Keep in mind that New Horizons will arrive close to Pluto in 2015 and it's he fastest probe ever, it will likely reach much further distances than Voyager while still operative, so I am optimistic after all.
Tyson has a "big government spending" ideal of doing space exploration. While that could be one way to do it, it is simply too dependent on politics and public opinion, and it won't work.
Very unfortunately, that's impossible. There isn't enough Plutonium left for all those probes, and the politics are not in favour of investing in nuclear power plants that can produce it.
That problem is more theoretical than practical. Back in the day I was doing videoconferencing H.263/SIP and all that stuff with PPP over SSH and I had no problem at all. And it works when there is a very strict (and stupid) firewall setting that does not allow but port 80 TCP destinations like at my University in the late 90's. Just one open TCP port and you have a full VPN that works well; other VPN systems were not quite as easy to put together.
Unfortunately I think it's the legal department fault. If you ask the SpaceX photographers, they will tell you how much footage and wonderful pictures they take; but the legal department only allows a tiny faction of that to be published. Take the video they released several weeks ago about the SuperDraco engines: they shoot multiple angles full HD video, but the legal had them crop and cut so that none of the equipment could be seen at all, making it quite lame. I guess it has to do with the fact SpaceX decided not to patent anything of their technologies so they must mantain them secret.
I wonder what the memories of the staff that saw those explosions "live" are. It must have been a magnificent show. The best of the human intellect to unleash the most destructive rage of destruction.
Sometimes I think if pedophiles will be accepted by society and people will remember this time as persecuting them. So I would not judge the laws and the people of that time. Things change, what was once common (ancient Greece) becomes unlawful and then becomes normal again.
I still think it's a good thing to have finally ended the Shuttle program. Sometimes you have to break with the past to get to the next level. The Shuttle has a miserable safety record, was too expensive, etc.
The original plans even claimed there would be 50 launches a year. Seeing how things had gone, they should have retired the space Shuttle in the mid 90s.
They already answered to the suborbital flights part.
Regarding orbit, “If there were people sitting in the Dragon capsule today, they would have had a very nice ride,”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/science/space/09rocket.html
The main reason they do not fly humans on Dragon (yet) is because it still lacks an escape system (that the Shuttle never had, and would have probably saved the Challenger crew).
"Musk: Well actually if our safety threshold was equal to that of the Shuttle, then we could do that this year. In fact the Dragon spacecraft that we flew in December, if we had put someone in there with a seat, they would have had a fine journey. However we think that there needs to be an additional level of safety which is that there should be a launch escape system which the Shuttle does not have. And so that launch escape system will take us a few years to develop and verify all the functionality and so that's why we're expecting our first astronaut flight in about a few years."
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/07/08/pm-elon-musk-on-the-future-of-space-travel-and-exploration/
Apparently they are so ahead of schedule that they will be berthing the Dragon Capsule to the ISS this December instead of waiting for another year as originally planned. Of course the road is still long but I'll make sure to be near Vandemberg to witness the launch of Falcon Heavy, double the payload of the Shuttle and a tenth of the cost.
As for the "third world countries" where you think they will be building their stuff:
"[E. Musk] also outlines why he believes American innovation will trump countries like China in space –even though that country has the fastest growing economy in the world and lower labor rates than the US"
http://www.universetoday.com/85409/elon-musk-why-the-us-can-beat-china/
Now that the Shuttle is gone, it will be possible to focus on much better ways to send humans to space. If we really wanted, there are American companies that could send humans in space, with Dragon or Atlas, at the same level of risk of the Shuttle. It's only a matter of certifications, after all. I think that the Russians are *very* nervous.
Slashdot Mirror
Always the pessimistic side!!! ;)
Keep in mind that New Horizons will arrive close to Pluto in 2015 and it's he fastest probe ever, it will likely reach much further distances than Voyager while still operative, so I am optimistic after all.
Tyson has a "big government spending" ideal of doing space exploration. While that could be one way to do it, it is simply too dependent on politics and public opinion, and it won't work.
Very unfortunately, that's impossible. There isn't enough Plutonium left for all those probes, and the politics are not in favour of investing in nuclear power plants that can produce it.
Jesus fighting the Romans??? ...
That problem is more theoretical than practical. Back in the day I was doing videoconferencing H.263/SIP and all that stuff with PPP over SSH and I had no problem at all. And it works when there is a very strict (and stupid) firewall setting that does not allow but port 80 TCP destinations like at my University in the late 90's. Just one open TCP port and you have a full VPN that works well; other VPN systems were not quite as easy to put together.
But a PPP over SSH gives you a complete VPN, not only a bunch or redirected ports.
During takeoff, for whatever reason, I seldom fall asleep. Landing instead is almost erotic to me.
Think about this: which would you rather fly, a government owned airline or Southwest?
Unfortunately I think it's the legal department fault. If you ask the SpaceX photographers, they will tell you how much footage and wonderful pictures they take; but the legal department only allows a tiny faction of that to be published. Take the video they released several weeks ago about the SuperDraco engines: they shoot multiple angles full HD video, but the legal had them crop and cut so that none of the equipment could be seen at all, making it quite lame. I guess it has to do with the fact SpaceX decided not to patent anything of their technologies so they must mantain them secret.
They should buy Hollywood!
For no good reason? Oppenheimer did NOT want to build the H-bomb! What was he thinking?
I wonder what the memories of the staff that saw those explosions "live" are. It must have been a magnificent show. The best of the human intellect to unleash the most destructive rage of destruction.
Sometimes I think if pedophiles will be accepted by society and people will remember this time as persecuting them. So I would not judge the laws and the people of that time. Things change, what was once common (ancient Greece) becomes unlawful and then becomes normal again.
Only two words: Falcon Heavy. It's being assembled and will hopefully launch by the end of the year. Twice the payload of the Shuttle.
Apparently they specified mass, not weight :)
Have you read the actual job application? "Distant and near visual acuity: Must be correctable to 20/20, each eye"
Has Facebook any physical presence in Hamburg?
Seriously, it was fantastic in its day, but that day was 20+ years ago and a different era. Things have moved on- let it go.
Yeah sure, now we have Gnome 3 and Unity.
You are right, data storage is overrated. Things should be put in the "cloud"...
I still think it's a good thing to have finally ended the Shuttle program. Sometimes you have to break with the past to get to the next level. The Shuttle has a miserable safety record, was too expensive, etc. The original plans even claimed there would be 50 launches a year. Seeing how things had gone, they should have retired the space Shuttle in the mid 90s.
They already answered to the suborbital flights part. Regarding orbit, “If there were people sitting in the Dragon capsule today, they would have had a very nice ride,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/science/space/09rocket.html The main reason they do not fly humans on Dragon (yet) is because it still lacks an escape system (that the Shuttle never had, and would have probably saved the Challenger crew). "Musk: Well actually if our safety threshold was equal to that of the Shuttle, then we could do that this year. In fact the Dragon spacecraft that we flew in December, if we had put someone in there with a seat, they would have had a fine journey. However we think that there needs to be an additional level of safety which is that there should be a launch escape system which the Shuttle does not have. And so that launch escape system will take us a few years to develop and verify all the functionality and so that's why we're expecting our first astronaut flight in about a few years." http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/07/08/pm-elon-musk-on-the-future-of-space-travel-and-exploration/ Apparently they are so ahead of schedule that they will be berthing the Dragon Capsule to the ISS this December instead of waiting for another year as originally planned. Of course the road is still long but I'll make sure to be near Vandemberg to witness the launch of Falcon Heavy, double the payload of the Shuttle and a tenth of the cost. As for the "third world countries" where you think they will be building their stuff: "[E. Musk] also outlines why he believes American innovation will trump countries like China in space –even though that country has the fastest growing economy in the world and lower labor rates than the US" http://www.universetoday.com/85409/elon-musk-why-the-us-can-beat-china/
Do you really feel *that* unsafe when you take a Southwest flight?
Now that the Shuttle is gone, it will be possible to focus on much better ways to send humans to space. If we really wanted, there are American companies that could send humans in space, with Dragon or Atlas, at the same level of risk of the Shuttle. It's only a matter of certifications, after all. I think that the Russians are *very* nervous.
Me too, I would actually take pictures of people taking pictures.