This is really a test bed for the ion-drive technology - although even on this mission, its effective to do it this way, once in lunar orbit the drive can make slow adjustments to cover the whole surface, without having to carry huge amounts of propellant. Over LONG periods of operation, the ion drive is something like 10 times more effective in terms of fuel carried vs thrust given compared to chemical rockets - and that figure is set to improve as research progresses. SMART-1 is an important step in that research. The Ariane-5 launch rocket is a fraction of the size/cost of the Apollo/Saturn-5's..
In the future missions you will see these sorts of drives giving much faster flight times to Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.. - although for the outer system you may need nuclear instead of solar power.
Yes both this and parent are dupes from previous thread..
One point worth making - chemical rockets are getting close to the limits of thier possible efficiency. In contrast Ion engines are in their infancy. The main theoretic limit is that particles cannot be expelled faster than light. You could see very big leaps in engine power in the future..
Yeah yeah I know.. I was thinking afterwards "why the hell did I call it the 6th planet" when I knew damn well it was the 7th? Then I remembered I had just been reading the article on space.com that calls it the "6th visible planet". Oh well..
I was tempted to do just that, but thought I had better mention the U-word at least once so people had some idea what the heck I was on about. I was thinking afetrwards "why the hell did I call it the 6th planet" when I knew damn well it was the 7th? Then I remembered I had just been reading the article on space.com that calls it the "6th visible planet". Oh well..
The story is also on space.com.
they also have a article showing how to
find Uranus in the sky - it is quite close to Mars at the
moment. Perhaps we should start calling it the 6th planet at/. just to avoid tedious jokes..
I will wait and see. If you *have* to have a dominant search engine, Google is not such a bad one to have, the adverts (sponsered links) are intelligently placed, and not too intrusive. God, just think we could have Micro$oft as the #1 search engine.. Shudder..
So, I, for one, welcome Google, our current search-engine overlords..
This is really a test bed for the ion-drive technology - although even on this mission, its effective to do it this way, once in lunar orbit the drive can make slow adjustments to cover the whole surface, without having to carry huge amounts of propellant. Over LONG periods of operation, the ion drive is something like 10 times more effective in terms of fuel carried vs thrust given compared to chemical rockets - and that figure is set to improve as research progresses. SMART-1 is an important step in that research. The Ariane-5 launch rocket is a fraction of the size/cost of the Apollo/Saturn-5's..
In the future missions you will see these sorts of drives giving much faster flight times to Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.. - although for the outer system you may need nuclear instead of solar power.
The SMART-1 Mission will map the composition of rocks across the whole surface of the moon, not just the sites visited by Apollo (inc far side & south pole, which may have H2O). Also with higher resolution/more sensitive instruments than previous craft.
It is true that ion drives are not that exciting in terms of time for a moon mission - although it does reduce weight. An ion drive to the outer solar system could reduce payload and travel time too, because the drive can fire almost continuously..
My sentiments too. Ok, maybe a DIY clone portable isnt going to be quite as sleek as the best laptops, but wow, just imagine a genuine portable you can mod cheaply! The key maybe a shell that can take a nano-itx - or something like it. The shell provides the keyboard, LCD, and places/slots/holes for all the other bits.. Even if its a bit bigger than most portables, thats cool - particularly if that means room inside for all the bits you othewrwise have dangling off bits of wire with a normal laptop. Has this been properly done? If so, I havent seen it.
And, no I cant figure why my original post was modded down to start either. Oh well.
Genuine cheap DIY clone portables/laptops with interchangable parts - if a component fails, you dont have pay the earth to replace it? Anyone have good links/experience on that?:-)
This methos is of genuine value for cases of applications where the source has been lost and needs alteration - for just running invaders/pacman/etc an emulator is just as good - since you have to slow things down to run at 100% original speed. The best emulators really o absolutely emulate every facet of the original CPU & hardware - the VICE C64/PET/VIC emulator runs on a 1mhz interupt, that, as I understand it, emulates all the states of the 6502 processor exactly. If you convert bin->asm->c you would still need to put hold-states in the C code to make it step at exactly that speed, cycle for cycle. Where this method would be better than MAME/VICE style emulation is when you need to patch the code- to upgrade it, fix bugs etc. This applies more to non-game type code where old (and failing) hardware/software needs to be migrated to new hardware, maybe with minor code changes.. And if you are not tied to executing at a set pace, then bin->asm->c is a really cool thing to have.
Ok thats fine, except in most cases you can slot in "Fat bloated multi-national record company". Often the Artist is only getting a tiny % of proceeds, and the ones who get a big % are not particularly starving. Why not encourage kids to buy tracks from the *real* starving artists, the small guys who sell thier work more or less directly..
Various forms of quantum computing have been toted for a long time now - as has affordable fission power (or any form of safe&cheap nuclear). True AI is a long way off still, despite being thought to be closer for a long time.. And we might have reasonably expected manned space exploration to be further than it is now, after Apollo..
I wasnt being entirely serious in my original post, but I suppose if I was I would say it is probably not too suprising that quantum computing and AI are taking time to happen, whereas the others are more of a mystery. Add to that non-petrol powered clean cars too, and non-fossil based power supplies..
It is amazing what we have achieved, but also what has not happened is amazing too..
...so such a device may be used to control a quantum computer..
Ah, that would be the quantum computer on board the manned space expedition to Mars, power by a fission-reactor ion-drive. Back home we can watch it via our ubiquetous videophones, or our Linux powered desktops, which can run applications with true Artificial Intelligence. All our homes will be supplied by nuclear electricity that is too cheap to meter. There will be peace in Isreal.. etc..
I can actually confirm this - a yahoo address I used for mailing usenet has got very few spam emails. I think the spam-bots are replete, they have feasted on all your mail boxes for so long, they barely need new ones....
Slashdot Mirror
This is really a test bed for the ion-drive technology - although even on this mission, its effective to do it this way, once in lunar orbit the drive can make slow adjustments to cover the whole surface, without having to carry huge amounts of propellant. Over LONG periods of operation, the ion drive is something like 10 times more effective in terms of fuel carried vs thrust given compared to chemical rockets - and that figure is set to improve as research progresses. SMART-1 is an important step in that research. The Ariane-5 launch rocket is a fraction of the size/cost of the Apollo/Saturn-5's..
In the future missions you will see these sorts of drives giving much faster flight times to Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.. - although for the outer system you may need nuclear instead of solar power.
Yes both this and parent are dupes from previous thread..
Sorry for that pun, but..
One point worth making - chemical rockets are getting close to the limits of thier possible efficiency. In contrast Ion engines are in their infancy. The main theoretic limit is that particles cannot be expelled faster than light. You could see very big leaps in engine power in the future..
Yeah yeah I know.. I was thinking afterwards "why the hell did I call it the 6th planet" when I knew damn well it was the 7th? Then I remembered I had just been reading the article on space.com that calls it the "6th visible planet". Oh well..
I was tempted to do just that, but thought I had better mention the U-word at least once so people had some idea what the heck I was on about. I was thinking afetrwards "why the hell did I call it the 6th planet" when I knew damn well it was the 7th? Then I remembered I had just been reading the article on space.com that calls it the "6th visible planet". Oh well..
you are right, damn..
The story is also on space.com. they also have a article showing how to find Uranus in the sky - it is quite close to Mars at the moment. Perhaps we should start calling it the 6th planet at /. just to avoid tedious jokes..
I will wait and see. If you *have* to have a dominant search engine, Google is not such a bad one to have, the adverts (sponsered links) are intelligently placed, and not too intrusive. God, just think we could have Micro$oft as the #1 search engine.. Shudder..
So, I, for one, welcome Google, our current search-engine overlords..
The UK has 80% of the best tidal sites within the EU..
This is really a test bed for the ion-drive technology - although even on this mission, its effective to do it this way, once in lunar orbit the drive can make slow adjustments to cover the whole surface, without having to carry huge amounts of propellant. Over LONG periods of operation, the ion drive is something like 10 times more effective in terms of fuel carried vs thrust given compared to chemical rockets - and that figure is set to improve as research progresses. SMART-1 is an important step in that research. The Ariane-5 launch rocket is a fraction of the size/cost of the Apollo/Saturn-5's..
In the future missions you will see these sorts of drives giving much faster flight times to Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.. - although for the outer system you may need nuclear instead of solar power.
The SMART-1 Mission will map the composition of rocks across the whole surface of the moon, not just the sites visited by Apollo (inc far side & south pole, which may have H2O). Also with higher resolution/more sensitive instruments than previous craft.
It is true that ion drives are not that exciting in terms of time for a moon mission - although it does reduce weight. An ion drive to the outer solar system could reduce payload and travel time too, because the drive can fire almost continuously..
They have to send a mountain rescue team into the game..
(a couple sleeping in a bed)
Honey whats that roaring noise from downstairs?
Oh no, now did you to feed the Jurassic pine like I asked you to?
My sentiments too. Ok, maybe a DIY clone portable isnt going to be quite as sleek as the best laptops, but wow, just imagine a genuine portable you can mod cheaply! The key maybe a shell that can take a nano-itx - or something like it. The shell provides the keyboard, LCD, and places/slots/holes for all the other bits.. Even if its a bit bigger than most portables, thats cool - particularly if that means room inside for all the bits you othewrwise have dangling off bits of wire with a normal laptop. Has this been properly done? If so, I havent seen it.
And, no I cant figure why my original post was modded down to start either. Oh well.
Genuine cheap DIY clone portables/laptops with interchangable parts - if a component fails, you dont have pay the earth to replace it? Anyone have good links/experience on that? :-)
This methos is of genuine value for cases of applications where the source has been lost and needs alteration - for just running invaders/pacman/etc an emulator is just as good - since you have to slow things down to run at 100% original speed. The best emulators really o absolutely emulate every facet of the original CPU & hardware - the VICE C64/PET/VIC emulator runs on a 1mhz interupt, that, as I understand it, emulates all the states of the 6502 processor exactly. If you convert bin->asm->c you would still need to put hold-states in the C code to make it step at exactly that speed, cycle for cycle. Where this method would be better than MAME/VICE style emulation is when you need to patch the code- to upgrade it, fix bugs etc. This applies more to non-game type code where old (and failing) hardware/software needs to be migrated to new hardware, maybe with minor code changes.. And if you are not tied to executing at a set pace, then bin->asm->c is a really cool thing to have.
Ok thats fine, except in most cases you can slot in "Fat bloated multi-national record company". Often the Artist is only getting a tiny % of proceeds, and the ones who get a big % are not particularly starving. Why not encourage kids to buy tracks from the *real* starving artists, the small guys who sell thier work more or less directly..
Hmm, junk mail pouring through your letter box in the morning with strobing, annoying videos. Oh joy..
Doesnt he hold the record?
No need to panic, there is no global warming greenhouse effect, as these new satellite pictures of earth show..
When Microso.. er I mean SCO are charging you $599 for every copy of Linux you run, the Linux will have an open OS they can migrate to..
Be careful not to hit one of the laser reflectors left by the Apollo astronauts..
Various forms of quantum computing have been toted for a long time now - as has affordable fission power (or any form of safe&cheap nuclear). True AI is a long way off still, despite being thought to be closer for a long time.. And we might have reasonably expected manned space exploration to be further than it is now, after Apollo..
I wasnt being entirely serious in my original post, but I suppose if I was I would say it is probably not too suprising that quantum computing and AI are taking time to happen, whereas the others are more of a mystery. Add to that non-petrol powered clean cars too, and non-fossil based power supplies..
It is amazing what we have achieved, but also what has not happened is amazing too..
we can watch it via our ubiquetous videophones
While they aren't yet ubiquitous, they are pretty common over here in the UK.
So do I, er, common? Mind you I do live in Royston Vasey.. :-)
our Linux powered desktops
I'm using one to type this.
Tubs insists we stick to our ZX81.
All our homes will be supplied by nuclear electricity
That's not new.
Although hardly likely to be "too cheap to meter"..
...so such a device may be used to control a quantum computer..
Ah, that would be the quantum computer on board the manned space expedition to Mars, power by a fission-reactor ion-drive. Back home we can watch it via our ubiquetous videophones, or our Linux powered desktops, which can run applications with true Artificial Intelligence. All our homes will be supplied by nuclear electricity that is too cheap to meter. There will be peace in Isreal.. etc..
I can actually confirm this - a yahoo address I used for mailing usenet has got very few spam emails. I think the spam-bots are replete, they have feasted on all your mail boxes for so long, they barely need new ones....