Change the eccentricity of the orbit to go into the atmosphere, but not enough to cause it to crash into the planet.
- Ensign, take us into eccentric orbit. Make it so.:-)
I thought about that, but I wasn't sure if you could get far enough into the atmosphere to collect relevant samples - since these possible microbes seem to live in a specific layer. Also, the density of the venusian atmosphere would make this a very tricky proposition. That said, I think this approach can very well be used in one of the preparatory missions, to gather more data before the real deal.
The part in the article about OS X lacking a package management system got me thinking. Since portage (flirting with Gentoo and it's babealicious) is more or less ports-based, supports recompiles (almost demands them, actually) and is all around probably pretty portable, why not get it running on OS X? From where I'm standing, it would help Apple users with system management and it would help Gentoo users with faster/better ports and ebuilds.
AFAIK, it was primarily the pressure that did the Venera probes in, not the heat. And in one case, the plastic (probably not a thermoplastic, but still) lens cap got in the way of the soil sampler so the data sent back was an analysis of something the Soviets had put there in the first place.:-)
But the heat just gives us even more reasons to not (at least not as a first step) land first and try to launch back up. It's much easier to propel the canister(s) from a decent altitude than if you wait until you're in deep. Gravity, pressure and heat all combine to make it unnecessary difficult (and expensive, since all propellants and other resources has to be brought along for the ride) to do launches from the surface.
Or, just get the orbiter there and launch disposable probes into the atmosphere that can analyze the gases as they tumble down through the soup and relay back the results via the orbiter. This could be done as a cheaper and faster precursor to the "bring 'em back alive" mission, to help develop the technology, methodology and focus of the mission.
Insert a probe into the atmosphere (either from the orbiter or as a separate vehicle). This probe could use one or more of several techniques (parachute, winged design (no retro-thrusters at this stage as this may contaminate the samples)) to perform a fairly slow and controlled descent.
The probe fills a small canister with gas (possibly several compartments from different altitudes) and propels it back up into orbit before the pressure and gravity gets too high
Dock the canister with the orbiter and send it back to earth.
Difficult? Damn right. Impossible? Nope. Just keep those pesky imperial units away from the project and you should be set. The probe could continue to send back data to the orbiter as it goes down, but it's probably too much to ask for a soft landing.
Since I have never heard a Gnu speak, I must assume they are all mutes. Therefore the GNU is silent and GNU/Linux is pronounced [li:no-ocks] instead of [all:hail:stallman]. Easy-peasy. Next!
A userload like this brings out a network's weaknesses in full force.
I may sound like a grumpy old bastard, but I remember during Desert Storm when IRC first packed over 400 users in at the same time. And we had bad netsplits and lags back then too...
'course, this was before the Great Renaming and the permanent netsplits, we just had one IRC then and we liked it! Now, where did you young whippersnappers put my cane? I need to go again.
Or how about the more commonly used expression "a handful of people"? Would that equal one moderately sized organ, or what?
I guess that would depend on the size of the organ when the hand grabs it. (boo, hiss!)
(Oh, the art of selective quoting, a finely tuned craft dating back from the dawn of the first writings of man - "In the beginning, there was *will you kids shut up out there, I can't hear myself think!*...now, where was I... Damn.")
Antihydrogen has been made before, but only a handful of atoms at a time.
Now, the Cern particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland, has produced more than 50,000.
Sooo, exactly how many hydrogen atoms are in a handful anyway? My first guess would be in the ballpark of "A hell of a lot more than 50k".
Re:Again: "Perspective"
on
Skydriving
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· Score: 2
It makes a lot more sense to regulate an activity which millions of people participate in every year than one which only a few participate in.
Only one or two people per century actually go out and shoot a president. Maybe that shouldn't be regulated then. At least not until we have dozens a year taking potshots at the Bush.
Hey, maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all...
You're wrong on at least one count - he has a passion for Porsches. One of the alleged reasons he moved Microsoft from Albuquerque to Seattle was the frequent speeding tickets he used to get down there.
And, he just might think playing Monopoly in a 1:1 scale is great fun. Especially when you've got a psychopath sidekick...
No problem. Just smear some grease on a pair of sunglasses and squint a bit. Voila - analog anti-aliasing! Works with any graphics card! Infinite resolution! Unlimited processing power! Cleans your teeth while you sleep! XP!
I should patent this so no one else can abuse the technology...
No, I think it's supposed to be "Porn expands to fill the space available for its storage."
That's so true. I can feel something expanding right now, just thinking about having 320 gigs in a single disk.
Currently, I have 6 disks (3x60, 2x100 and 1x120) in a server, glued together with LVM. It gets warm in there. I would love being able to replace the 60s with a single drive and move them into the backup server (offsite - runs Unison via a 2mbps Breezenet link) instead.
When I was in the Army, I learned to sleep through a full day's barrage (one of our batteries were staffed with 4 15,5mm self-propelled howitzers (Bofors Haubits 77) and our company had three batteries of them) of artillery fire. Once, I was wakened by a Major who wondered if I could please wake up, it was time to go back to barracks. I asked him if we weren't going to fire anything first and he replied that they had been firing all day. I was lying outside the forward command post, like 200 meters from one of the batteries...
Just a few years afterwards, they separated the command posts from the batteries and started moving the batteries after every one to three salvoes.
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- Ensign, take us into eccentric orbit. Make it so. :-)
I thought about that, but I wasn't sure if you could get far enough into the atmosphere to collect relevant samples - since these possible microbes seem to live in a specific layer. Also, the density of the venusian atmosphere would make this a very tricky proposition. That said, I think this approach can very well be used in one of the preparatory missions, to gather more data before the real deal.
No worries, we'll just unleash Uncle "Wesley" Willy on them. ;-)
Just an idea. Discuss amongst yourselves.
But the heat just gives us even more reasons to not (at least not as a first step) land first and try to launch back up. It's much easier to propel the canister(s) from a decent altitude than if you wait until you're in deep. Gravity, pressure and heat all combine to make it unnecessary difficult (and expensive, since all propellants and other resources has to be brought along for the ride) to do launches from the surface.
Or, just get the orbiter there and launch disposable probes into the atmosphere that can analyze the gases as they tumble down through the soup and relay back the results via the orbiter. This could be done as a cheaper and faster precursor to the "bring 'em back alive" mission, to help develop the technology, methodology and focus of the mission.
- Put a vehicle in orbit.
- Insert a probe into the atmosphere (either from the orbiter or as a separate vehicle). This probe could use one or more of several techniques (parachute, winged design (no retro-thrusters at this stage as this may contaminate the samples)) to perform a fairly slow and controlled descent.
- The probe fills a small canister with gas (possibly several compartments from different altitudes) and propels it back up into orbit before the pressure and gravity gets too high
- Dock the canister with the orbiter and send it back to earth.
Difficult? Damn right. Impossible? Nope. Just keep those pesky imperial units away from the project and you should be set. The probe could continue to send back data to the orbiter as it goes down, but it's probably too much to ask for a soft landing.Since I have never heard a Gnu speak, I must assume they are all mutes. Therefore the GNU is silent and GNU/Linux is pronounced [li:no-ocks] instead of [all:hail:stallman]. Easy-peasy. Next!
Of course not, and there should be 398 more of us, too. :-)
I may sound like a grumpy old bastard, but I remember during Desert Storm when IRC first packed over 400 users in at the same time. And we had bad netsplits and lags back then too...
'course, this was before the Great Renaming and the permanent netsplits, we just had one IRC then and we liked it! Now, where did you young whippersnappers put my cane? I need to go again.
I guess that would depend on the size of the organ when the hand grabs it. (boo, hiss!)
(Oh, the art of selective quoting, a finely tuned craft dating back from the dawn of the first writings of man - "In the beginning, there was *will you kids shut up out there, I can't hear myself think!* ...now, where was I... Damn.")
Now, the Cern particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland, has produced more than 50,000.
Sooo, exactly how many hydrogen atoms are in a handful anyway? My first guess would be in the ballpark of "A hell of a lot more than 50k".
Only one or two people per century actually go out and shoot a president. Maybe that shouldn't be regulated then. At least not until we have dozens a year taking potshots at the Bush.
Hey, maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all...
And, he just might think playing Monopoly in a 1:1 scale is great fun. Especially when you've got a psychopath sidekick...
I thought the headline said Handling Evil Overlord in Congress and figured they finally found a way to get at Bill... Scary.
That's true. But you just replied once - that's cheating!
I always try to snort stealthily, lest someone would walk in on my little 'habit'. ;-)
Hey, at least this is not another repost.
Hey, at least this is not another repost.
He probably downloaded JPEGs of the cover and OCRd copies of the lyrics/liner notes too. :-)
Let's see, the geosynchronous communications satellite, detox gel and... No I give up, what's number three? An anti-gravity toupee?
That's not a moon, that's the mothership! Mama, come and get me! I'm ready!
I have it as ring signal on my cellphone. It's interesting to see who recognizes it (not many do).
No problem. Just smear some grease on a pair of sunglasses and squint a bit. Voila - analog anti-aliasing! Works with any graphics card! Infinite resolution! Unlimited processing power! Cleans your teeth while you sleep! XP!
I should patent this so no one else can abuse the technology...
That's so true. I can feel something expanding right now, just thinking about having 320 gigs in a single disk.
Currently, I have 6 disks (3x60, 2x100 and 1x120) in a server, glued together with LVM. It gets warm in there. I would love being able to replace the 60s with a single drive and move them into the backup server (offsite - runs Unison via a 2mbps Breezenet link) instead.
Just a few years afterwards, they separated the command posts from the batteries and started moving the batteries after every one to three salvoes.
I can't believe I actually watched it count down from 300000.0 to 299999.9 seconds... I need a life. Can I get one on eBay?