Lots of people are saying that Cassini uses a nuclear reactor... this is not the case as Cassini actually uses 3 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG). RTGs are different from reactors in that they are much simpler devices which produce electricity directly from the decay of radioactive material, in this case PU-238. Reactors on the other hand produce power from heat generated by a controlled nuclear chain-reaction.
If you are mainly interested in email also look at UUPlus software. Basically their software sets up a POP3 server on your local network that stores and compresses your outgoing mail until you next connect to the satellite. When you do connect it forwards any incoming mail and sends your outgoing mail. They are priced very reasonably and it is definately worth the money you save on SATCOM charges (you can really rack up a big bill fast with Inmarsat). We use this from a ship circumnavigating the world and for a 6 person crew doing unlimited text email it is costing us less than a $1 a day in SATCOM airtime.
According to the Air Force ABL Faq the range of the ABL laser is still classified but in "the hundreds of kilometers". Based on the fact that North Korea is known to have the SA-5 SAM with a listed range of 300KM it appears that the parent could be right in saying that the ABL would need to be within SAM range to shoot down North Korean missiles on boost. However, I suspect that the "hundreds of kilometers" range given by the AF is greater than the range of the SAMs, but those of us without clearances and the need to know just don't know at this point.
Another interesting point the above poster raised in his paper was the effectiveness of ABL against solid-fueled rockets. I don't know enough (and doubt he does) about the ABL's laser and the requirements to rupture the skin of a solid fueled rocket to comment intelligently on this matter. As a guess, I would say that the AF and MDA have a far better idea of what it would take and are designing the ABL accordingly (or at least planning for block upgrades to bring that capability on line in the future).
Contrary to popular belief, the Pentagon does actually give these issues a fair bit of thought.
The ABL system is to be a key part of what is known as Boost Phase missile defense. The idea is that you fly the 747 based ABL system in circles over friendly territoy monitoring a neary balistic missile threat (imagine flying over Japan and watching North Korea). When an enemy ballistic missile is launched, the ABL uses its laser to blow-up the missile while it is climing through the atmosphere (having the advantages of being full of fuel, rising slowly and over enemy territory).
See FAS for details.
Back in November, I took a job I found through the washingtonpost.com. The job was for tech support to executives at a non-profit bio-tech research lab. I started the job on a Monday, on Sunday I was on a private jet flying to Newport, RI to get on a 95-foot sailing yacht about to embark on an around the world research expedition. Since then I have sailed from Newport all the way through the Panama Canal.
In the process I outfitted the boat with 7+ PCs, a VGA matrix switch system, a 42" plasma, a wireless LAN, ran 1000' of cat-5 and 500' of VGA cable in the boat, installed a $30K microscope with built-in webserver, configured several satcom systems and learned the rudiements of sailing and knot tying, all while being filmed by the Discovery Channel.
In two weeks I will be headed to the Galapagos Islands for a week to make sure everything is working before the boat heads across the Pacific.
As much as this has been a dream job, it has (on repeated occasions) nearly cost me my 3-year relationship with the most wonderful woman in the world. I think the hardest thing about a dream job (just as others have noted) is finding a balance with the rest of your life.
You may want to talk to these guys
on
RAID for Zero-G?
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· Score: 5, Informative
I have worked with these guys before and they are a great group. They have a lot of experience building rugged mass-storage solutions for airborne and military applications. In addition, they are a relatively small company, with a lot of engineering capability, so they should be able to give you personal attention and help you work through the various issues involved in this type of system.
I, for one, am glad that previous generations of explorers, such as Columbus, Magellan, Lewis & Clark, etc. did not take this short-sighted point of view. It seems to me that history is full of exploration undertaken before any tangible results were expected. Many of these expeditions bore wildly successful results that were not even imagined before the journey was undertaken. Space is to us today what the oceans were in the 15th century.
According to the article, this test was carried out for the Missile Defense Agency, so even though it was a military test, the ultimate goal is not to kill people but to protect them from ballistic missiles meant to kill them.
What do you see as the appropriate role of government in the world of encryption?
Also what type of influence does the US government have on encryption and security technology? For example, how do you think AES will play in the commercial world? Also, does NSA specifically have a significant impact on commercial security technology (not necessarily in the conspiratorial sense...)?
Here is the description of the ABL system from the FY2002 defense budget (the applicable 2004 budget is not out yet). ABL is part of Missle Defense Agency's Boost Phase Segment.
AIR-BASED BOOST The Airborne Laser (ABL) Block 2008 is an existing project line that will design, build and test an air-based laser weapon system to acquire, track and kill ballistic missiles in their boost phase. This weapon system integrates three major subsystems (Laser, Beam Control and Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (BM/C4I)) into a modified commercial Boeing 747-400F aircraft. It also includes ABL-specific ground support equipment. The ABL program definition and risk reduction contract was awarded to the Boeing/TRW/Lockheed-Martin team in November 1996, to design, fabricate, integrate, and test an ABL aircraft with a laser device providing approximately half the projected power of the production version. This phase culminates in lethality (missile shoot-down) demonstrations against boosting ballistic missile threat-representative targets in CY 2003. Two full power aircraft, one prototype and one production, are to be delivered by FY 2009 as part of an initial operational capability (two full power ABL plus one half power ABL). Procurement of the remaining full power aircraft will be completed by FY 2011.
As a consultant to various defense contractors, I have spent some time studying the issue of 802.11b on warships. It is my understanding that the program on the Howard is just a concept demo and that the CONOPS (Concept of Operations) for WLANS aboard ships has yet to be fully defined. According to Navy officials I have spoken to the key reason WLANS are attractive are that they enable a much larger amount of flexibility than do traditional wired networks. Examples that I have seen include: allowing the viewing of damage control reports and technical manuals in real time on handhelds by those crew responding to a problem and the ability to place portable wireless sensors anywhere they are needed in a short amount of time regardless of existing LAN infrastructure. At no time during my conversations did anyone mention allowing the captain to drive the ship via 802.11b (probably because as the above poster noted that concept is ridiculous).
Another issue is security. Even though the article mentions that the system on the Howard uses 3DES or AES, I have been told that many of the key applications would require the transmission of classified data and thus necessitate the use of a Type-1 NSA approved device, such as Harris's SecNet-11. In addition there are additional security requirements being tested by SPAWAR Systems Centersurrounding emission control (EMCOM). I have been told that any operational system would need to be able to instantly shut down all 802.11 transmitters from a central location when the ship institutes EMCON procedures.
Just some things to consider... In my opinion the article represents amateur, simplistic reporting on a very complex topic (why should this surprise anyone!)
NSA working on secure BlackBerry
on
Secure PDAs
·
· Score: 4, Informative
The press release mentions the potential to work with NSA (although they wrote National Security Administration not Agency) for other applications of this device.
While this is possible, the device would only work for Unclassified applications unless very substatially modified. Also, NSA is already working with RIM to develop a secure BlackBerry for UNCLASS applications.
Can there be any wonder that the prognostications of a group of "true political radicals" on the future of a technology that they had already embraced would not play exactly as they had foreseen? Of course not!
What is amazing that the Net has come as far as quickly as it has. The future is inherently murky, but the freedoms enabled by the Net are just now beginning to impact traditional social and political structures and practices as Katz pointed out. Who knows what the future will bring, but one thing is sure: it will bring changes. This is true of the Internet also, we can only guess at its final impact, but we can and do influence this impact everyday.
Slashdot Mirror
Lots of people are saying that Cassini uses a nuclear reactor... this is not the case as Cassini actually uses 3 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG). RTGs are different from reactors in that they are much simpler devices which produce electricity directly from the decay of radioactive material, in this case PU-238. Reactors on the other hand produce power from heat generated by a controlled nuclear chain-reaction.
If you are mainly interested in email also look at UUPlus software. Basically their software sets up a POP3 server on your local network that stores and compresses your outgoing mail until you next connect to the satellite. When you do connect it forwards any incoming mail and sends your outgoing mail. They are priced very reasonably and it is definately worth the money you save on SATCOM charges (you can really rack up a big bill fast with Inmarsat). We use this from a ship circumnavigating the world and for a 6 person crew doing unlimited text email it is costing us less than a $1 a day in SATCOM airtime.
Hope this is helpful. Good luck.
Another interesting point the above poster raised in his paper was the effectiveness of ABL against solid-fueled rockets. I don't know enough (and doubt he does) about the ABL's laser and the requirements to rupture the skin of a solid fueled rocket to comment intelligently on this matter. As a guess, I would say that the AF and MDA have a far better idea of what it would take and are designing the ABL accordingly (or at least planning for block upgrades to bring that capability on line in the future).
Contrary to popular belief, the Pentagon does actually give these issues a fair bit of thought.
The ABL system is to be a key part of what is known as Boost Phase missile defense. The idea is that you fly the 747 based ABL system in circles over friendly territoy monitoring a neary balistic missile threat (imagine flying over Japan and watching North Korea). When an enemy ballistic missile is launched, the ABL uses its laser to blow-up the missile while it is climing through the atmosphere (having the advantages of being full of fuel, rising slowly and over enemy territory). See FAS for details.
In the process I outfitted the boat with 7+ PCs, a VGA matrix switch system, a 42" plasma, a wireless LAN, ran 1000' of cat-5 and 500' of VGA cable in the boat, installed a $30K microscope with built-in webserver, configured several satcom systems and learned the rudiements of sailing and knot tying, all while being filmed by the Discovery Channel.
In two weeks I will be headed to the Galapagos Islands for a week to make sure everything is working before the boat heads across the Pacific.
As much as this has been a dream job, it has (on repeated occasions) nearly cost me my 3-year relationship with the most wonderful woman in the world. I think the hardest thing about a dream job (just as others have noted) is finding a balance with the rest of your life.
I have worked with these guys before and they are a great group. They have a lot of experience building rugged mass-storage solutions for airborne and military applications. In addition, they are a relatively small company, with a lot of engineering capability, so they should be able to give you personal attention and help you work through the various issues involved in this type of system.
I, for one, am glad that previous generations of explorers, such as Columbus, Magellan, Lewis & Clark, etc. did not take this short-sighted point of view. It seems to me that history is full of exploration undertaken before any tangible results were expected. Many of these expeditions bore wildly successful results that were not even imagined before the journey was undertaken. Space is to us today what the oceans were in the 15th century.
According to the article, this test was carried out for the Missile Defense Agency, so even though it was a military test, the ultimate goal is not to kill people but to protect them from ballistic missiles meant to kill them.
What do you see as the appropriate role of government in the world of encryption? Also what type of influence does the US government have on encryption and security technology? For example, how do you think AES will play in the commercial world? Also, does NSA specifically have a significant impact on commercial security technology (not necessarily in the conspiratorial sense...)?
Here is the description of the ABL system from the FY2002 defense budget (the applicable 2004 budget is not out yet). ABL is part of Missle Defense Agency's Boost Phase Segment.
AIR-BASED BOOST
The Airborne Laser (ABL) Block 2008 is an existing project line that will design, build and test an air-based laser weapon system to acquire, track and kill ballistic missiles in their boost phase. This weapon system integrates three major subsystems (Laser, Beam Control and Battle Management, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (BM/C4I)) into a modified commercial Boeing 747-400F aircraft. It also includes ABL-specific ground support equipment. The ABL program definition and risk reduction contract was awarded to the Boeing/TRW/Lockheed-Martin team in November 1996, to design, fabricate, integrate, and test an ABL aircraft with a laser device providing approximately half the projected power of the production version. This phase culminates in lethality (missile shoot-down) demonstrations against boosting ballistic missile threat-representative targets in CY 2003. Two full power aircraft, one prototype and one production, are to be delivered by FY 2009 as part of an initial operational capability (two full power ABL plus one half power ABL). Procurement of the remaining full power aircraft will be completed by FY 2011.
Another issue is security. Even though the article mentions that the system on the Howard uses 3DES or AES, I have been told that many of the key applications would require the transmission of classified data and thus necessitate the use of a Type-1 NSA approved device, such as Harris's SecNet-11. In addition there are additional security requirements being tested by SPAWAR Systems Centersurrounding emission control (EMCOM). I have been told that any operational system would need to be able to instantly shut down all 802.11 transmitters from a central location when the ship institutes EMCON procedures. Just some things to consider... In my opinion the article represents amateur, simplistic reporting on a very complex topic (why should this surprise anyone!)
The press release mentions the potential to work with NSA (although they wrote National Security Administration not Agency) for other applications of this device. While this is possible, the device would only work for Unclassified applications unless very substatially modified. Also, NSA is already working with RIM to develop a secure BlackBerry for UNCLASS applications.
Can there be any wonder that the prognostications of a group of "true political radicals" on the future of a technology that they had already embraced would not play exactly as they had foreseen? Of course not!
What is amazing that the Net has come as far as quickly as it has. The future is inherently murky, but the freedoms enabled by the Net are just now beginning to impact traditional social and political structures and practices as Katz pointed out. Who knows what the future will bring, but one thing is sure: it will bring changes. This is true of the Internet also, we can only guess at its final impact, but we can and do influence this impact everyday.