Do things that make sense: Fly Delta, Atlas, Ariane, Soyuz and Proton. Fly SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon capsules when ready. Continue Shuttle until ISS is assembly complete, increase international cooperation and involvement on both inter-govt and corporate levels. Remember that there are things that only the USA and Russia can do together in space. Reduce the Orion capsule to a COTS-level program, cancel Ares I and Ares V as redundant. Support long-duration Centaur mods that will create a mesh of space-tugs and modular fuel storage on-orbit. Fly on existing rockets-with-stuff-on-top. It works.
Encourage NASA toward doing what it does best: deep space missions. Leave the LEO segment to the private sector and blaze new trails for us.
None of the proposed Lunar payloads are much larger than current rockets can launch. The heavy part is the propellant needed for TLI and TLI, that can be flown on whatever is cheapest and available. The proposed but unbuilt EDS and Artemis moon lander are only marginally heavier than Delta IV can currently lift (about 20-30t each, empty). There is no need for a 110-ton booster that is going to take 20 years to field to do these things - NASA could fly Delta and Atlas, etc, today.
Dr. Marburger outlined Bush's Vision for Space Exploration as "Expand the human economic sphere into the inner solar human" not as a jobs program for a maybe moon base and someday HLV.
NASA and the government should help in creating the opportunities to open a new frontier. We need a first generation of pioneers.
SpaceX pwns Slashdot - there is cultural convergence involved since Elon founded PayPal and is young and geeky. On top of that he is the furthest along in fielding crew-capable private orbital spacelift. Much further than Virgin/Scaled, BlueOrigin or others. In some ways, SpaceX is further toward native crew-launch than Lockheed, Boeing or United Space Alliance (Post-Shuttle) - mostly because Dragon and Falcon 9 are coming along much faster than Orion/Constellation on much, much less money.
There is a certain amount of cred Elon gets from putting his money where his mouth is. He is on-record as saying he wants to make it possible for ordinary people to be able to go to Mars.
Fly the ISS, Moon and Mars payloads on Delta, Atlas, Falcon, SeaLaunch, Proton, Soyuz. NASA should build/contract the deep-space components and fly on existing rockets.
No proposed Lunar payload is heavier than Delta IV-Heavy can launch, assuming a dry payload fueled in orbit. Heavy lift is only needed if the requirement is to fly a packed, fully-fueled vehicle from the ground and we'll still need to do orbital propellant-transfer and assembly for Mars.
sorry - when I said raw power i definitely was not thinking power lifting - I was thinking more cycling and martial arts. Very different needs. How fast & accurately you can hit the other guy is at least as much about breathing as muscle strength.
For both MA and cycling there is a balance between strength and flexibility that has to be maintained.
static stretching is not for warming up before athletic performance - it is for increasing flexibility. Of course it would result in weaker muscle output - the goal of that kind of stretch is to slightly pull the muscle - similar in effect to muscle-tearing during a heavy weights workout - the torn/stretched muscle then should be given the opportunity to heal in it's new configuration.
Again, it's not supposed to generate more muscle power.
To properly warm up for a game or athletic performance, you want to stretch some but mostly do repetitive movement. Start small and build up to wider movements. Also for raw power, don't discount heart rate and oxygen uptake - being "up to speed" on heart is in many situations more important than warm muscles.
according to that page the solar panels on my roof have already recouped their energy cost from manufacturing - in just about 2 years of operation going with their ~750kwh number. Barring accident they should produce power for the next 20+ years.
Portable panels are made using a similar process (the roof-top models are much thicker) but will only be occasionally charging devices. Not sure on carbon footprint of them. Best portable chargers i've seen: built into a backpack and in a jacket collar. They'll get beat up quicker than a fold-out charger but are much more convenient.
Is the IRV somewhat derived from AMRV and the DC-Y design?
It seems very smart to be focusing on next-generation reentry design and engineering instead of reusability. Interesting viewgraph for now - but ESA did successfully test the ARD inflatable.
It's called DLNA interface. It exists, the samsung i8510 has it - it can transmit video onto any compatible display device. Or if your phone has video-out like the N95 or i8510 you could plug into something like the MyVu headmounted display. It's already here.
especially stupid considering Symbian S60 makes up well over half of the smartphone market worldwide - 64% last time I checked. Not that you'll notice this if you live in the States, land of Blackberry and iPhone, but it dominates the EMEA and APAC markets - I've been using several S60 phones from Samsung and Nokia for a few months for testing and they frankly blow everything else away in terms of usability (holy crap it's a PHONE FIRST), interface design (clean and extensible) and as convergence devices.
One problem with a Firefox browser for S60 is that it's playing catch-up to the likes of Skyfire and the integrated browser. It would be nice to see Firefox on smartphones though.
you so obviously have not followed the development of China's manned spaceflight program and the Shen Zhou spacecraft.
"After China and Russia signed a space cooperation agreement in 1996, the two countries carried out very fruitful cooperation in docking system installations, model spaceships, flight control, and means of life support and other areas of manned space flight. Russia's experience in space technology development was and is of momentous significance as enlightenment to China."
As direct visual evidence, the Shen Zhou mold line is identical to Soyuz, uses APAS-89 and the spacesuits the crew wear are thread-for-thread copies of Russian "Sokol" suits. Even the toilet is in the same location. Shen Zhou uses modern, native systems and has advanced abilities (like leaving the OM on-orbit) but is definitely based on Soyuz.
The implication is not that China lacks indigenous spaceflight but that they are smart enough to partner with organizations that bring technology to them.
They must be talking about leaving the Hab/Orbital module on orbit for SZ7. Since ShenZhou is a modernized Soyuz, it's fairly simple. The pressurized top module has independent RCS thrusters and is designed to act as a satellite after detaching from the descent module. The previous SZ flights have included experiments and observation packages that continued long after crew return - this is a logical extension of that concept. The article refers to SZ7 as a "target vehicle" - guarantee that is referring only to the orbital module.
IIRC, the Chinese were shopping around a "long node" station design a decade ago - this is the operational version of those viewgraphs.
Unless they plan to dock the orbital modules in sequence, one of the vehicles must include a Node - my guess is SZ8 but it could be 9, these are both uncrewed so that helps with the mass of additional docking adapters.
Fly EELV instead - make Orion a much simpler and more robust capsule. Delta IV Heavy can already lift the ISS-bound version of Orion without trouble. Ares is a joke, a joke played by ATK, Mike Griffin and Scotty Horowitz on the US taxpayer.
The other problem with ESAS/Ares/VSE as currently implemented by NASA is that they choose the launcher (vaporware Ares based on SRBs) and are trying to shoe-horn the payload into it. This is 100% backwards from how most missions are designed, with the payload dictating the launcher.
Between this and the trouble that Orion development is experiencing, it would appear that the Chinese or even US private firms will be on the Moon before NASA. Go Bigelow!
...or other martial art. Shaolin styles are most highly recommended. Our school curricula includes lots of stretching and calisthenics (pushups, hindu pushups, half-squat, splits, bricks etc) along with coordination drills (punching & kicking) and forms. Two one-hour classes a week will make you into a different kind of geek.
Cycling is also great, but not as comprehensive - it is cardio and legs mostly.
it's called money. JAXA would get cold, hard cash in return for HTV (which still hasn't flown)
These rumors of a NASA/JAXA deal have been discounted, which probably means they are true. Mike Griffin is trying to slay the various US commercial spaceflight providers by going offshore to another government agency.
cork has been used for the heatshield of several reentry capsules. Wooden components have seen limited use in space- but wood is also becoming a hitech (composite) material in many ways so expect more in future perhaps. In the deeper future when plants are grown in open space (bamboo seeded asteroids, baby) then we will build entire hulls from plant fiber and epoxy.
You could phrase it that evolution is what science currently believes.
They could phrase it as such, but would be wrong. Evolutionary theory is modeled from observational and experimental data. It is the Laws of Genetics, Inheritance and Biology that form an overall Theory of Evolution. Belief has nothing to do with it - unless the real world/observable Universe is a lie or simulation.
Louisiana wouldn't allow that kind of discussion in social studies - say of the value of democracy vs theocracy. Multiple viewpoints are something that American education has generally left for college or post-grad. Teaching the basics and critical thinking are most important - but keep this religious stuff out of science education.
The math (ie evolution) behind life is pretty well worked out - scientists involved argue over very finite details and new genetic discoveries not the basic facts of life and evolutionary process. The process is understood well enough to calculate (predict) changes in leg-length on island-introduced lizards. That is not belief, that is scientific fact based on working theories.
For any one that needs this bluntly: natural selection happens every time two animals reproduce. You are evidence of natural selection despite reading/.
It is Humanity's duty, our perogative, and vastly profitable to bring Life to dead worlds. We can not remain in the cradle forever.
1- Buy rocket 2- deliver Life to Mars 3- Harvest potent Mars-weed and custom bio-cuticals 4- deliver to Earth and the Great Hordes of Slashdot 5 Profit!!!
What you are asking about is called Panspermia - in various levels it can be that Life is universal and seeded in all solar systems or that Earth has been "swapping spit" with the planets in our local system. This limited panspermia is almost guaranteed because of the energy involved in Earth's frequent collisions with asteroids.
For direct evidence the best planet is probably the reddish-brown Europa moon orbiting Jupiter. It has a vast ocean under a shell of ice. The ice sometimes splits and water erupts, leaving carbon-rich reddish colors on the surface. This is followed up by some of the imagery from Mars in terms of strength of evidence for life, mostly Valles Marineris and some pix from the Rovers.
yes they gave it away after a point, but used to want several hundred dollars for that model, untextured and all that. i'm just saying it's really difficult to protect a wireframe.
Perhaps similar to photographic negatives? I'm not saying that a 3D mesh isn't creative - just that it is nebulous unless something is done with it. Textures, color and motion take it from potential to artistic works.
As someone who has done an amount of 3d modelling, that's fine by me. It's kind of hard to claim full copyright on a point-cloud. Take Bethoven's Head for instance. It is iconic because of how often it has appeared - despite it originally being a commercial model from Viewpoint, IIRC. The head as a model however is only a few hundred points relative to each other - it is trivial to copy and disseminate raw 3D data.
The truth is that the model or wireframe is only useful if it is utilized.
The original "computer artist" - Conceptual school, made highly abstract digital art from the late 70s onward, originally using JPL's animation system from making the Voyager "Grand Tour" movie. Not sure if he helped with that piece, however, as his work was much more abstract. Some of his recent work is digital but based on rock art from the Southwest.
Slashdot Mirror
Do things that make sense: Fly Delta, Atlas, Ariane, Soyuz and Proton. Fly SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon capsules when ready. Continue Shuttle until ISS is assembly complete, increase international cooperation and involvement on both inter-govt and corporate levels. Remember that there are things that only the USA and Russia can do together in space. Reduce the Orion capsule to a COTS-level program, cancel Ares I and Ares V as redundant. Support long-duration Centaur mods that will create a mesh of space-tugs and modular fuel storage on-orbit. Fly on existing rockets-with-stuff-on-top. It works.
Encourage NASA toward doing what it does best: deep space missions. Leave the LEO segment to the private sector and blaze new trails for us.
None of the proposed Lunar payloads are much larger than current rockets can launch. The heavy part is the propellant needed for TLI and TLI, that can be flown on whatever is cheapest and available. The proposed but unbuilt EDS and Artemis moon lander are only marginally heavier than Delta IV can currently lift (about 20-30t each, empty). There is no need for a 110-ton booster that is going to take 20 years to field to do these things - NASA could fly Delta and Atlas, etc, today.
Dr. Marburger outlined Bush's Vision for Space Exploration as "Expand the human economic sphere into the inner solar human" not as a jobs program for a maybe moon base and someday HLV.
NASA and the government should help in creating the opportunities to open a new frontier. We need a first generation of pioneers.
Here's a neat space industry video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBnJLPpGIGQ
Josh, tax payer and space cadet.
SpaceX pwns Slashdot - there is cultural convergence involved since Elon founded PayPal and is young and geeky. On top of that he is the furthest along in fielding crew-capable private orbital spacelift. Much further than Virgin/Scaled, BlueOrigin or others. In some ways, SpaceX is further toward native crew-launch than Lockheed, Boeing or United Space Alliance (Post-Shuttle) - mostly because Dragon and Falcon 9 are coming along much faster than Orion/Constellation on much, much less money.
There is a certain amount of cred Elon gets from putting his money where his mouth is. He is on-record as saying he wants to make it possible for ordinary people to be able to go to Mars.
another J
Fly the ISS, Moon and Mars payloads on Delta, Atlas, Falcon, SeaLaunch, Proton, Soyuz. NASA should build/contract the deep-space components and fly on existing rockets.
No proposed Lunar payload is heavier than Delta IV-Heavy can launch, assuming a dry payload fueled in orbit. Heavy lift is only needed if the requirement is to fly a packed, fully-fueled vehicle from the ground and we'll still need to do orbital propellant-transfer and assembly for Mars.
sorry - when I said raw power i definitely was not thinking power lifting - I was thinking more cycling and martial arts. Very different needs. How fast & accurately you can hit the other guy is at least as much about breathing as muscle strength.
For both MA and cycling there is a balance between strength and flexibility that has to be maintained.
static stretching is not for warming up before athletic performance - it is for increasing flexibility. Of course it would result in weaker muscle output - the goal of that kind of stretch is to slightly pull the muscle - similar in effect to muscle-tearing during a heavy weights workout - the torn/stretched muscle then should be given the opportunity to heal in it's new configuration.
Again, it's not supposed to generate more muscle power.
To properly warm up for a game or athletic performance, you want to stretch some but mostly do repetitive movement. Start small and build up to wider movements. Also for raw power, don't discount heart rate and oxygen uptake - being "up to speed" on heart is in many situations more important than warm muscles.
according to that page the solar panels on my roof have already recouped their energy cost from manufacturing - in just about 2 years of operation going with their ~750kwh number. Barring accident they should produce power for the next 20+ years.
Portable panels are made using a similar process (the roof-top models are much thicker) but will only be occasionally charging devices. Not sure on carbon footprint of them. Best portable chargers i've seen: built into a backpack and in a jacket collar. They'll get beat up quicker than a fold-out charger but are much more convenient.
Is the IRV somewhat derived from AMRV and the DC-Y design?
It seems very smart to be focusing on next-generation reentry design and engineering instead of reusability. Interesting viewgraph for now - but ESA did successfully test the ARD inflatable.
It's called DLNA interface. It exists, the samsung i8510 has it - it can transmit video onto any compatible display device. Or if your phone has video-out like the N95 or i8510 you could plug into something like the MyVu headmounted display. It's already here.
especially stupid considering Symbian S60 makes up well over half of the smartphone market worldwide - 64% last time I checked. Not that you'll notice this if you live in the States, land of Blackberry and iPhone, but it dominates the EMEA and APAC markets - I've been using several S60 phones from Samsung and Nokia for a few months for testing and they frankly blow everything else away in terms of usability (holy crap it's a PHONE FIRST), interface design (clean and extensible) and as convergence devices.
One problem with a Firefox browser for S60 is that it's playing catch-up to the likes of Skyfire and the integrated browser. It would be nice to see Firefox on smartphones though.
and we'll call it the USS Angelus...
Seriously where is my supercavitation air/water plane? Can. I. Haz?
you so obviously have not followed the development of China's manned spaceflight program and the Shen Zhou spacecraft.
"After China and Russia signed a space cooperation agreement in 1996, the two countries carried out very fruitful cooperation in docking system installations, model spaceships, flight control, and means of life support and other areas of manned space flight. Russia's experience in space technology development was and is of momentous significance as enlightenment to China."
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=12687
As direct visual evidence, the Shen Zhou mold line is identical to Soyuz, uses APAS-89 and the spacesuits the crew wear are thread-for-thread copies of Russian "Sokol" suits. Even the toilet is in the same location. Shen Zhou uses modern, native systems and has advanced abilities (like leaving the OM on-orbit) but is definitely based on Soyuz.
The implication is not that China lacks indigenous spaceflight but that they are smart enough to partner with organizations that bring technology to them.
They must be talking about leaving the Hab/Orbital module on orbit for SZ7. Since ShenZhou is a modernized Soyuz, it's fairly simple. The pressurized top module has independent RCS thrusters and is designed to act as a satellite after detaching from the descent module. The previous SZ flights have included experiments and observation packages that continued long after crew return - this is a logical extension of that concept. The article refers to SZ7 as a "target vehicle" - guarantee that is referring only to the orbital module.
IIRC, the Chinese were shopping around a "long node" station design a decade ago - this is the operational version of those viewgraphs.
Unless they plan to dock the orbital modules in sequence, one of the vehicles must include a Node - my guess is SZ8 but it could be 9, these are both uncrewed so that helps with the mass of additional docking adapters.
j
Fly EELV instead - make Orion a much simpler and more robust capsule. Delta IV Heavy can already lift the ISS-bound version of Orion without trouble. Ares is a joke, a joke played by ATK, Mike Griffin and Scotty Horowitz on the US taxpayer.
The other problem with ESAS/Ares/VSE as currently implemented by NASA is that they choose the launcher (vaporware Ares based on SRBs) and are trying to shoe-horn the payload into it. This is 100% backwards from how most missions are designed, with the payload dictating the launcher.
Between this and the trouble that Orion development is experiencing, it would appear that the Chinese or even US private firms will be on the Moon before NASA. Go Bigelow!
Funny when all of the software that a designer uses daily is available on both platforms...
I actually prefer Photoshop on Windows to the OS X version but YMMV. Blazing fast gaming-GFX card makes a huge difference in performance.
...or other martial art. Shaolin styles are most highly recommended. Our school curricula includes lots of stretching and calisthenics (pushups, hindu pushups, half-squat, splits, bricks etc) along with coordination drills (punching & kicking) and forms. Two one-hour classes a week will make you into a different kind of geek.
Cycling is also great, but not as comprehensive - it is cardio and legs mostly.
it's called money. JAXA would get cold, hard cash in return for HTV (which still hasn't flown)
These rumors of a NASA/JAXA deal have been discounted, which probably means they are true. Mike Griffin is trying to slay the various US commercial spaceflight providers by going offshore to another government agency.
There, fixed that for you. Ares V still needs at least 4t more payload to meet NASA's requirements for TLI.
Fly EELV instead, stage in LEO and L1, go everywhere.
cork has been used for the heatshield of several reentry capsules. Wooden components have seen limited use in space- but wood is also becoming a hitech (composite) material in many ways so expect more in future perhaps. In the deeper future when plants are grown in open space (bamboo seeded asteroids, baby) then we will build entire hulls from plant fiber and epoxy.
You could phrase it that evolution is what science currently believes.
They could phrase it as such, but would be wrong. Evolutionary theory is modeled from observational and experimental data. It is the Laws of Genetics, Inheritance and Biology that form an overall Theory of Evolution. Belief has nothing to do with it - unless the real world/observable Universe is a lie or simulation.
Louisiana wouldn't allow that kind of discussion in social studies - say of the value of democracy vs theocracy. Multiple viewpoints are something that American education has generally left for college or post-grad. Teaching the basics and critical thinking are most important - but keep this religious stuff out of science education.
The math (ie evolution) behind life is pretty well worked out - scientists involved argue over very finite details and new genetic discoveries not the basic facts of life and evolutionary process. The process is understood well enough to calculate (predict) changes in leg-length on island-introduced lizards. That is not belief, that is scientific fact based on working theories.
For any one that needs this bluntly: natural selection happens every time two animals reproduce. You are evidence of natural selection despite reading /.
It is Humanity's duty, our perogative, and vastly profitable to bring Life to dead worlds. We can not remain in the cradle forever.
1- Buy rocket
2- deliver Life to Mars
3- Harvest potent Mars-weed and custom bio-cuticals
4- deliver to Earth and the Great Hordes of Slashdot
5 Profit!!!
no question marks.
What you are asking about is called Panspermia - in various levels it can be that Life is universal and seeded in all solar systems or that Earth has been "swapping spit" with the planets in our local system. This limited panspermia is almost guaranteed because of the energy involved in Earth's frequent collisions with asteroids.
For direct evidence the best planet is probably the reddish-brown Europa moon orbiting Jupiter. It has a vast ocean under a shell of ice. The ice sometimes splits and water erupts, leaving carbon-rich reddish colors on the surface. This is followed up by some of the imagery from Mars in terms of strength of evidence for life, mostly Valles Marineris and some pix from the Rovers.
yes they gave it away after a point, but used to want several hundred dollars for that model, untextured and all that. i'm just saying it's really difficult to protect a wireframe.
Perhaps similar to photographic negatives? I'm not saying that a 3D mesh isn't creative - just that it is nebulous unless something is done with it. Textures, color and motion take it from potential to artistic works.
As someone who has done an amount of 3d modelling, that's fine by me. It's kind of hard to claim full copyright on a point-cloud. Take Bethoven's Head for instance. It is iconic because of how often it has appeared - despite it originally being a commercial model from Viewpoint, IIRC. The head as a model however is only a few hundred points relative to each other - it is trivial to copy and disseminate raw 3D data.
The truth is that the model or wireframe is only useful if it is utilized.
The original "computer artist" - Conceptual school, made highly abstract digital art from the late 70s onward, originally using JPL's animation system from making the Voyager "Grand Tour" movie. Not sure if he helped with that piece, however, as his work was much more abstract. Some of his recent work is digital but based on rock art from the Southwest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Em
http://www.davidem.com/
I'm not sure if there are posters of his work, but digital frames might be a good answer.