I must have blown 50 bucks or so in the first week of the campaign... heehe... If you remember someone who became infamous for sending gaudy amounts of postcards to Bonnie Hammer really early on, that was me. Also submitted the first Farscape Cancelled story to slashdot (back before I even registered). Best 50 bucks I've spent in years.
Guys, you're missing the point. Farscape wasn't saved because of an empty list of signatures, although we had one that broke 100k.
Farscape was saved because thousands of fans went out and DID THINGS. Things which required time, effort, and yes, money. Seeing so many invest so much in so many ways finally convinced *someone* out there that bringing back the show was a financially worthy decision.
He's not, I know: I've heard varying reports that Nobuo is doing either the main title music or "The music in the background during one very important scene", to quote... they're all running together, um... Gamespot.
And nothing against the new guy, but I've heard his stuff, and it's not on the same plane as Uematsu.
"In keeping with the general "new" approach to the franchise, longtime series composer Nobuo Uematsu will only be involved in creating the key theme song this time. The rest of the music will be composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, who worked with Matsuno on (say it with us) Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics."
Say WHAT?
Uematsu's works have always been some of my favorite, and I'm a video game music freak. I can prove it, I even donated to GamingFM... The removal of Uematsu is, IMHO, a bad thing, because his works have always been so stellar.
I mean, seriously... what if the guy routinely posted in SCO discussions trying to keep up all whipped up in anger about him, personally? Some disturbing ego trip...
Interesting scenario. I assume the basics wouldn't change with multiple metals like gold and titanium being mined, too...
What I was reacting to is the assertion I hear from some people, though, that asteroid mining, or insert-dream-technology-here will make everyone's life better and make everyone hojillionaires and it'll be the end of work. I get very shirty when I read things like that. I've read them so many times I start seeing them where they don't even exist.
Okay, but only if we simultaneously declare a moratorium on all anti-Microsoft posts. Oh wait, without people bashing people, Slashdot stops being so big...
I don't have to google, one of my design projects was a Topaz-type NTR (for the record, the Topaz russian design was technically superior to our NERVA.
As for Project Orion, there are still unsolved problems with the dampening involved in not crushing your payload. Sure, they've got a design "In Theory", but...
As for NTRs, they're my pick for applications involving taking you from orbit to Wherever You Want To Go. You really can't argue with an Isp of 800-1000 seconds and a T/W ratio of 50-100. And it circumvents the safety/political issues since, well, space *is* a lot of hard radiation. And yes, NASA is actively funding research into them. I should know, my research advisor's getting some of their sweet sweet grant money.
As I've said in another thread, it's a Good Idea that hasn't had the details worked out to anyone's satisfaction, and I personally believe there's going to be a dealbreaker in at least one area, more than likely Operations. (Safety, Reliability, Security, etc.)
Slightly wrong. It's either 2/3 or 3/6.
Two dimensions, you have forward, lateral, and maybe spinning.
Three, you have Forward, vertical, lateral, and maybe roll/pitch/yaw.
I must disagree and agree with you all at once.
If we began large-scale asteroid mining, we'd all be in the same state we are now, but we'd have much bigger bank accounts; unfortunately, loaves of bread would cost thousands of 'dollars' assuming the currency isn't readjusted. You Can't Beat The Free Market.
However, space is most certainly not a dead end. Commercial applications are here to stay, and growing by leaps and bounds- Solar Power Satellites, anyone? And when there's enough dumb hardware on-orbit, a market *WILL* grow to service, replace, and if need be scuttle the obsolete, out of date, and upgradable. Humanity does have a future in space, and it does have it in my lifetime. It doesn't lay millions of miles away, though, not yet. It's a few hundred miles above your head.
According to my handy-dandy references, 17,230,000 horsepower is developed by the warp core. No word on what effect re-polarizing the plasma flux capacitors would have.
Oh god, I need a woman.
I would add that, entirely apart from the orbital inclination issue (Same reason the Columbia couldn't make it to the ISS), you wouldn't want to. The ISS is very finely engineered from a control/stability point of view, and a huge mass like the HST stuck randomly on the station would more or less destroy its ability to shape its orbit, to counteract the small atmospheric drag, even to prevent itself from rotating chaotically.
It's not impossible- from a physics and theoretical point of view. What I have yet to see addressed, however, are several 'peripheral' issues like security (Both from humans and from nature- has anyone thought of the consequences of weather on a really big, tall, presumably current-conducting filament?).
Or operations/safety (How DO you repair it if a car breaks down in the grey area between upper atmosphere and lower orbit, say, 60 nautical miles up? Can't get a plane there. Can't get an orbiting vehicle there. Climbing would take hours if not days, while cargo could be rotting or people could be dying. Or extensive micrometeoroid impacts on that same grey region. Or power generation at the orbiting terminus; you certainly can't pipe power up there from the ground (current carrying filament being dragged through a changing terrestrial magnetic field? Say goodbye to stability, hello to torque!) and solar panel arrays are prone to failure if used in the long term. And so on...
Those are just two major points I've never seen addressed in any comprehensive way. Certainly, in theory, it's the best Earth-Orbit system. But I remain unconvinced as to its practicality.
Let me put it this way... the space elevator is to most spacecraft designers what string theory is to some physicists; Yes, it is a good idea. No, it's probably not going to work, and even if it could, we could never test it / build it. So it's really a moot point, and holding out hope for it is unproductive. Like it or not, we're stuck with chemical propellants for the forseeable future for Earth Access to Orbit.
Slashdot Mirror
I must have blown 50 bucks or so in the first week of the campaign... heehe... If you remember someone who became infamous for sending gaudy amounts of postcards to Bonnie Hammer really early on, that was me. Also submitted the first Farscape Cancelled story to slashdot (back before I even registered). Best 50 bucks I've spent in years.
Guys, you're missing the point. Farscape wasn't saved because of an empty list of signatures, although we had one that broke 100k.
Farscape was saved because thousands of fans went out and DID THINGS. Things which required time, effort, and yes, money. Seeing so many invest so much in so many ways finally convinced *someone* out there that bringing back the show was a financially worthy decision.
He's not, I know: I've heard varying reports that Nobuo is doing either the main title music or "The music in the background during one very important scene", to quote... they're all running together, um... Gamespot.
And nothing against the new guy, but I've heard his stuff, and it's not on the same plane as Uematsu.
Dear Diary: It's my birthday!
Seriously, with Farscape's return and this, all on the same day... wow. Just wow. A day I hope to remember for months.
"In keeping with the general "new" approach to the franchise, longtime series composer Nobuo Uematsu will only be involved in creating the key theme song this time. The rest of the music will be composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, who worked with Matsuno on (say it with us) Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics."
Say WHAT?
Uematsu's works have always been some of my favorite, and I'm a video game music freak. I can prove it, I even donated to GamingFM... The removal of Uematsu is, IMHO, a bad thing, because his works have always been so stellar.
Only one person, if I recall properly, from outside the Institute volunteered for this test; a landscaper.
Of course, the gullible, sheeplike townspeople immediately asked him if he was going to bring "that durned ee-bow-luh" to their neighborhood. Sigh.
I mean, seriously... what if the guy routinely posted in SCO discussions trying to keep up all whipped up in anger about him, personally? Some disturbing ego trip...
At this point, that's more of a defiant, futile threat than a promise. Any word from bookies on how soon SCO will implode?
Rather like the poodle that bit the bear's leg, and then tried to run away before the bear could drop kick it over the fence into a meat-packing yard.
Interesting scenario. I assume the basics wouldn't change with multiple metals like gold and titanium being mined, too...
What I was reacting to is the assertion I hear from some people, though, that asteroid mining, or insert-dream-technology-here will make everyone's life better and make everyone hojillionaires and it'll be the end of work. I get very shirty when I read things like that. I've read them so many times I start seeing them where they don't even exist.
Okay, but only if we simultaneously declare a moratorium on all anti-Microsoft posts. Oh wait, without people bashing people, Slashdot stops being so big...
Somebody modded this as "Informative".
I take it back. *You* need a woman. I need off the planet, it's giving me a headache.
I don't have to google, one of my design projects was a Topaz-type NTR (for the record, the Topaz russian design was technically superior to our NERVA.
As for Project Orion, there are still unsolved problems with the dampening involved in not crushing your payload. Sure, they've got a design "In Theory", but...
As for NTRs, they're my pick for applications involving taking you from orbit to Wherever You Want To Go. You really can't argue with an Isp of 800-1000 seconds and a T/W ratio of 50-100. And it circumvents the safety/political issues since, well, space *is* a lot of hard radiation. And yes, NASA is actively funding research into them. I should know, my research advisor's getting some of their sweet sweet grant money.
As I've said in another thread, it's a Good Idea that hasn't had the details worked out to anyone's satisfaction, and I personally believe there's going to be a dealbreaker in at least one area, more than likely Operations. (Safety, Reliability, Security, etc.)
Slightly wrong. It's either 2/3 or 3/6. Two dimensions, you have forward, lateral, and maybe spinning. Three, you have Forward, vertical, lateral, and maybe roll/pitch/yaw.
I must disagree and agree with you all at once. If we began large-scale asteroid mining, we'd all be in the same state we are now, but we'd have much bigger bank accounts; unfortunately, loaves of bread would cost thousands of 'dollars' assuming the currency isn't readjusted. You Can't Beat The Free Market. However, space is most certainly not a dead end. Commercial applications are here to stay, and growing by leaps and bounds- Solar Power Satellites, anyone? And when there's enough dumb hardware on-orbit, a market *WILL* grow to service, replace, and if need be scuttle the obsolete, out of date, and upgradable. Humanity does have a future in space, and it does have it in my lifetime. It doesn't lay millions of miles away, though, not yet. It's a few hundred miles above your head.
According to my handy-dandy references, 17,230,000 horsepower is developed by the warp core. No word on what effect re-polarizing the plasma flux capacitors would have. Oh god, I need a woman.
Why the butt when a simple bit of sleight of hand will get you up the skirt?
I would add that, entirely apart from the orbital inclination issue (Same reason the Columbia couldn't make it to the ISS), you wouldn't want to. The ISS is very finely engineered from a control/stability point of view, and a huge mass like the HST stuck randomly on the station would more or less destroy its ability to shape its orbit, to counteract the small atmospheric drag, even to prevent itself from rotating chaotically.
It's not impossible- from a physics and theoretical point of view. What I have yet to see addressed, however, are several 'peripheral' issues like security (Both from humans and from nature- has anyone thought of the consequences of weather on a really big, tall, presumably current-conducting filament?). Or operations/safety (How DO you repair it if a car breaks down in the grey area between upper atmosphere and lower orbit, say, 60 nautical miles up? Can't get a plane there. Can't get an orbiting vehicle there. Climbing would take hours if not days, while cargo could be rotting or people could be dying. Or extensive micrometeoroid impacts on that same grey region. Or power generation at the orbiting terminus; you certainly can't pipe power up there from the ground (current carrying filament being dragged through a changing terrestrial magnetic field? Say goodbye to stability, hello to torque!) and solar panel arrays are prone to failure if used in the long term. And so on... Those are just two major points I've never seen addressed in any comprehensive way. Certainly, in theory, it's the best Earth-Orbit system. But I remain unconvinced as to its practicality.
Let me put it this way... the space elevator is to most spacecraft designers what string theory is to some physicists; Yes, it is a good idea. No, it's probably not going to work, and even if it could, we could never test it / build it. So it's really a moot point, and holding out hope for it is unproductive. Like it or not, we're stuck with chemical propellants for the forseeable future for Earth Access to Orbit.