Life Magazine had a photo of the aurora from the nuke blast as well as a photo of folks gathered in Hawaii to watch the fireworks. The expression on their faces is unforgettable after all these years. What is the famous quote from the first Trinity shot?
dzfoo was right. Slavery ended in the U.S. only after a war that cost the lives of about three-quarters of a million soldiers North and South, more than all other U.S. wars put together, and incredible destructrion to the South. Slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, but I doubt the war would have happened if slavery had not existed. Likewise slavery was generally ended throughout the world only after considerable violence. Let us not forget that slavery still exists in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Another meteor tale...
I was camped in the remote desert with a group of friends (desert location not important, only indicates excellent viewing conditions)perhaps seventeen years ago. Everyone else had turned in except for another fellow and me. We were having another brew and talking near the campfire embers, when I saw a meteor come in. No big deal, I've probably seen tens of thousands in my life (thousands during any one really good meteor shower alone), except the leading edge of the cone of light expanded way more than usual. This meteor was moving rather slowly as meteors go, and in perhaps one second I could actually see a pitted surface with at least one identifiable "crater." It eventually was at least one-half the width of the full moon or one-fourth degree. The "lower" rim of the object was considerably brighter than the face we were seeing. It never got extremely brilliant and kind of faded out (darkened) rather than flashed out. It was in view overall for perhaps three seconds. I could not believe it, and calmly asked my friend if he had seen that. He said yes, and we just sort of let it go and started talking about other meteors, satellites, etc. that we had seen. I do not think either one of us really believed we had seen it. I still have trouble with the idea, except I had not had THAT many brewskies.
Some years later I did some estimations assuming various diameters, velocities, and depth of penetration into the atmosphere before skipping out, and decided, yes, a meteor of perhaps 20 to 40 meters would be visible as a similar object under plausible conditions. Actually, I think anyone who spends much quality time under clear night skies, i.e., soaking in hot springs, drinking beer around small campfires, night hiking, etc., (as opposed to equally honorable time with an eye glued to a narrow field eyepiece) will eventually see many remarkable--even once-in-a-lifetime things. I am envious that you actually heard your meteors; the one described above was silent.
Some years ago an accquaintance, who had been an engineer or co-pilot on military transports, told me a similiar story: Lightning struck the airplane and a ball of "lightning" rolled into the flight deck, and across various surfaces before disappearing. The entire incident caused no serious damage. I wonder how common are these incidents in airplanes?
But what happens if the guy on Alpha Centuri--or within the realm of our near-term technology, a space craft at Saturn--has a "box" with the other one of two entangled photons. If he manipulates his, how long before we know it by the effect on ours? Isn't that something to do with the subtraction of info from something we both previously know?
I think the deal is that even though the entangled photons change instantaneously, the means to receive the information that they changed cannot travel faster than "c." I think the cryptographic significance relies on subtracting that information, so I've wondered if maybe it would be possible to subtract the entangled photon information from some universal constant and thus somehow make instantaneous communication possible. Maybe someone out there who really understands this could enlighten the rest of us.
WOOOW! Sure, it a long,long way from orbital velocity, and orders of magnitude from Mars and the Outer Solar Neighborhood, but DANG ALMIGHTY! What a great view from an outfit operating as independent entrepreneurs. Come on U.S.S. Enterprise One!
Damn! It is sad that Slashdot carries so many ethnic/racial slams. The U.S. created modern Iran-for good and ill--as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. Many fled here (the U.S.) when things went sour. If some have made money with brains, talent, and sweat, then congratulations! and thanks for giving something back! These current whiney-ass comments make we want to puke. Get a better job, or make many jobs, and become wealthy! Then you can direct the evolution of the spacefaring peoples, too.
And you, Sir, have hit-bullseye on the real question. During the Pons-Fleischman flap I had a conversation with my Physics PhD buddy, and I was astounded that he refused to consider quantum possibilities of cold fusion.
The Canadian-led Triumf group has reported >10^2 fusions catalyzed per muon, employing muonic-hydrogen:
http://www.triumf.ca/welcome/h-fusion.html
If you could plug these rates into the theoretical muon production currents for superconductive linacs, you end up with energy output THREE TIMES BREAK-EVEN compared to supply line power. The problem is the muon flux in the best linacs is too tiny for significant power production.
Still, the important issues are that the muon-hydrogen fusion works at super cold temperatures, at tuned energy resonances, and it can be considered as a quantum blurring of the deuterium and tritium nuclei within the muon cloud.
I've wondered what might happen in a Bose-Einstein condensate of fusionable materials. But I'm no physicist.
I remain envious and in awe of people with a deep understanding of math! Certainly, I did not mean to disparage an entire class of people, that is to say "coaches." I meant to say that most of my math teachers could not get through to me, and that U.S. school systems tend to under-fund their math departments. I always felt shortchanged in my math education, and that made, other, dependent subjects more difficult. I tried to rectify my deficiencies in college, but that was a disaster. My first college trig instructor was a newbie trying to teach a class of about two-hundred surly students. I dropped-out after a few weeks, and re-took the class from a recent Greek immigrant. After all, they invented trigonometry didn't they? He seemed to be a good mathematician but he could hardly speak English (although, he spoke better English, than I spoke Greek!) I barely passed, and totally discouraged, never took a calculus class, or any math beyond trig. Otherwise, I was an outstanding student and might have gone into physics. It always seemed like I "almost got" math. Looking back, if one or two teachers could have opened up the blocked pathways in my brain at the appropriate time, it would have made a world of difference. I copied all the serious Slashdot comments on the Atiyah-Singer index theorem for later study. The funny thing is, I think I understand what the theorem is about and why it is significant--in a general, theoretical sort of way--even though the math is beyond me. Weird. I believe any prejudice against math majors stems from the ignorance/ inadequacies of other people regarding the discipline. Yes, we are in agreement, we need more people with math skills. I'd have a better chance of comparing Poe and Joyce than proving a basic theorem in geometry!
Not so. Note the report was issued long before ANY material had been removed from the reactor for scientific analysis--indeed before any attempt was made toward cleanup. Also, the report specifically mentions a hydrogen explosion occurred early on during the incident. Where do you think THAT hydrogen came from? It most likely was not generated, but immediately came out of solution from within the metal upon meltdown. The crucial issue is that had the fuel been in use for a longer period of time, the metal would have been saturated with vastly more hydrogen. Compressed metal stores great amounts of hydrogen. In fact, it is one storage system proposed for hydrogen-powered automobiles. Further into the fuel cycle, there could have been TONS of hydrogen released. The point is, before the TMI meltdown, there was not a plan in place to deal with the hydrogen. Indeed, it is uncertain if the scientists and engineers involved in design and construction had even considered the problem. My impressions come from reports and discussions that happened long AFTER the cited report was issued--after the jumbled core materials had been removed and analyzed.
The critical issue about Three Mile Island is not what didn't happen, but what almost happened because NOBODY HAD PLANNED for what almost happened. If the TMI reactor had not just been re-fueled, it likely would have blown the containment vessel and produced a Chernobyl-class disaster.
Remember the "hydrogen bubble?" Know where that hydrogen came from? It came out of the interstices in the various metal components when the protons from the reaction had joined up with electrons to produce hydrogen. Normally, the hydrogen stays trapped and doesn't cause a problem, but if the materials melt, that hydrogen is freed and it boils out. Because the fuel rods were new, the pressure within the containment vessel "only" went to about 1000 psi. If the rods had been older, so they contained vastly more trapped hydrogen, the hydrogen could have blown the vessel before anybody knew what happened. After several days the operators got a special dispensation to vent the radioactively contaminated hydrogen and steam into the atmosphere. Better we take the little dose than risk the big one!
The crucial point is that a response had to be worked out after the fact, because there was no plan in place that anticipated the escape of the hydrogen from the core meltdown.
Similarly, had the core melted totally, rather than just almost totally (there was some water left in the bottom which prevented total meltdown), all those plugs in the bottom of the containment structures where cables come through could have melted out. Then you could have had TONS of molten uranium and debris under enormous pressure squirting into the environment.
We were lucky at Three Mile Island. That is not to criticize the people that handled the failure. This is just a statement that no technology can anticipate every eventuality, and arrogance leads to disaster, as witness: both Shuttle losses, the collapse of Teton Dam, many terror attacks, etc., etc.
I am not rabidly anti-nuke, but nuke electricity will never be "too cheap to meter" as was promised at the outset. I know too well the political, economic, technological, and social realities. Sixty years into the nuclear era, the U.S. still does not have a permanent repository for nuclear waste. I still think the best use for the 1000 tons of plutonium on Earth would be to shoot it into space, in the engines of spacecraft bound for Mars, the asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn...
It is just envy and ignorance on the part of us mere mortals. In twenty years of formal education, I had one decent math teacher--in the seventh grade. He quit half-way through the year to go to work for private industry. Not to say some of the teachers were not good mathematicians, they just were not good enough teachers to get through my thick head, although I studied diligently. On the other hand, many of the math teachers were also athletic coaches. What does that tell you about restraining school-district costs and the resulting student product?
Quick! Explain entropy. Explain the arrow of time. Describe string theory. A little foggy? Then read the damn book! Greene lays it out easy for anyone who wants to get up to speed because they did hangover time in physics class. This is the first great, popular, cutting edge physics book of this millennium. The other six or seven dimensions may be out there and can be tested soon. If you snooze you lose.
Speaking in generalities:
It takes approximately as much energy to go from low earth orbit (LEO) to escape velocity as it takes to go from the launch pad to LEO. In other words you must lift as much additional fuel to LEO as it took to get the object to LEO. The Space Shuttle is one of the most efficient lift systems (but the Russians and US have done quite well with big dumb rockets--it just takes a lot more fuel). It takes approximately 3 million pounds of fuel to lift the very efficient 200,000 pound Shuttle into orbit. That is a fuel/payload ratio of about 15 to 1.
To accelerate the Shuttle to escape velocity it would take another 3 million pounds of fuel, but it would take 45 million pounds of fuel to lift that 3 million pound to LEO. In other words, it would 15 SHUTTLE BOOSTER launches to get that escape fuel into orbit (assuming you lifted only the escape fuel and did not use the Shuttle ). Different design and fuel arrangements can reduce the fuel requirements a little, but this gives you an idea of why it took such a huge rocket to go to the moon. The Apollo Saturn 5 was the most powerful machine ever built. During launch, the Saturn 5 generated as much power per second as all the powerplants in America at that time!
If you are planning a return trip, then you must also lift to Earth LEO and Earth escape velocity:
1) fuel for deceleration to orbit around the other world,
2) fuel to decelerate to the surface of the other world,
3) fuel to lift from the other world to low orbit,
4) fuel for escape velocity from the other world for the transit ferry ,
5) fuel for deceleration upon return to Earth, either in one stage or two, that is to LEO and then to Earth. If you do it in two stages you can lift the landing fuel and vehicle to LEO without carrying it all the way to Mars, i.e., use the shuttle or a Russian lander to bring the Martianauts home from Earth orbit. Either way the return vehicle is going to be going 30,000 to 60,000 mph when it reaches Earth after falling 30-40 million miles into the solar gravity well. In other words, it is going to take more fuel per unit vehicle mass to slow the vehicle back down to Earth orbit velocity than it did to to escape from Earth going out!
6) and maneuvering fuel going and coming.
That is why some are proposing to manufacture the return fuel on the Moon or Mars, so you don't have to lift the off-world return fuel all the way from Earth to Mars and then back. Of course it would take huge amounts of fuel to get the manufacturing equipment to Mars or the Moon to begin with.
You can use modules and reduce the amount of fuel for each step: small Mars lander, small return vehicle to Mars low orbit, but I'll bet the Earth-Mars transit ferry will have to be at least 200,000 pounds. You can't expect the astronauts to sit in a telephone booth for four to six months. There are other design proposals to reduce the amount of fuel needed: ion drives, solar sails, aero-braking for Mars, etc., but IT IS GOING TO TAKE A SATURN 5-CLASS PROPULSION SYSTEM PARKED IN EARTH LOW ORBIT TO GET THE CREW TO MARS AND BACK.
You save a lot of fuel with a nuke powered Earth-Mars transit vehicle, but it is no magic bullet. Nuke engines are heavy and only double the specific impulse over the the Shuttle LHLO. The limiting factor is the temperature tolerance of your propulsion system materials, not the energy contained in a fission reaction. It is still going to take huge amounts of fuel.
But then, I'm no rocket scientist. Do I think the U.S. ought to do it. Dern right!
And who will guard the Legions?
on
Melting Europa
·
· Score: 1
Data report from 30 km under Europa ice: Yup, life here!
Europa report derived from Mars Viking analysis: Only Peroxides. Faulty experimental design!
Wow. I had no idea the avoidance/desertion rate was that high. That means the a/d numbers over the thirteen years of the war exceeded the peak force of 550,000 in Vietnam at any one time. Do you happen to have the figures for the final year of the war? My "evaporation" comment was based on an article in Newsweek (I believe) a year or so after the U.S. left Saigon. These figures demonstrates how important it is that the population, and specifically the conscription population, support a war effort. Many governments have fallen--Imperial Russia is a classic example--when the population loses faith in the leadership. The American Confederacy and the Germans in WWII continued to fight long after the devastation should have suggested a truce or surrender.
The last draft tore this Republic apart. Vietnam ended, for those of you too young to remember, because the AWOL and desertion rate exceeded the draft rate--the army was evaporating. Americans will face the Bowels of Hell to protect the homeland, the Constitution, their girlfriends, and secure access to broadband, but you better have a leader with cajones. These guys ain't Nazi Germany or the Soviets. Far cheaper a $10 million bounty on each and every one of the bad guys. Long live free enterprise! (Opening paragraph to my new novel...)
People who have never been outside the industrialized world cannot imagine what a luxury is clean, running water. The principal time-activity of women and children in the Third World is hauling water. The non-industrialized population is perhaps 4.5 billion of the Earth's 6 billion people. Overall, gathering water may be the principal time-consuming activity of all humanity. I know it outranks sex.
And have the rovers confirmed the presence of peroxides? Remember the Viking biologic experiments came back positive. It seemed at the time, like some folks went into overdrive to explain the results on the basis of soil peroxides. That always seemed far-fetched, to me, on a planet covered with FERRIC oxide. The Martian soil crusts sure look like desert crusts on earth, and on earth the crusts are loaded with cyanobacteria. The predominance of CO2 would argue against that, but there is almost NO ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN. Is there nitrogen (read: ammonia) in the Martian soil? Nitrogen is an essential component of amino acids and proteins.
Slashdot Mirror
Life Magazine had a photo of the aurora from the nuke blast as well as a photo of folks gathered in Hawaii to watch the fireworks. The expression on their faces is unforgettable after all these years. What is the famous quote from the first Trinity shot?
dzfoo was right. Slavery ended in the U.S. only after a war that cost the lives of about three-quarters of a million soldiers North and South, more than all other U.S. wars put together, and incredible destructrion to the South. Slavery was not the only cause of the Civil War, but I doubt the war would have happened if slavery had not existed. Likewise slavery was generally ended throughout the world only after considerable violence. Let us not forget that slavery still exists in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
Another meteor tale... I was camped in the remote desert with a group of friends (desert location not important, only indicates excellent viewing conditions)perhaps seventeen years ago. Everyone else had turned in except for another fellow and me. We were having another brew and talking near the campfire embers, when I saw a meteor come in. No big deal, I've probably seen tens of thousands in my life (thousands during any one really good meteor shower alone), except the leading edge of the cone of light expanded way more than usual. This meteor was moving rather slowly as meteors go, and in perhaps one second I could actually see a pitted surface with at least one identifiable "crater." It eventually was at least one-half the width of the full moon or one-fourth degree. The "lower" rim of the object was considerably brighter than the face we were seeing. It never got extremely brilliant and kind of faded out (darkened) rather than flashed out. It was in view overall for perhaps three seconds. I could not believe it, and calmly asked my friend if he had seen that. He said yes, and we just sort of let it go and started talking about other meteors, satellites, etc. that we had seen. I do not think either one of us really believed we had seen it. I still have trouble with the idea, except I had not had THAT many brewskies. Some years later I did some estimations assuming various diameters, velocities, and depth of penetration into the atmosphere before skipping out, and decided, yes, a meteor of perhaps 20 to 40 meters would be visible as a similar object under plausible conditions. Actually, I think anyone who spends much quality time under clear night skies, i.e., soaking in hot springs, drinking beer around small campfires, night hiking, etc., (as opposed to equally honorable time with an eye glued to a narrow field eyepiece) will eventually see many remarkable--even once-in-a-lifetime things. I am envious that you actually heard your meteors; the one described above was silent.
Some years ago an accquaintance, who had been an engineer or co-pilot on military transports, told me a similiar story: Lightning struck the airplane and a ball of "lightning" rolled into the flight deck, and across various surfaces before disappearing. The entire incident caused no serious damage. I wonder how common are these incidents in airplanes?
But what happens if the guy on Alpha Centuri--or within the realm of our near-term technology, a space craft at Saturn--has a "box" with the other one of two entangled photons. If he manipulates his, how long before we know it by the effect on ours? Isn't that something to do with the subtraction of info from something we both previously know?
I think the deal is that even though the entangled photons change instantaneously, the means to receive the information that they changed cannot travel faster than "c." I think the cryptographic significance relies on subtracting that information, so I've wondered if maybe it would be possible to subtract the entangled photon information from some universal constant and thus somehow make instantaneous communication possible. Maybe someone out there who really understands this could enlighten the rest of us.
WOOOW! Sure, it a long,long way from orbital velocity, and orders of magnitude from Mars and the Outer Solar Neighborhood, but DANG ALMIGHTY! What a great view from an outfit operating as independent entrepreneurs. Come on U.S.S. Enterprise One!
How much is that in $binary?
Hail the X prize contributors, or mod me Disappointed.
Not since 1905 has so much insight occurred in one paper. The ultraviolet sock catastrophy explained!
Damn! It is sad that Slashdot carries so many ethnic/racial slams. The U.S. created modern Iran-for good and ill--as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. Many fled here (the U.S.) when things went sour. If some have made money with brains, talent, and sweat, then congratulations! and thanks for giving something back! These current whiney-ass comments make we want to puke. Get a better job, or make many jobs, and become wealthy! Then you can direct the evolution of the spacefaring peoples, too.
And you, Sir, have hit-bullseye on the real question. During the Pons-Fleischman flap I had a conversation with my Physics PhD buddy, and I was astounded that he refused to consider quantum possibilities of cold fusion. The Canadian-led Triumf group has reported >10^2 fusions catalyzed per muon, employing muonic-hydrogen: http://www.triumf.ca/welcome/h-fusion.html If you could plug these rates into the theoretical muon production currents for superconductive linacs, you end up with energy output THREE TIMES BREAK-EVEN compared to supply line power. The problem is the muon flux in the best linacs is too tiny for significant power production. Still, the important issues are that the muon-hydrogen fusion works at super cold temperatures, at tuned energy resonances, and it can be considered as a quantum blurring of the deuterium and tritium nuclei within the muon cloud. I've wondered what might happen in a Bose-Einstein condensate of fusionable materials. But I'm no physicist.
Computers are the compass, they are not the terrain!
Yes, and neutrons have a half life of about 17 minutes, before they decay into protons and electrons.
I remain envious and in awe of people with a deep understanding of math! Certainly, I did not mean to disparage an entire class of people, that is to say "coaches." I meant to say that most of my math teachers could not get through to me, and that U.S. school systems tend to under-fund their math departments. I always felt shortchanged in my math education, and that made, other, dependent subjects more difficult. I tried to rectify my deficiencies in college, but that was a disaster. My first college trig instructor was a newbie trying to teach a class of about two-hundred surly students. I dropped-out after a few weeks, and re-took the class from a recent Greek immigrant. After all, they invented trigonometry didn't they? He seemed to be a good mathematician but he could hardly speak English (although, he spoke better English, than I spoke Greek!) I barely passed, and totally discouraged, never took a calculus class, or any math beyond trig. Otherwise, I was an outstanding student and might have gone into physics. It always seemed like I "almost got" math. Looking back, if one or two teachers could have opened up the blocked pathways in my brain at the appropriate time, it would have made a world of difference. I copied all the serious Slashdot comments on the Atiyah-Singer index theorem for later study. The funny thing is, I think I understand what the theorem is about and why it is significant--in a general, theoretical sort of way--even though the math is beyond me. Weird. I believe any prejudice against math majors stems from the ignorance/ inadequacies of other people regarding the discipline. Yes, we are in agreement, we need more people with math skills. I'd have a better chance of comparing Poe and Joyce than proving a basic theorem in geometry!
Not so. Note the report was issued long before ANY material had been removed from the reactor for scientific analysis--indeed before any attempt was made toward cleanup. Also, the report specifically mentions a hydrogen explosion occurred early on during the incident. Where do you think THAT hydrogen came from? It most likely was not generated, but immediately came out of solution from within the metal upon meltdown. The crucial issue is that had the fuel been in use for a longer period of time, the metal would have been saturated with vastly more hydrogen. Compressed metal stores great amounts of hydrogen. In fact, it is one storage system proposed for hydrogen-powered automobiles. Further into the fuel cycle, there could have been TONS of hydrogen released. The point is, before the TMI meltdown, there was not a plan in place to deal with the hydrogen. Indeed, it is uncertain if the scientists and engineers involved in design and construction had even considered the problem. My impressions come from reports and discussions that happened long AFTER the cited report was issued--after the jumbled core materials had been removed and analyzed.
The critical issue about Three Mile Island is not what didn't happen, but what almost happened because NOBODY HAD PLANNED for what almost happened. If the TMI reactor had not just been re-fueled, it likely would have blown the containment vessel and produced a Chernobyl-class disaster. Remember the "hydrogen bubble?" Know where that hydrogen came from? It came out of the interstices in the various metal components when the protons from the reaction had joined up with electrons to produce hydrogen. Normally, the hydrogen stays trapped and doesn't cause a problem, but if the materials melt, that hydrogen is freed and it boils out. Because the fuel rods were new, the pressure within the containment vessel "only" went to about 1000 psi. If the rods had been older, so they contained vastly more trapped hydrogen, the hydrogen could have blown the vessel before anybody knew what happened. After several days the operators got a special dispensation to vent the radioactively contaminated hydrogen and steam into the atmosphere. Better we take the little dose than risk the big one! The crucial point is that a response had to be worked out after the fact, because there was no plan in place that anticipated the escape of the hydrogen from the core meltdown. Similarly, had the core melted totally, rather than just almost totally (there was some water left in the bottom which prevented total meltdown), all those plugs in the bottom of the containment structures where cables come through could have melted out. Then you could have had TONS of molten uranium and debris under enormous pressure squirting into the environment. We were lucky at Three Mile Island. That is not to criticize the people that handled the failure. This is just a statement that no technology can anticipate every eventuality, and arrogance leads to disaster, as witness: both Shuttle losses, the collapse of Teton Dam, many terror attacks, etc., etc. I am not rabidly anti-nuke, but nuke electricity will never be "too cheap to meter" as was promised at the outset. I know too well the political, economic, technological, and social realities. Sixty years into the nuclear era, the U.S. still does not have a permanent repository for nuclear waste. I still think the best use for the 1000 tons of plutonium on Earth would be to shoot it into space, in the engines of spacecraft bound for Mars, the asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn...
It is just envy and ignorance on the part of us mere mortals. In twenty years of formal education, I had one decent math teacher--in the seventh grade. He quit half-way through the year to go to work for private industry. Not to say some of the teachers were not good mathematicians, they just were not good enough teachers to get through my thick head, although I studied diligently. On the other hand, many of the math teachers were also athletic coaches. What does that tell you about restraining school-district costs and the resulting student product?
Quick! Explain entropy. Explain the arrow of time. Describe string theory. A little foggy? Then read the damn book! Greene lays it out easy for anyone who wants to get up to speed because they did hangover time in physics class. This is the first great, popular, cutting edge physics book of this millennium. The other six or seven dimensions may be out there and can be tested soon. If you snooze you lose.
Speaking in generalities: It takes approximately as much energy to go from low earth orbit (LEO) to escape velocity as it takes to go from the launch pad to LEO. In other words you must lift as much additional fuel to LEO as it took to get the object to LEO. The Space Shuttle is one of the most efficient lift systems (but the Russians and US have done quite well with big dumb rockets--it just takes a lot more fuel). It takes approximately 3 million pounds of fuel to lift the very efficient 200,000 pound Shuttle into orbit. That is a fuel/payload ratio of about 15 to 1. To accelerate the Shuttle to escape velocity it would take another 3 million pounds of fuel, but it would take 45 million pounds of fuel to lift that 3 million pound to LEO. In other words, it would 15 SHUTTLE BOOSTER launches to get that escape fuel into orbit (assuming you lifted only the escape fuel and did not use the Shuttle ). Different design and fuel arrangements can reduce the fuel requirements a little, but this gives you an idea of why it took such a huge rocket to go to the moon. The Apollo Saturn 5 was the most powerful machine ever built. During launch, the Saturn 5 generated as much power per second as all the powerplants in America at that time! If you are planning a return trip, then you must also lift to Earth LEO and Earth escape velocity: 1) fuel for deceleration to orbit around the other world, 2) fuel to decelerate to the surface of the other world, 3) fuel to lift from the other world to low orbit, 4) fuel for escape velocity from the other world for the transit ferry , 5) fuel for deceleration upon return to Earth, either in one stage or two, that is to LEO and then to Earth. If you do it in two stages you can lift the landing fuel and vehicle to LEO without carrying it all the way to Mars, i.e., use the shuttle or a Russian lander to bring the Martianauts home from Earth orbit. Either way the return vehicle is going to be going 30,000 to 60,000 mph when it reaches Earth after falling 30-40 million miles into the solar gravity well. In other words, it is going to take more fuel per unit vehicle mass to slow the vehicle back down to Earth orbit velocity than it did to to escape from Earth going out! 6) and maneuvering fuel going and coming. That is why some are proposing to manufacture the return fuel on the Moon or Mars, so you don't have to lift the off-world return fuel all the way from Earth to Mars and then back. Of course it would take huge amounts of fuel to get the manufacturing equipment to Mars or the Moon to begin with. You can use modules and reduce the amount of fuel for each step: small Mars lander, small return vehicle to Mars low orbit, but I'll bet the Earth-Mars transit ferry will have to be at least 200,000 pounds. You can't expect the astronauts to sit in a telephone booth for four to six months. There are other design proposals to reduce the amount of fuel needed: ion drives, solar sails, aero-braking for Mars, etc., but IT IS GOING TO TAKE A SATURN 5-CLASS PROPULSION SYSTEM PARKED IN EARTH LOW ORBIT TO GET THE CREW TO MARS AND BACK. You save a lot of fuel with a nuke powered Earth-Mars transit vehicle, but it is no magic bullet. Nuke engines are heavy and only double the specific impulse over the the Shuttle LHLO. The limiting factor is the temperature tolerance of your propulsion system materials, not the energy contained in a fission reaction. It is still going to take huge amounts of fuel. But then, I'm no rocket scientist. Do I think the U.S. ought to do it. Dern right!
Data report from 30 km under Europa ice: Yup, life here! Europa report derived from Mars Viking analysis: Only Peroxides. Faulty experimental design!
Wow. I had no idea the avoidance/desertion rate was that high. That means the a/d numbers over the thirteen years of the war exceeded the peak force of 550,000 in Vietnam at any one time. Do you happen to have the figures for the final year of the war? My "evaporation" comment was based on an article in Newsweek (I believe) a year or so after the U.S. left Saigon. These figures demonstrates how important it is that the population, and specifically the conscription population, support a war effort. Many governments have fallen--Imperial Russia is a classic example--when the population loses faith in the leadership. The American Confederacy and the Germans in WWII continued to fight long after the devastation should have suggested a truce or surrender.
The last draft tore this Republic apart. Vietnam ended, for those of you too young to remember, because the AWOL and desertion rate exceeded the draft rate--the army was evaporating. Americans will face the Bowels of Hell to protect the homeland, the Constitution, their girlfriends, and secure access to broadband, but you better have a leader with cajones. These guys ain't Nazi Germany or the Soviets. Far cheaper a $10 million bounty on each and every one of the bad guys. Long live free enterprise! (Opening paragraph to my new novel...)
People who have never been outside the industrialized world cannot imagine what a luxury is clean, running water. The principal time-activity of women and children in the Third World is hauling water. The non-industrialized population is perhaps 4.5 billion of the Earth's 6 billion people. Overall, gathering water may be the principal time-consuming activity of all humanity. I know it outranks sex.
And have the rovers confirmed the presence of peroxides? Remember the Viking biologic experiments came back positive. It seemed at the time, like some folks went into overdrive to explain the results on the basis of soil peroxides. That always seemed far-fetched, to me, on a planet covered with FERRIC oxide. The Martian soil crusts sure look like desert crusts on earth, and on earth the crusts are loaded with cyanobacteria. The predominance of CO2 would argue against that, but there is almost NO ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN. Is there nitrogen (read: ammonia) in the Martian soil? Nitrogen is an essential component of amino acids and proteins.