The biggest technical hurdle to human spaceflight is enabling them to survive the experience. Robots are far more likely, I think, for the next few centuries at least. Of course, some new disruptive technology could change that picture.
There is this website "Rocketpunk" retro future like steampunk (I'm too lazy to find the link) which stated back in 1940s and 1950s it was envisioned there will be lots of people in space to manage weather and communication stations in orbit along with orbiting telescopic platforms that look both at earth and into space. And not only that but all these people will be working on the McGuffinite (the Alfred Hitchcock term) But then along comes NASA that is able to replace all these people with just a few kg of electronics. bye bye McGuffinite.
not really, I was being factious. You do point out some insightful information. Also add that majority of populations live within 200 miles of ocean coastlines (the US Navy pitch), and many of them in cities right on the coastline (a PBS documentary talked about this). And with increasing populations, these people will move to coastal cities!
Going political here but my first impression is some want to squelch philosophy of two Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. These guys are not ex-presidents like everyone else on printed on currency but they were quite instrumental in creating aspects of Constitution and other United States government workings. Unfortunately much of that has been undone in recent past years (you all know what Ben said of security) and along with others who want to replace Alex on the $10 bill with someone else (these people really need to read history before replacing with their current political hero).
Though it seems they are seeking different type than before who were mostly test pilots (know of developmental programs, can deal with high stress emergency situations, cleared for security, used to guvmint bureaucracies). These days much of spaceflight time is transit (constant on orbit and hopefully some time will be long transit time from earth some place in space). There isn't a lot of fast paced dynamic situations i.e. in one week you go from launch to TLI, lunar orbit, land, walk around, take off, lunar orbit, TEI, and high speed re-entry. Of course need to have someone who can stay level-headed in case of serious emergencies in ISS, which are rare (they had a few mishaps on Mir).
Years ago I read in a article where candidates go through final interviews in front of a panel. Much of discussion on various developmental and research programs they worked on. Then someone in panel asks the $10,000 question, "So, why do you want to be an astronaut?" This question typically floors almost all the candidates. But one answered, "Uh, my dad was an astronaut, my grand-dad was an astronaut, it just runs in the family." He was chosen.
I saw the this movie at a movie theatre! It was also when gas was 57 cents a gallon, leaded or unleaded, and Calif houses were less than 100K. Anyway back on topic a friend told me, "You gotta see this movie, the special effects are as good as 2001." Which back then every other space movie was cheesy looking. I also remembered some local store made a few Star Wars shirts (7 total) and were promptly served papers to either stop and destroy the shirts or pay $7million. And then Battlestar Gallactica TV series featuring that guy from Bonanza and all that space age Tektronix test equipment (you know, those O-scopes where all the controls were easy except finding the power on/off was always a challenge).
I find it amusing we are 16% into the 21st century and a lot of people view SW as "something new" which probably there are people seeing this 1977 re-release, "wow I didn't know SW was that OLD!" For me I saw the two sequels on late night TV, I haven't watched any of the pre-re-seq-whatever versions. And probably have no clue what everyone is arguing about.
I guess like most people who didn't RTFA and get right to bitching about Uber and cabs in general, I figured to post this insightful comment by Chris Johnson. Also I could not help but read how one person says he will happily buy a new Tesla and use Uber income to pay for the vehicle (and another falling for the "gig economy?"):
Sure, a bit. Uber's the same thing. It's designed to make maximum use of crazy people and force the others to live up to that standard or be fired.
I'll define 'crazy Uber people' not as 'danger to customers', but 'people who are bringing more value in terms of vehicle, skill and desire to please, than they are getting back in pay and benefits'. So the crazy Uber person is the one who keeps buying a new Lexus or whatever, vacuums their car three times a day and busts their ass to outperform all the other Uber drivers, so they can continue to win out over anybody else seeking to be a driver.
The key factor is that they are giving more than they get back, in the belief that they're cornering some kind of market or buying in to something important.
If you make a business that relies on people like this, you can demolish anybody else because you've worked out how to get voluntary unpaid labor, like the Amazon exec who was said to use her own money to hire subcontractors to do more. As long as there are people who are willing to do that, the market breaks and Amazon/Uber get to do what Wal-Mart did in small towns, break the back of other market participants so they can't break even or continue.
Another way to be a crazy Uber person is to put more depreciation and wear and tear on your car than you can afford to repair (or replace). It's easy to be crazy in these ways. It's externalities which are easy to overlook. These Amazon/Uber business models are designed to leverage that kind of crazy as hard as possible, and kick out everybody who's not willing to lose (one way or another) on the deal. Psychology is useful in getting people to buy into this stuff.
What this thread is missing is "time to call Bruce Willis" comment. OK, blowing up a threatening asteroid is common movie plot and pretty much all are great entertainment (I enjoy watching Armageddon, "I don't care if they are physically perfect, can they survive a space launch?" Physician: "I don't understand how they even survived the tests!").
An ICBM is an impressive weapon. Launch vehicle with huge flame and lots of smoke, screams through the lower atmosphere at incredible high Q. Vaults halfway around the globe, incoming warhead meteors through the atmosphere. And then BOOM, a city reduced to a smoldering flat piece of ash. Now take that same bomb and add more speed to put it into orbit. Hmmm, ain't that easy. Will need to add another stage or modify for longer burn time and reduce mass of final item to put into orbit. Darn it, Tsiolkovsky developed that equation and nobody can figure out how to violate it (it is based on conservation of momentum so lots of luck repealing that). OK let's take that ICBM that is made for orbit insertion to the next level: Getting out of earth orbit. I think this is where it gets really hard as it seems need something of really high ISP. I was reading someplace (I don't quite know how to work the Rocket Eqn so I base this on what I read), need pressure fed booster meaning turbo pump for a LH2/LOX rocket as only that fuel/oxidizer combination has ISP good enough to get something of significant mass beyond earth orbit. So all this talk about firing nukes at a rogue asteroid is bankrupt as the SSTO. But I guess that don't stop people from generating PPTs and sensationalize articles.
Hey, are we due for another pack of asteroid/meteor movies? Perhaps some new creative angles instead of the gimmick like secret USAF spaceplane to the rescue has pretty much worn its course since it was introduced in Marooned.
. Note I fully support the "we stand on the shoulders of giants." And that's the thing, it's stand on their shoulders, not "steal" everything they have with no understanding of it whatsoever.
Sounds like "on the shoulders of giants" meaning not re-invent a software language that already exists but still have to work and study to know how to use it, how to write and implement it, get a good feeling on what works/what doesn't work. It ain't easy learning this stuff (and I sometimes wonder how those "giants" ever figured out this stuff), as opposed to "oh, just copy/paste/download/run-this-stuff and it's real easy and cheap."
I love those hair styles that required many cans of Aqua-Net. Ah yes, how things have changed. I also think of the hardware is solid steel but failure rate of electronics components? Those big components seem like that can take a beating in temperature and humidity swings or did they? I imagine there were not much issues regarding hackers from outside implementing viruses. And also cigarette smoke was everywhere unless they made these clean rooms.
Exactly. US politics is like football. Only two teams, one wins and the other loses. There is no mixing of the two. Also people on the outside have no say in the plays and action. Voters like the spectators see huddles but cannot hear specifics. They can cheer and boo but those actions have little impact on how the game is played.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. It would be better if politicians talk like this on the campaign trail but this explanation doesn't fit in 30 seconds.
It's regulations which as created modern society by reiging in 'the free market' with stability and a measure of fairness to both workers (who create a larger middle class) and businesses.
True. There is no "free" in free markets, more of a marketing lie. The "free market" is where things are owned and controlled. Those that own more have more control over those that have it the least.
I used to carry a pager not too long ago. But in recent years nobody bothered to "call me" on the pager. I think reason is many people don't know what or how it is used. i.e. call my pager number, after hearing a few beeps then key in phone number you want me to call and then I will call you. Is this procedure still taught? Only need a few sentences at most for instructions. But maybe pagers gone way of dial telephones, plop one in front of somebody under 40 and they will have no idea what they are looking at.
It seemed AAAbatterY didn't last very one, since it rarely received calls many times I forget to wear it. When I find after some time, battery is not only dead but leaked. So I have clean out the battery holder, kept doing this several times eventually didn't put a battery into it. Meanwhile the gal came through the office doing property inventory asked if I still use the pager. I had to find it in my junque archive, I turned it in. Last week got the message item has been disposed.
This is false. Of the ~50% of soldiers that actually fire when entering a firefight 85% aim to miss. Robots would be at 100% in both areas.
I think what it really happens is firefights are extremely terrifying and confusing. Bullets flying everywhere, can't tell where the gunfire is coming from. Soldiers returning fire are simply holding their rifle pointed in general direction toward enemy position, holding the trigger until magazine empties. I read someplace (or was it a PBS documentary few years ago) is these days Army and Marine infantry is trained more on responding in "fog of war." Using repetitious drills and exercises, their response are then "body reaction" to better aim/fire response. It was also mentioned about an attack on a squad in Iraq, Marines returned fire killing something like 50 insurgents but no loss of any in the squad.
Slashdot Mirror
The biggest technical hurdle to human spaceflight is enabling them to survive the experience. Robots are far more likely, I think, for the next few centuries at least. Of course, some new disruptive technology could change that picture.
There is this website "Rocketpunk" retro future like steampunk (I'm too lazy to find the link) which stated back in 1940s and 1950s it was envisioned there will be lots of people in space to manage weather and communication stations in orbit along with orbiting telescopic platforms that look both at earth and into space. And not only that but all these people will be working on the McGuffinite (the Alfred Hitchcock term) But then along comes NASA that is able to replace all these people with just a few kg of electronics. bye bye McGuffinite.
You're sort of forgetting all of the others.
not really, I was being factious. You do point out some insightful information. Also add that majority of populations live within 200 miles of ocean coastlines (the US Navy pitch), and many of them in cities right on the coastline (a PBS documentary talked about this). And with increasing populations, these people will move to coastal cities!
Going political here but my first impression is some want to squelch philosophy of two Founding Fathers, Ben Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. These guys are not ex-presidents like everyone else on printed on currency but they were quite instrumental in creating aspects of Constitution and other United States government workings. Unfortunately much of that has been undone in recent past years (you all know what Ben said of security) and along with others who want to replace Alex on the $10 bill with someone else (these people really need to read history before replacing with their current political hero).
nor does he believe a changing climate is necessarily harmful.
it's not harmful unless you live someplace that will get hammered with a Sandy class hurricane more frequently.
Though it seems they are seeking different type than before who were mostly test pilots (know of developmental programs, can deal with high stress emergency situations, cleared for security, used to guvmint bureaucracies). These days much of spaceflight time is transit (constant on orbit and hopefully some time will be long transit time from earth some place in space). There isn't a lot of fast paced dynamic situations i.e. in one week you go from launch to TLI, lunar orbit, land, walk around, take off, lunar orbit, TEI, and high speed re-entry. Of course need to have someone who can stay level-headed in case of serious emergencies in ISS, which are rare (they had a few mishaps on Mir).
Years ago I read in a article where candidates go through final interviews in front of a panel. Much of discussion on various developmental and research programs they worked on. Then someone in panel asks the $10,000 question, "So, why do you want to be an astronaut?" This question typically floors almost all the candidates. But one answered, "Uh, my dad was an astronaut, my grand-dad was an astronaut, it just runs in the family." He was chosen.
You really don't want Bruce to get mad. Don't make Charon mad by removing its Moon status like Pluto lost its Planet status?
If slashdot gets blocked, will productivity in the workplace increase?
typical Home Depot only have at most 100,000 different combinations (most brands have fewer).
only need one: Bolt-cutter.
I saw the this movie at a movie theatre! It was also when gas was 57 cents a gallon, leaded or unleaded, and Calif houses were less than 100K. Anyway back on topic a friend told me, "You gotta see this movie, the special effects are as good as 2001." Which back then every other space movie was cheesy looking. I also remembered some local store made a few Star Wars shirts (7 total) and were promptly served papers to either stop and destroy the shirts or pay $7million. And then Battlestar Gallactica TV series featuring that guy from Bonanza and all that space age Tektronix test equipment (you know, those O-scopes where all the controls were easy except finding the power on/off was always a challenge).
I find it amusing we are 16% into the 21st century and a lot of people view SW as "something new" which probably there are people seeing this 1977 re-release, "wow I didn't know SW was that OLD!" For me I saw the two sequels on late night TV, I haven't watched any of the pre-re-seq-whatever versions. And probably have no clue what everyone is arguing about.
Sure, a bit. Uber's the same thing. It's designed to make maximum use of crazy people and force the others to live up to that standard or be fired.
I'll define 'crazy Uber people' not as 'danger to customers', but 'people who are bringing more value in terms of vehicle, skill and desire to please, than they are getting back in pay and benefits'. So the crazy Uber person is the one who keeps buying a new Lexus or whatever, vacuums their car three times a day and busts their ass to outperform all the other Uber drivers, so they can continue to win out over anybody else seeking to be a driver.
The key factor is that they are giving more than they get back, in the belief that they're cornering some kind of market or buying in to something important.
If you make a business that relies on people like this, you can demolish anybody else because you've worked out how to get voluntary unpaid labor, like the Amazon exec who was said to use her own money to hire subcontractors to do more. As long as there are people who are willing to do that, the market breaks and Amazon/Uber get to do what Wal-Mart did in small towns, break the back of other market participants so they can't break even or continue.
Another way to be a crazy Uber person is to put more depreciation and wear and tear on your car than you can afford to repair (or replace). It's easy to be crazy in these ways. It's externalities which are easy to overlook. These Amazon/Uber business models are designed to leverage that kind of crazy as hard as possible, and kick out everybody who's not willing to lose (one way or another) on the deal. Psychology is useful in getting people to buy into this stuff.
As they say, a cult.
What this thread is missing is "time to call Bruce Willis" comment. OK, blowing up a threatening asteroid is common movie plot and pretty much all are great entertainment (I enjoy watching Armageddon, "I don't care if they are physically perfect, can they survive a space launch?" Physician: "I don't understand how they even survived the tests!").
An ICBM is an impressive weapon. Launch vehicle with huge flame and lots of smoke, screams through the lower atmosphere at incredible high Q. Vaults halfway around the globe, incoming warhead meteors through the atmosphere. And then BOOM, a city reduced to a smoldering flat piece of ash. Now take that same bomb and add more speed to put it into orbit. Hmmm, ain't that easy. Will need to add another stage or modify for longer burn time and reduce mass of final item to put into orbit. Darn it, Tsiolkovsky developed that equation and nobody can figure out how to violate it (it is based on conservation of momentum so lots of luck repealing that). OK let's take that ICBM that is made for orbit insertion to the next level: Getting out of earth orbit. I think this is where it gets really hard as it seems need something of really high ISP. I was reading someplace (I don't quite know how to work the Rocket Eqn so I base this on what I read), need pressure fed booster meaning turbo pump for a LH2/LOX rocket as only that fuel/oxidizer combination has ISP good enough to get something of significant mass beyond earth orbit. So all this talk about firing nukes at a rogue asteroid is bankrupt as the SSTO. But I guess that don't stop people from generating PPTs and sensationalize articles.
Hey, are we due for another pack of asteroid/meteor movies? Perhaps some new creative angles instead of the gimmick like secret USAF spaceplane to the rescue has pretty much worn its course since it was introduced in Marooned.
. Note I fully support the "we stand on the shoulders of giants." And that's the thing, it's stand on their shoulders, not "steal" everything they have with no understanding of it whatsoever.
Sounds like "on the shoulders of giants" meaning not re-invent a software language that already exists but still have to work and study to know how to use it, how to write and implement it, get a good feeling on what works/what doesn't work. It ain't easy learning this stuff (and I sometimes wonder how those "giants" ever figured out this stuff), as opposed to "oh, just copy/paste/download/run-this-stuff and it's real easy and cheap."
Then again, they just want to buy cheap crap off eBay,
There are some cheap VHS machines on ebay, and none of those send emails to China.
American companies seem to not care about security either.
Interesting contrast to the other story about American govts want backdoors to iPhones, all those who searched for ISIS on Google, etc.
Question 4: Are you willing to always train for a mission that will always be 20 years into the future?
I love those hair styles that required many cans of Aqua-Net. Ah yes, how things have changed. I also think of the hardware is solid steel but failure rate of electronics components? Those big components seem like that can take a beating in temperature and humidity swings or did they? I imagine there were not much issues regarding hackers from outside implementing viruses. And also cigarette smoke was everywhere unless they made these clean rooms.
Exactly. US politics is like football. Only two teams, one wins and the other loses. There is no mixing of the two. Also people on the outside have no say in the plays and action. Voters like the spectators see huddles but cannot hear specifics. They can cheer and boo but those actions have little impact on how the game is played.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. It would be better if politicians talk like this on the campaign trail but this explanation doesn't fit in 30 seconds.
Fun Fact: In the 1950's, one of the biggest economic booms in history the top tax rate was 89%.
I heard it was 94% OK, this is what I don't get. Tax rate of 94%? Does this mean if you earn $100, you only take home $6?
It's regulations which as created modern society by reiging in 'the free market' with stability and a measure of fairness to both workers (who create a larger middle class) and businesses.
True. There is no "free" in free markets, more of a marketing lie. The "free market" is where things are owned and controlled. Those that own more have more control over those that have it the least.
Sometimes I break in and shout "you're all faggots!" and listen for the fun!
do they ask "what are YOU doing here anyways?"
I used to carry a pager not too long ago. But in recent years nobody bothered to "call me" on the pager. I think reason is many people don't know what or how it is used. i.e. call my pager number, after hearing a few beeps then key in phone number you want me to call and then I will call you. Is this procedure still taught? Only need a few sentences at most for instructions. But maybe pagers gone way of dial telephones, plop one in front of somebody under 40 and they will have no idea what they are looking at.
It seemed AAAbatterY didn't last very one, since it rarely received calls many times I forget to wear it. When I find after some time, battery is not only dead but leaked. So I have clean out the battery holder, kept doing this several times eventually didn't put a battery into it. Meanwhile the gal came through the office doing property inventory asked if I still use the pager. I had to find it in my junque archive, I turned it in. Last week got the message item has been disposed.
I asked where is the store located? Person whips out the phone and gives me lat/long. No, I want to go there and buy something, not blow it up.
This is false. Of the ~50% of soldiers that actually fire when entering a firefight 85% aim to miss. Robots would be at 100% in both areas.
I think what it really happens is firefights are extremely terrifying and confusing. Bullets flying everywhere, can't tell where the gunfire is coming from. Soldiers returning fire are simply holding their rifle pointed in general direction toward enemy position, holding the trigger until magazine empties. I read someplace (or was it a PBS documentary few years ago) is these days Army and Marine infantry is trained more on responding in "fog of war." Using repetitious drills and exercises, their response are then "body reaction" to better aim/fire response. It was also mentioned about an attack on a squad in Iraq, Marines returned fire killing something like 50 insurgents but no loss of any in the squad.
ouch, got me there.