Nuclear ascent vehicles? Now that's screwy. Like I said, that's only an option if we don't want to go back.
The Energia booster has the capability to lift a submarine-type nuclear reactor to LEO. Fueling it once it gets there is the problem. I don't think space-based construction of interplanetary craft will take off until we have an elevator that can lift fuel cheaply.
A nucelear rocket wouldn't be activated from Earth unless we were leaving in a hurry and not coming back. (Aliens are invading or something.)
The reactor wouldn't be on until it reached orbit, and even if it did explode it would probably sink to the bottom of the ocean like one of the dozen or so nuclear submarines that have been lost. Once in orbit our atmosphere would protect us from any problems. And if it was a pebble-bed reactor (as I'm sure it would be, since they're mechanically simpler than an active-control reactor), the chances of an accident would be far less.
If you're concerned about radioactive waste in the air, coal power is the straw man you want to beat up, not NASA.
As a matter of fact, if the damage is bad enough, yes.
One of the myriad design flaws of the shuttle is that if something goes wrong on liftoff that doesn't result in the total destruction of the shuttle, the crew is supposed to get out of their seats, climb down a ladder, and jump out of the craft while it's moving at a few times the speed of sound a few dozen miles off the ground while accelerating at multiple g's.
Not like the good old days of capsules with escape rockets that could be activated by ground control.
Blogs are entertaining. The highest rated blogs read like good news stories. For example, I love to read RiverBend's blog because she is a good writer who gets her point across.
Blogs are autobiographies in progress. Most people's lives are dull and boring, but a few are interesting enough to become best sellers.
What if your family is scattered all over the country? A blog is a cheap (read: free) way to publish events in your life and keep them in the know. It's better than email, because they don't need to be at their computer to read it, and you don't have to worry about making sure you have the right email address.
Talking is great for people you see every day, but for long-distance friends and relatives, a blog is the perfect way to go.
I spent a week living with a family in Denmark. All three of their kids knew enough english to have a conversation with me. Even the five year-old who was taught english in pre-school and exposed to English-language movies, TV shows and books.
The 10 and 13 year-olds could also speak German and French. Needless to say I felt like a stupid/ethnocentric American the whole week.
My wife's family has been reading my blog for the past year. My family is just getting into it. This, combined with our Gallery, lets me communicate with my family while satisfying my geek urges to do it electronically.
Why the hell would they ship air water and food? If they just send a small nuclear reactor (like the kind we've been putting on submarines for the past fifty years) I can make all the air, water and fuel I need. And you can grow plants in Martian soil using Martian CO2 if you just raise the temperature and pressure a bit.
The only things they'd have to ship would be non-perishable consumables. Things like toothpaste and deodorant and replacement parts and maybe some more seeds. A few milk goats would be nice, too, but not really necessary.
What earthlings seem to forget is that food doesn't just show up in the supermarket, and water isn't spontaneously generated by clouds; everything on earth has been recycled. There's no reason why, with a little extra help, a human couldn't survive on Mars indefinitely.
Which is exactly why I set my mother-in-law up with an eMac. I don't have the time to administer her computer, especially since she's the type that would download Bonzi Buddy because "it's cute." *shudder*
NASA has been inundated by bureaucrats. If I were the administrator, the first command would be "If you're not an engineer get the fuck out of my organization."
I would go right now. Even if it was a one way trip. And if I had a 10% chance of survival. And I can turn a wrench, admin a comm system, grow my own food and run a nuclear reactor. I'd gladly live out the next 60 years of my life on Mars building a colony, if only someone somewhere would fund the trip.
The Mars Reference Mission from NASA puts humans on Mars for 1.5 years in equipment that will allow them to explore up to 1,000 km from their home base.
Second, budget estimates put the cost at around $100 billion for up to five missions. Even assuming a 100% overage, that puts the cost for 7.5 years on Mars at less than the Debacle in Iraq. And we learn about how to survive on another planet and how to travel between them. And we get 4-5 outposts on the Red Planet waiting for a refit to serve for future missions.
Yes, the money would be better spent on robots. If you don't ever want to get off this bug-infested, overpopulated, over-exploited, humid, warm, sticky mudball.
I, on the other hand, would gladly fly on a mission with a 90% chance of death if it meant leaving Earth permanently.
And I probably won't get a camera phone unless and until it's a better cheaper and more efficient replacement for a REAL digital camera. And at that, it has to plug directly into a photo printer and unload and print just like the cameras of today.
Why in the heck would you want to print a digital picture? I thought the point of digital photography was that you could share it without killing trees. Get Gallery.
And I'd much rather have everything be Bluetooth enabled and network than carry one huge thing around. Convergence isn't nearly as efficient or effective as connectibility.
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Why couldn't they have their Rapture before the election and let the rest of us get on with our lives?
The Energia booster has the capability to lift a submarine-type nuclear reactor to LEO. Fueling it once it gets there is the problem. I don't think space-based construction of interplanetary craft will take off until we have an elevator that can lift fuel cheaply.
WTF? I guess it didn't work. The link is http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com
Wake me when we get a launch system that actually goes somewhere.
The reactor wouldn't be on until it reached orbit, and even if it did explode it would probably sink to the bottom of the ocean like one of the dozen or so nuclear submarines that have been lost. Once in orbit our atmosphere would protect us from any problems. And if it was a pebble-bed reactor (as I'm sure it would be, since they're mechanically simpler than an active-control reactor), the chances of an accident would be far less.
If you're concerned about radioactive waste in the air, coal power is the straw man you want to beat up, not NASA.
One of the myriad design flaws of the shuttle is that if something goes wrong on liftoff that doesn't result in the total destruction of the shuttle, the crew is supposed to get out of their seats, climb down a ladder, and jump out of the craft while it's moving at a few times the speed of sound a few dozen miles off the ground while accelerating at multiple g's.
Not like the good old days of capsules with escape rockets that could be activated by ground control.
Blogs are autobiographies in progress. Most people's lives are dull and boring, but a few are interesting enough to become best sellers.
Talking is great for people you see every day, but for long-distance friends and relatives, a blog is the perfect way to go.
The 10 and 13 year-olds could also speak German and French. Needless to say I felt like a stupid/ethnocentric American the whole week.
My wife's family has been reading my blog for the past year. My family is just getting into it. This, combined with our Gallery, lets me communicate with my family while satisfying my geek urges to do it electronically.
The only things they'd have to ship would be non-perishable consumables. Things like toothpaste and deodorant and replacement parts and maybe some more seeds. A few milk goats would be nice, too, but not really necessary.
What earthlings seem to forget is that food doesn't just show up in the supermarket, and water isn't spontaneously generated by clouds; everything on earth has been recycled. There's no reason why, with a little extra help, a human couldn't survive on Mars indefinitely.
However much Atlanta sucks, Philly is worse.
Which is exactly why I set my mother-in-law up with an eMac. I don't have the time to administer her computer, especially since she's the type that would download Bonzi Buddy because "it's cute." *shudder*
You must be new here. All we care about is broadband; the cheaper the better.
NASA has been inundated by bureaucrats. If I were the administrator, the first command would be "If you're not an engineer get the fuck out of my organization."
I would go right now. Even if it was a one way trip. And if I had a 10% chance of survival. And I can turn a wrench, admin a comm system, grow my own food and run a nuclear reactor. I'd gladly live out the next 60 years of my life on Mars building a colony, if only someone somewhere would fund the trip.
Second, budget estimates put the cost at around $100 billion for up to five missions. Even assuming a 100% overage, that puts the cost for 7.5 years on Mars at less than the Debacle in Iraq. And we learn about how to survive on another planet and how to travel between them. And we get 4-5 outposts on the Red Planet waiting for a refit to serve for future missions.
I, on the other hand, would gladly fly on a mission with a 90% chance of death if it meant leaving Earth permanently.
NeoOffice/J is faster on my 1.5GHz Powerbook than MS Office. And a lot cheaper.
But I would trust Linus over you to tell me how the Linux kernel worked. That's the goal with wikipedia; trust people who know more than other people.
I'll wait till the night before the premiere, grab a torrent, watch the movie, and be disappointed. Just so Lucas doesn't get any more of my money.
Actually, I bet they'll do something similar to TiVo2Go and not throttle upload speeds for their system. Because they're bastards.
Why in the heck would you want to print a digital picture? I thought the point of digital photography was that you could share it without killing trees. Get Gallery.
And I'd much rather have everything be Bluetooth enabled and network than carry one huge thing around. Convergence isn't nearly as efficient or effective as connectibility.
Seems like you want Skype on an iBook.
If you have ever watched something "live via satellite" you've benefitted from the Cold War Pissing Contest that was the Space Race.