2) to stop you from doing anything the military-defense complex doesn't want you doing.

    Oh, you thought all those high-tech weapons would only ever be used against brown people in foreign countries, who don't count? And that building a highly armed totalitarian order-giving hierarchy would increase democracy in your country? You didn't want Iraq war graduates using their newfound urban policing skills in your malls and on your sidewalks?

    Sorry, you might have wanted freedom, but you asked for a standing military instead, and that's what you're getting.

    --
    You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
  45. Needs more room/power? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think if there's going to be more research going on, there needs to be more experiment space. Only way to do that is either mount experiments on the main truss (but that has limited slots though a few are open) that can be retrieved by the main robot arm and either retrieved via the main airlock or the sample airlock on the japanese module, or more pressurized modules. NASA already is committing to leaving one of their cargo carrier modules up there permanently, but that's just recycling existing equipment for a one way trip. The only other viable way for modules is delivery via tugs with rendezvous capability (Progress/OTV/ATV, maybe BlockDM, maybe Dragon). Which pretty much narrows it down to a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable module due to size and weight constraints, if you want something capacious. There is the outstanding power issue, since it will be difficult to send up any more solar arrays for the main truss (not stopping you doing something on the russian end, but that isn't such a great idea), which means you are still power limited.

    Power is going to be a big deal in the future. The VASIMR rocket test will chew a lot of power, and if they ever do that electrodynamic tether propulsion experiment, that will chew a lot of power too. I suppose the alternative is to send up a ground facing energy receiver, either a different solar array/ (solar cell or stirling engine reflector dish) or an inflatable rectenna, and send energy from a series of ground based stations via laser or microwave (space solar power system in reverse), but I imagine there are a lot of other satellites that would prefer not getting cooked...

  46. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by lennier · · Score: 1

    1 - to actually own the property I paid for... no your plot of land and your house are not yours, they belong to the feds,state,and city. any one of them can come and take it when they please.

    I think you forgot 'landlord' in there.

    --
    You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
  47. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by Dishevel · · Score: 1

    Police do not seem to do a very good job at protecting people. They are not too bad at catching the criminal that killed you. They are very good at catching a criminal that kills a cop. Protection though is not their strong point. For that what you need is a populace that may or may not at any time be carrying a concealed weapon. That will prevent alot of crime.

    --
    Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
  48. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by sznupi · · Score: 1

    Carrying a weapon (and lack of public police) was the standard for vast majority of human history. And it was a lot less crime then, right?...

    --
    One that hath name thou can not otter
  49. Re:I'd rather keep my money, thanks. by sznupi · · Score: 1

    1 - so...who owns it "originally"? Why the one you bought it from was the "owner"? Who and why decides that?

    2 - who decides what does it mean "not hurting others"? You?

    3 - I'm sorry, you might not want to realize this, but for the two above points, and generally for your comfy standard of living, you need the society (ohhhh, that's already close to the scary word)

    --
    One that hath name thou can not otter
  50. exercise those legal options clone53421, rotflmao by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    clone53241, the pussy bullshit artist, attempting to play 'attorney online' lmao:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1591778&cid=31746938

    So sue him then, pussy. Go for it. I think that once your real name is known to those you libel you'll really be hurting then. Of course, no balls wimps like you are all talk. After all, You're the one talking about "exercising legal options" pussy. Go for it. What an unbelieveable little scumbag weasel and pussy, libeler, and liar that likes to be the "pot calling the kettle black". Lots of talk there clone53421, but no action, and as you said, "actions speak louder than words" big talker wannabe 'internet attorney online' that you are (that likes to libel others no less with malicious intent).

  51. clone show us the /. rule you could not prove ok? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "In case you didn't already know this, changing your IP address to defeat Slashdot's anti-spam mechanism constitutes both fraudulently misrepresenting yourself (A CRIME, as I already told you) and also considered unauthorized access to a computer system (HACKING)." - by clone53421 (1310749) on Monday April 05, @08:25PM (#31743416)

    I'll just quote the person you gave a hard time to over there on that because I am basically wondering the same and would like to see your proof too, thanks:

    Oh, really? Care to show me a legal precedent OR ruling of that being the case, were I switching IP addresses to overcome the "10 posts per 24 hour limit" on AC users? I sign off as APK, so I am NOT "misrepresenting myself" here, in case you hadn't noticed, lol!

    You also stated that YOU are being stalked? clone53421, you did the same to this very guy apk you were was bothering there and its stated from the outset.

    Once more, clone53421 the bullshit artist with "legal options he can exercise" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1591778&cid=31746938 (ahem: *cough* "BULLSHIT" *cough*) doesn't seem too credible, intelligent, and is a stalker of others himself. You are pitifully stupid clone54321, you know that? The very things you said the ac apk was doing to you, you do yourself and worse. Amazing, and you wonder why you are being shamed now like this? You had it coming. Jerks like you are what ruin the internet.

  52. That is not the proper counterpoint. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The proper counterpoint is that it violates the Constitution, plain and simple. Nowhere in the Constitution is Congress granted the authority to pay for such things.