I found it very difficult to compare the alienware I bought to a Macbook. It offers very little information about the exact chip, it tells you the number of cores and frequency but it lacks an actual model number to do a good comparison. I'm not saying they aren't of high quality or worth the money I'm just saying they make it hard to compare them to their competition.
Well having computers to help design stuff helps. The F-117 was limited by the number of faces the computer at the time could simulate. If CAD had been around during the design of the Shuttle they could have put diagnostics into the engines and wouldn't have had to rebuild them every three flights. The shuttle computer was so bad by today's standards that they couldn't fit all of the software on a single drive. The had separate modules from takeoff, orbit, and landing so that when they got into orbit and when they were ready to descend the astronauts had to hit a button that would shut the computer off, change the drive it was reading, and reboot.
Oh and we still have no idea how to simulate rocket plumes effectively.
Did we have money waste on the moon the first time? It cost about half a trillion dollars (in today's money) and I want to say the estimated return was 13:1, but that's from memory and could be very wrong. Regardless the space race spurred the semiconductor industry and had many other spinoffs, today the Merlin engine that SpaceX makes is based on the J-2 used in the Saturn rockets.
We don't know what we'll get, we don't know what we'll learn
It's basic research that might pave the way for inventions we can't possibly imagine. I'm not saying we should spend $1 Trillion tomorrow, I'm not on the committee, I can't tell you what the right move is. But spending $50 billion every year, with awards to companies for accomplishing certain goals, for the foreseeable future could very well be an investment in future industries. $50 billion would more than double NASA's budget and personally I think they should get much more.
If something is easy, it isn't worth doing. I think this is worth it (if done right) simply because we can. Doing things just because we can is worthwhile because we'll learn something from it. Exploring the unknown is fantastic because we don't know what we'll get, worst case we'll learn how not to do it. We can't even fathom the best case outcome. Children derive so much joy from learning and experiencing new things, where does that creative magic go as people age?
I really like the entire irony of Episode III, he spends the whole movie trying to stop something that only happens because he's trying to stop it. Makes the movie hard to watch a second time, you want to just tell Anakin why he's having the visions. Well that and you want to beat up Lucas for not hiring a science adviser. Seriously, the space fights would look so much cooler if the orbital mechanics were even somewhat realistic, also large ships should never be in atmosphere (something the Halo books get right that Reach completely screwed up)
What should have been changed in the first two was more lead up to where Episode I drops in, a half hour of movie before it and the plot would make much more sense
I'm going to start college next year as an aero major (not sure where yet) and to back you up I know that to get my dream job (SpaceX) I need hands on experience. That means I'll be spending a lot of time working on the Formula SAE or some similar team. I'll take the debt load willingly (although it won't be as bad as some, I'll get quite a bit of financial aid) because I know it's a unique experience that I want to take advantage of and pulling a high GPA while doing research and/or an engineering competition will take far too much time for me to work a full time job.
This is what makes me what to become an aerospace engineer. There is so much to explore humanity needs to get off this planet and go. If for no reason other than the joy of exploration and learning.
I thought muslims were supposed to be evil? I heard they all cheered on 9/11 because they all want America destroyed. They basically aren't people right?
Compulsory voting? That's a terrible idea, it encourages people that aren't informed, and wouldn't go if they didn't have to, to vote. Voting isn't a good thing. Informed voting is. I read a post on/. that I think is a great idea, party affiliation shouldn't be indicated on the ballot.
I think one of the problems is the false dichotomy created. People either want a balanced budget or its not good enough so just spend more. We need politicians that are willing to make long term solutions. If we cut the federal budget in half it would create more problems than it solves. We need some engineers in Congress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKuXgzXt5U
When I went to RPI for the medalist open house and one of the talks was a Q&A with a professor. He turned out to be an aero professor (which will be my major) and somebody asked about research opportunities. He gave a full answer but also mentioned that he is working with NASA on a landing system 2 or 3 generations out that would be capable of putting 60-80 tons on Mars. So they're working on it, and hopefully I am too if I end up going to RPI.
Slashdot Mirror
I wish I had mod points, this was basically the exact thought I had when I read GP's comment.
I found it very difficult to compare the alienware I bought to a Macbook. It offers very little information about the exact chip, it tells you the number of cores and frequency but it lacks an actual model number to do a good comparison. I'm not saying they aren't of high quality or worth the money I'm just saying they make it hard to compare them to their competition.
Well having computers to help design stuff helps. The F-117 was limited by the number of faces the computer at the time could simulate. If CAD had been around during the design of the Shuttle they could have put diagnostics into the engines and wouldn't have had to rebuild them every three flights. The shuttle computer was so bad by today's standards that they couldn't fit all of the software on a single drive. The had separate modules from takeoff, orbit, and landing so that when they got into orbit and when they were ready to descend the astronauts had to hit a button that would shut the computer off, change the drive it was reading, and reboot.
Oh and we still have no idea how to simulate rocket plumes effectively.
Did we have money waste on the moon the first time? It cost about half a trillion dollars (in today's money) and I want to say the estimated return was 13:1, but that's from memory and could be very wrong. Regardless the space race spurred the semiconductor industry and had many other spinoffs, today the Merlin engine that SpaceX makes is based on the J-2 used in the Saturn rockets.
We don't know what we'll get, we don't know what we'll learn
Why not stop fighting all our wars and do both?
It's basic research that might pave the way for inventions we can't possibly imagine. I'm not saying we should spend $1 Trillion tomorrow, I'm not on the committee, I can't tell you what the right move is. But spending $50 billion every year, with awards to companies for accomplishing certain goals, for the foreseeable future could very well be an investment in future industries. $50 billion would more than double NASA's budget and personally I think they should get much more.
If something is easy, it isn't worth doing. I think this is worth it (if done right) simply because we can. Doing things just because we can is worthwhile because we'll learn something from it. Exploring the unknown is fantastic because we don't know what we'll get, worst case we'll learn how not to do it. We can't even fathom the best case outcome. Children derive so much joy from learning and experiencing new things, where does that creative magic go as people age?
I really like the entire irony of Episode III, he spends the whole movie trying to stop something that only happens because he's trying to stop it. Makes the movie hard to watch a second time, you want to just tell Anakin why he's having the visions. Well that and you want to beat up Lucas for not hiring a science adviser. Seriously, the space fights would look so much cooler if the orbital mechanics were even somewhat realistic, also large ships should never be in atmosphere (something the Halo books get right that Reach completely screwed up)
What should have been changed in the first two was more lead up to where Episode I drops in, a half hour of movie before it and the plot would make much more sense
I think within the story Vader really did kill Anakin. The emotional turmoil in Episode III is immense, Anakin really does die.
And when GM started it didn't have a million franchises either. You're an idiot.
I'm going to start college next year as an aero major (not sure where yet) and to back you up I know that to get my dream job (SpaceX) I need hands on experience. That means I'll be spending a lot of time working on the Formula SAE or some similar team. I'll take the debt load willingly (although it won't be as bad as some, I'll get quite a bit of financial aid) because I know it's a unique experience that I want to take advantage of and pulling a high GPA while doing research and/or an engineering competition will take far too much time for me to work a full time job.
This is what makes me what to become an aerospace engineer. There is so much to explore humanity needs to get off this planet and go. If for no reason other than the joy of exploration and learning.
Maybe as the surface area that's being pushed away decreases over time thereby decreasing the total force exerted such that it spirals inward slowly.
http://xkcd.com/852/
Really? A US ton is 2000 pounds. A pound is a measure of weight.
But only the advocate of taking down a site is heard. That takes away due process because you have no chance to defend yourself
Please mod this up, I would if I hadn't already posted.
The NYC subway system handles twice as many daily passengers as the TSA and has figured out how to do it safely without disrupting travel.
I thought muslims were supposed to be evil? I heard they all cheered on 9/11 because they all want America destroyed. They basically aren't people right?
Compulsory voting? That's a terrible idea, it encourages people that aren't informed, and wouldn't go if they didn't have to, to vote. Voting isn't a good thing. Informed voting is. I read a post on /. that I think is a great idea, party affiliation shouldn't be indicated on the ballot.
I thought the star density is the same in and out of arms but there is more reflective gas in the arms?
Would a rocket with fluorine and francium (the element in the bottom left hand corner) have a higher specific impulse?
I think one of the problems is the false dichotomy created. People either want a balanced budget or its not good enough so just spend more. We need politicians that are willing to make long term solutions. If we cut the federal budget in half it would create more problems than it solves. We need some engineers in Congress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKuXgzXt5U
That link didn't give any mass ranges for that to work. Any large object would need an absolutely massive cone.
When I went to RPI for the medalist open house and one of the talks was a Q&A with a professor. He turned out to be an aero professor (which will be my major) and somebody asked about research opportunities. He gave a full answer but also mentioned that he is working with NASA on a landing system 2 or 3 generations out that would be capable of putting 60-80 tons on Mars. So they're working on it, and hopefully I am too if I end up going to RPI.