Boy, does he take a turn into left field at the end there.
You know, I went to a pretty good school (Georgia Tech) and studied first engineering and then atmospheric science. There were people lining up to take science, engineering, and math classes... so much so that if you registered late, good luck getting into your required courses that semester.
Going back to high school, I checked my yearbook and about 40% of the students were going to college to study science of engineering. (I found it more interesting that 10% were going into law enforcement... but I digress.)
Why do people keep saying that "boys and girls run away from science and math?" I just don't see it. Kids younger than 12 are all about science, and based on my graduating class quite a few end up there at the end of high school. Sure, kids check out when they are teenagers, but who the hell doesn't? My personal opinion is that if you never skipped a class in high school, your priorities were a bit out of whack.
Is there any factual basis for Mr. Stephenson's claim? Or is the constant harping about "the young generation avoiding math" just more baby boomer bitching?
Like you, I once became a card carrying member of the ACLU. In fact, though my membership has expired, I believe I still have the card in my wallet... yep, I do.
I joined on July 4th, 2002. In the wake of September 11th, joining both the ACLU and the National Guard seemed like the responsible thing to do.
I have never had an organization sell my name and contact info to more idiot organizations than the ACLU did. Within two weeks I was getting snail mail spam from every lunatic organization in America that is somehow considered "Left-wing."
Increase Farm Subsidies. Legalize Drugs. Contribute To The Democratic Party. Bush Is Evil. Bush Is Really Evil. You Live In A Facist Theocracy And Don't Know It. Did We Mention Bush Is Evil? You Didn't Vote For Bush, Right?
I considered the ACLU a good organization who existed to defend my civil liberties in the courts. They seem to consider me a sucker and a Democrat, neither one of which (I hope) apply.
If you ever watch Fox News and think, "There sure are a lot of wacko Republicans, where are all the wacko Democrats?" be warned: you are about to find out.
The relevant phrase here is: "Don't throw good money after bad."
The X-33 is an example of how NOT to design a good spacecraft. If your design relies on not one, but several totally unproven systems (the main two being a composite fuel tank and Aerospike engines) it should not surprise you when it doesn't pan out.
My personal jury is still out on this Lockheed design, but remember: just because it has a lifting body does not mean it has anythin design-wise in common with the Shuttle.
As one of the many thousand people who work at Johnson Space Center, I have watched them enclose our Saturn V over the past few months. All of us are quite appalled.
Where I once came to work next to a giant reminder of NASA's past accomplishments (or rather, left for lunch by it, as I usually come in via the back gate), now I only see a big, white, ugly building. Where once tourists could stand back in awe as they took in the rocket's size, now they have to peer through windows at it.
A permanent building housing our Saturn V will surely protect it better from the elements... but it wrecks the whole reason for having it there in the first place.
A better preservation program would have three steps:
1. Commit the money needed to re-paint it once every 10 years.
2. Inspect it once a year for structural problems; repair those as they arise.
3. Do something worth doing and go someplace worth going, so that our most impressive accomplishment is not a 30 year old rocket.
I happened to be on the loop while the Space Ship One flight was going on. Pretty much everyone here at Johnson Space Center stopped to watch it.
One of the ground controllers told Mike and Gennady the news about the flight. Mike's statement was moving (hopefully I don't screw up his quote):
"It's nice to know, if only for a few minutes, that we're not the only two people up here."
That's how all of us engineers at NASA feel, as well. Most of us are here because we Believe in spaceflight, and it is a relief when some of that pressure gets taken off our shoulders.
Yes indeed they are, and that was a major factor in the design of the BOCS.
The Mir Oxygen Candles used a powered fan to disipate the heat produced by the reaction. When the fan failed, the candle soon burned through its housing, causing the fire.
Our system uses all passive cooling. The air flow that cools the candle is pulled through the Venturii housing by the oxygen expelled by the Candle. This also has the benefit of mixing the oxygen with the cabin air, preventing a dangerous pocket of pure oxygen.
BOCS is not replacement for Elektron, its a band-aid until a new primary system can be put in place.
Right. I guess I should have been more clear. I meant BOCS could keep the station going until the Shuttle returns to flight, giving us the upmass ability to replace the Elektron.
As a matter of fact, my group here at JSC finished a Backup Oxygen Candle System (aka the BOCS) a few months ago. This could have provided the ISS with two more months of oxygen. We could then have flown additional Oxygen Candles to keep the ISS going until the US Oxygen Generation System is on-line.
The Russians refused to admit that an Elektron failure was imminent, and so the BOCS was not manifested for 16P (That's the Progress mission that has just passed).
So, long story short, NASA has been doing something about the Elektron. The Russians have chosen not to fly our replacement.
NASA gets a lot of flack around here, much of it deserved. This is not one of those times. If you feel the need to Point Your Finger, don't point it at NASA.
I gotta say... if you think Starship Troopers was a book about "a futuristic army", then you have missed the point.
That's like saying Resevoir Dogs was about a diamond robbery... superfically true, yet completely meaningless.
That being said, there is a very interesting post later on down this thread about why the government Heinlein is investigating in Starship Troopers is in fact fascist... about how all the fascist governments of the '30s were started by Great War veterans.
It's always interesting how good, loyal, decent people can work the most evil.
Today marks an interesting first (at least as far as I have been able to tell): the NASA channel has had to choose which current space activity to put on TV.
On Wednesday there will be an EVA on the ISS right around the time the Cassini stuff will be happening. Thus, NASA TV had to choose, for the first time, which thing happening in space was more exciting.
How cool is that? There's actually enough going on up there that one TV channel is not enough!
Eh?
It's a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army. They never claimed it wasn't, so anyone who chooses to play it is willfully submitting themselves to "propaganda".
You know, Texas rest stops are already really nice. I can't speak to west Texas, but around Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/Austin they already tend to be clean and well maintained.
As to your second point, my mom (who is 64 years old) takes a laptop on the road when she and my dad travel, and would love to check her email along the way. So it may be more common then you think.
As someone else said, it's not a technical problem... getting organized is a state of mind. Thus, for me, the key was always having my to-do list with me, and the PDA solved my problem. (Plus it's darn nifty for other stuff too.)
So it may not be a technical problem, but I solved mine with technology.:+D
Yes. You can get to escape velocity using an ion engine. Acceleration at.1g over a long time gives the same final velocity as 3g for a short time. It adds up.
That said... who is talking about escape velocity? They are using this to put stuff in LEO.
I would think that a system like this would be combined with conventional rockets. Lift it really high with a balloon, then kick in the rocket and go the rest of the way. That's something that has become feasible in recent years, due to a better understanding of air-launched payloads.
You are just plain wrong, but I see it got modded up by the NASA haters.
The grounding of US Shuttle flights is a regulatory and safety issue, not a technical one. I would never slight the Russians on the skill and dedication they show in our partnership... but you are just being silly. You think NASA would memorialize the Columbia crew by letting the Station de-orbit? Please.
The ISS would not have "plummeted to the earth" without Progress/Soyuz launches. Good grief, we can boost it with Atlas rockets if it came to that.
Again, we can save Hubble, we choose not to. That's a regulatory and safety issue, not a technical one. Don't like it, write Congress.
You are a troll, and you added nothing insightful to the conversation.
I mean, imagine you are an FBI administrator with a real love of America and freedom. Suddenly, you are given these insane powers by the Patriot Act, powers that you know to be unconstitutional and just plain bad for a democracy.
If I were in that situation, I'd go after the ACLU. How better to get the law repealed, while keeping your job?
That's a good job, there. Now if you would combine it with something like the ICELink that lets you control the iPod with your car radio, you'd really have something.
As long as the total cost of the car install + iPod is equal to a dedicated car mp3 player, you've got a surefire winner.
Slashdot Mirror
Boy, does he take a turn into left field at the end there.
You know, I went to a pretty good school (Georgia Tech) and studied first engineering and then atmospheric science. There were people lining up to take science, engineering, and math classes... so much so that if you registered late, good luck getting into your required courses that semester.
Going back to high school, I checked my yearbook and about 40% of the students were going to college to study science of engineering. (I found it more interesting that 10% were going into law enforcement... but I digress.)
Why do people keep saying that "boys and girls run away from science and math?" I just don't see it. Kids younger than 12 are all about science, and based on my graduating class quite a few end up there at the end of high school. Sure, kids check out when they are teenagers, but who the hell doesn't? My personal opinion is that if you never skipped a class in high school, your priorities were a bit out of whack.
Is there any factual basis for Mr. Stephenson's claim? Or is the constant harping about "the young generation avoiding math" just more baby boomer bitching?
Like you, I once became a card carrying member of the ACLU. In fact, though my membership has expired, I believe I still have the card in my wallet... yep, I do.
I joined on July 4th, 2002. In the wake of September 11th, joining both the ACLU and the National Guard seemed like the responsible thing to do.
I have never had an organization sell my name and contact info to more idiot organizations than the ACLU did. Within two weeks I was getting snail mail spam from every lunatic organization in America that is somehow considered "Left-wing."
Increase Farm Subsidies. Legalize Drugs. Contribute To The Democratic Party. Bush Is Evil. Bush Is Really Evil. You Live In A Facist Theocracy And Don't Know It. Did We Mention Bush Is Evil? You Didn't Vote For Bush, Right?
I considered the ACLU a good organization who existed to defend my civil liberties in the courts. They seem to consider me a sucker and a Democrat, neither one of which (I hope) apply.
If you ever watch Fox News and think, "There sure are a lot of wacko Republicans, where are all the wacko Democrats?" be warned: you are about to find out.
The relevant phrase here is: "Don't throw good money after bad."
The X-33 is an example of how NOT to design a good spacecraft. If your design relies on not one, but several totally unproven systems (the main two being a composite fuel tank and Aerospike engines) it should not surprise you when it doesn't pan out.
My personal jury is still out on this Lockheed design, but remember: just because it has a lifting body does not mean it has anythin design-wise in common with the Shuttle.
As one of the many thousand people who work at Johnson Space Center, I have watched them enclose our Saturn V over the past few months. All of us are quite appalled.
Where I once came to work next to a giant reminder of NASA's past accomplishments (or rather, left for lunch by it, as I usually come in via the back gate), now I only see a big, white, ugly building. Where once tourists could stand back in awe as they took in the rocket's size, now they have to peer through windows at it.
A permanent building housing our Saturn V will surely protect it better from the elements... but it wrecks the whole reason for having it there in the first place.
A better preservation program would have three steps:
1. Commit the money needed to re-paint it once every 10 years.
2. Inspect it once a year for structural problems; repair those as they arise.
3. Do something worth doing and go someplace worth going, so that our most impressive accomplishment is not a 30 year old rocket.
I happened to be on the loop while the Space Ship One flight was going on. Pretty much everyone here at Johnson Space Center stopped to watch it.
One of the ground controllers told Mike and Gennady the news about the flight. Mike's statement was moving (hopefully I don't screw up his quote):
"It's nice to know, if only for a few minutes, that we're not the only two people up here."
That's how all of us engineers at NASA feel, as well. Most of us are here because we Believe in spaceflight, and it is a relief when some of that pressure gets taken off our shoulders.
More the merrier. Great job Scaled!
Interesting, but I don't see how that is a rebuttal of the parent.
Yes indeed they are, and that was a major factor in the design of the BOCS.
The Mir Oxygen Candles used a powered fan to disipate the heat produced by the reaction. When the fan failed, the candle soon burned through its housing, causing the fire.
Our system uses all passive cooling. The air flow that cools the candle is pulled through the Venturii housing by the oxygen expelled by the Candle. This also has the benefit of mixing the oxygen with the cabin air, preventing a dangerous pocket of pure oxygen.
It is really pretty neat, but I know I am biased.
BOCS is not replacement for Elektron, its a band-aid until a new primary system can be put in place.
Right. I guess I should have been more clear. I meant BOCS could keep the station going until the Shuttle returns to flight, giving us the upmass ability to replace the Elektron.
As a matter of fact, my group here at JSC finished a Backup Oxygen Candle System (aka the BOCS) a few months ago. This could have provided the ISS with two more months of oxygen. We could then have flown additional Oxygen Candles to keep the ISS going until the US Oxygen Generation System is on-line.
The Russians refused to admit that an Elektron failure was imminent, and so the BOCS was not manifested for 16P (That's the Progress mission that has just passed).
So, long story short, NASA has been doing something about the Elektron. The Russians have chosen not to fly our replacement.
NASA gets a lot of flack around here, much of it deserved. This is not one of those times. If you feel the need to Point Your Finger, don't point it at NASA.
Indeed. As an American who will soon be a citizen soldier, I have no desire to fight China for the for the right of who gets to have an economy.
Hopefully the US will move this way as well, but at a worst case it at least gives the world more breathing room.
I gotta say... if you think Starship Troopers was a book about "a futuristic army", then you have missed the point. That's like saying Resevoir Dogs was about a diamond robbery... superfically true, yet completely meaningless. That being said, there is a very interesting post later on down this thread about why the government Heinlein is investigating in Starship Troopers is in fact fascist... about how all the fascist governments of the '30s were started by Great War veterans. It's always interesting how good, loyal, decent people can work the most evil.
Well said.
Today marks an interesting first (at least as far as I have been able to tell): the NASA channel has had to choose which current space activity to put on TV.
On Wednesday there will be an EVA on the ISS right around the time the Cassini stuff will be happening. Thus, NASA TV had to choose, for the first time, which thing happening in space was more exciting.
How cool is that? There's actually enough going on up there that one TV channel is not enough!
Whadya know, the revolution IS televised.
Well said.
Eh? It's a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army. They never claimed it wasn't, so anyone who chooses to play it is willfully submitting themselves to "propaganda".
You know, Texas rest stops are already really nice. I can't speak to west Texas, but around Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/Austin they already tend to be clean and well maintained.
As to your second point, my mom (who is 64 years old) takes a laptop on the road when she and my dad travel, and would love to check her email along the way. So it may be more common then you think.
Those of us at Johnson Space Center are cheering as loud as anyone.
Good job, Burt and Mike!
Wow, of all the un-informed, anti-NASA comments.
You're not running for office here. We expect at least one correct fact in a post. If you just want to bash NASA, try Salon.
CompressedAir
That's what I use, the Tasks software on my T3.
:+D
As someone else said, it's not a technical problem... getting organized is a state of mind. Thus, for me, the key was always having my to-do list with me, and the PDA solved my problem. (Plus it's darn nifty for other stuff too.)
So it may not be a technical problem, but I solved mine with technology.
At a guess, it's because we don't much like pressure vessels. Someone around here would describe it as "having a small bomb follow you around."
The Culture just does not like pressure vessels IVA.
Yes. You can get to escape velocity using an ion engine. Acceleration at .1g over a long time gives the same final velocity as 3g for a short time. It adds up.
That said... who is talking about escape velocity? They are using this to put stuff in LEO.
I would think that a system like this would be combined with conventional rockets. Lift it really high with a balloon, then kick in the rocket and go the rest of the way. That's something that has become feasible in recent years, due to a better understanding of air-launched payloads.
You are just plain wrong, but I see it got modded up by the NASA haters.
The grounding of US Shuttle flights is a regulatory and safety issue, not a technical one. I would never slight the Russians on the skill and dedication they show in our partnership... but you are just being silly. You think NASA would memorialize the Columbia crew by letting the Station de-orbit? Please.
The ISS would not have "plummeted to the earth" without Progress/Soyuz launches. Good grief, we can boost it with Atlas rockets if it came to that.
Again, we can save Hubble, we choose not to. That's a regulatory and safety issue, not a technical one. Don't like it, write Congress.
You are a troll, and you added nothing insightful to the conversation.
I mean, imagine you are an FBI administrator with a real love of America and freedom. Suddenly, you are given these insane powers by the Patriot Act, powers that you know to be unconstitutional and just plain bad for a democracy.
If I were in that situation, I'd go after the ACLU. How better to get the law repealed, while keeping your job?
Or they could be evil bastards. Either one.
Of course you would. And unless you are incredibly rich, you'd be the first one turned away.
A scaled up SpaceShip one providing hypersonic passenger transport? Have you read what is going on here?
That's a good job, there. Now if you would combine it with something like the ICELink that lets you control the iPod with your car radio, you'd really have something.
As long as the total cost of the car install + iPod is equal to a dedicated car mp3 player, you've got a surefire winner.