There seems to be some kind of collective ability to predict the future based on linguistics. This guy has been doing it for more than a decade. http://halfpasthuman.com/altaprocess.html
He has some major hits, and I enjoy following him as a hobby, though you could say I'm agnostic on the matter.
If another engine (CH4/LOX f.e.) gets a piggyback on an ion drive to a suitable frozen asteroid just beyond the snow line, fuel can then be made in situ for it. That should provide orders of magnitude more specific thrust to get to lunar orbit or an L5 postion. A solar sail type technology would provide the shade so it does not boil off while approaching. A gas station in our sky. Just my 2 drachmas.
If the case is that ships can reach L5 and the moon for a similar amount of energy expenditure and the landing gear only is a small part of the overall craft mass, then I will readily agree with you as I also appreciate the benefits of working on the Moon's surface. However, what I envision is actually little more than a remotely operated fuel depot in L5, with human visits for maintenance being part of the refuelling. Please see http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1771470&cid=33427356
Shallow gravity well is not as good as no gravity well at all. Mind you, I refer to L5 only for the methane ice fuel depot. You are probably right that the moon is a good place to dump ore to be processed.
To clarify, I mention L5 as an ideal place to park a chunk of methane ice to be used as fuel for future space missions. See my other posts for more details.
Reference links for above post:
WISE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISE_mission Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Methane/ Liquid Oxygen Rocket : http://www.xcor.com/products/engines/5M15_LOX-Methane_rocket_engine.html
ASRG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_Radioisotope_Generator
JAXA solar sail: http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/ikaros.html
These are the off the shelf components. The robotics that will convert the asteroid to fuel will admittedly require some exiting engineering.
Of course this post pretends to ignore that there are probably no pure methane ice/water ice asteroids out there, and even if they did exist the technical capability to convert them to fuel on the spot has not yet been fully realised. Snow line is where water remains solid even in view of the sun, about 2.7 AU. Steam propulsion might also be an idea, as mentioned.
Its better in that it is safer, and zero maintenance . If getting to L5 remains a problem when there is a fuel depot there, there will never be any significant space exploration.
Agreed. Only not a near-Earth, but a body just beyond the "snow-line, say 3 to 7 AU away. An object about to be discovered by WISE. Piggy back a methane/LOX rocket onto a Stirling ion drive, say the ASRG, get to a frozen methane/water ice body under Ion drive power and make in situ fuel in inflatable or sub surface tanks. Blast back to Earth L5 with a JAXA solar sail-like shade deployed towards the Sun to prevent sublimation. In less than a decade we will have a gas station in space, with the reasonable "price at the pump" to fund access to fresh water for our fellow human beings on Earth.
Spin and centre of gravity issues will be dealt with by our greatest minds and a lot of processing power. Note that most components are off the shelf, the cost of such a mission can easily be under 2.3B with two launches a year for a few years to replenish the methane and water supply at L5 and improve the initial design. Refuelling capacity at the top of our gravity well is the Holy Grail of future space exploration. This post marks the publication of my intent to make this happen. End Rant. Contact me if you have similar intent.
The site you refer to doesn't seem to even provide a Tonga service. I also notice they pretend to be a country in themselves when marketing their Casino license service. Regretfully this field also has a lot of "black hats" operating within it, not necessarily these guys, yet the indications are there. When shopping for services like that its always better to look at vendors that operate from a slightly better regulated jurisdiction, like for example Cyprus. Here is an example http://www.internetincorporate.com/ of company formation professionals that are trustworthy. Tread lightly in the murky tax haven shallows.
For a dedicated server go to http://webzilla.com/ they have the best value and the best bandwidth pricing. Ok, English often is not the first language of their support people (I'd say probably its Russian), but they are more than proficient enough in it to get the job done, and they seem to be gurus. For VPS slicehost is probably one of the best choices you can make, I'll agree on that. But for dedicated you can experiment with different configurations here https://www.webzilla.com/order.html/ and if you have a high volume site they will get you a special deal.
It seems that Adult Video Network have outdone themselves as contemporary culture critics... http://business.avn.com/articles/36788.html reads like a Sunday Times supplement, who would have thought?
Slashdot Mirror
There seems to be some kind of collective ability to predict the future based on linguistics. This guy has been doing it for more than a decade. http://halfpasthuman.com/altaprocess.html He has some major hits, and I enjoy following him as a hobby, though you could say I'm agnostic on the matter.
If another engine (CH4/LOX f.e.) gets a piggyback on an ion drive to a suitable frozen asteroid just beyond the snow line, fuel can then be made in situ for it. That should provide orders of magnitude more specific thrust to get to lunar orbit or an L5 postion. A solar sail type technology would provide the shade so it does not boil off while approaching. A gas station in our sky. Just my 2 drachmas.
Wouldn't routerboards be more suited to these kind of extremes? Like Mikrotik or Ubiquity gear?
If the case is that ships can reach L5 and the moon for a similar amount of energy expenditure and the landing gear only is a small part of the overall craft mass, then I will readily agree with you as I also appreciate the benefits of working on the Moon's surface. However, what I envision is actually little more than a remotely operated fuel depot in L5, with human visits for maintenance being part of the refuelling. Please see http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1771470&cid=33427356
Shallow gravity well is not as good as no gravity well at all. Mind you, I refer to L5 only for the methane ice fuel depot. You are probably right that the moon is a good place to dump ore to be processed.
To clarify, I mention L5 as an ideal place to park a chunk of methane ice to be used as fuel for future space missions. See my other posts for more details.
Reference links for above post: WISE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISE_mission Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Methane/ Liquid Oxygen Rocket : http://www.xcor.com/products/engines/5M15_LOX-Methane_rocket_engine.html ASRG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_Radioisotope_Generator JAXA solar sail: http://www.jspec.jaxa.jp/e/activity/ikaros.html These are the off the shelf components. The robotics that will convert the asteroid to fuel will admittedly require some exiting engineering.
Of course this post pretends to ignore that there are probably no pure methane ice/water ice asteroids out there, and even if they did exist the technical capability to convert them to fuel on the spot has not yet been fully realised. Snow line is where water remains solid even in view of the sun, about 2.7 AU. Steam propulsion might also be an idea, as mentioned.
Definitely "cheaper" especially if one goes on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Transport_Network.
Its better in that it is safer, and zero maintenance . If getting to L5 remains a problem when there is a fuel depot there, there will never be any significant space exploration.
Agreed. Only not a near-Earth, but a body just beyond the "snow-line, say 3 to 7 AU away. An object about to be discovered by WISE. Piggy back a methane/LOX rocket onto a Stirling ion drive, say the ASRG, get to a frozen methane/water ice body under Ion drive power and make in situ fuel in inflatable or sub surface tanks. Blast back to Earth L5 with a JAXA solar sail-like shade deployed towards the Sun to prevent sublimation. In less than a decade we will have a gas station in space, with the reasonable "price at the pump" to fund access to fresh water for our fellow human beings on Earth. Spin and centre of gravity issues will be dealt with by our greatest minds and a lot of processing power. Note that most components are off the shelf, the cost of such a mission can easily be under 2.3B with two launches a year for a few years to replenish the methane and water supply at L5 and improve the initial design. Refuelling capacity at the top of our gravity well is the Holy Grail of future space exploration. This post marks the publication of my intent to make this happen. End Rant. Contact me if you have similar intent.
Park it there.
For a balanced view http://business.avn.com/articles/Joone-Points-to-HTML-5-as-Future-of-Web-Content-Delivery-401434.html from the people charged with professionally covering these things. No surprise sensationalism would find its way to /.
The site you refer to doesn't seem to even provide a Tonga service. I also notice they pretend to be a country in themselves when marketing their Casino license service. Regretfully this field also has a lot of "black hats" operating within it, not necessarily these guys, yet the indications are there. When shopping for services like that its always better to look at vendors that operate from a slightly better regulated jurisdiction, like for example Cyprus. Here is an example http://www.internetincorporate.com/ of company formation professionals that are trustworthy. Tread lightly in the murky tax haven shallows.
For a dedicated server go to http://webzilla.com/ they have the best value and the best bandwidth pricing. Ok, English often is not the first language of their support people (I'd say probably its Russian), but they are more than proficient enough in it to get the job done, and they seem to be gurus. For VPS slicehost is probably one of the best choices you can make, I'll agree on that. But for dedicated you can experiment with different configurations here https://www.webzilla.com/order.html/ and if you have a high volume site they will get you a special deal.
It seems that Adult Video Network have outdone themselves as contemporary culture critics... http://business.avn.com/articles/36788.html reads like a Sunday Times supplement, who would have thought?