Have they finally got that troublesome N1 working then? No?
How and with what rocket are they going to use to achieve lunar orbit? What do they have that can put the required mass into orbit? The only rocket (in my knowledge) the Russians had capable of lofting the required mass reliably was the Energia, yet with the fall of the USSR the project floundered and was scrapped. This begs the question, what spacecraft do they currently have capable of getting to a lunar orbit? I am sure they prob could use a number of Soyuz type flights to assemble a lunar mission in orbit, but to build a base, methinks youd need something heftier..
Also 'as early as' seems a bit of a joke in the article, that's an age away. When you look at how much progress was made in the early days of the space age to the present, you'd think we were regressing. Still, if this is a genuine threat and not just chest beating, I see it as a good thing.
I like the idea, but where would you use it? 10 ft isn't high enough to clear houses, fences, trees etc. So you would still be restricted to using the road system. Then there's the problem of tunnels, bridges and overhangs which could mess your day up when cruising along 10 ft above the ground...
Would these things even be allowed to hover along roads? I'd imagine they would pose a considerable hazard to regular traffic who wouldn't be expecting a 'bunny hop' overtake.
I don't see a market for it in the real world, the mega rich have helicopters and personal jets already.
As annoying as DX10 is, i'm more frustrated with the relatively stealthy move to SM3.0 only games.
I consider myself tech literate, but I don't keep up with every trend/fad in the gaming scene or worry myself with what shader model my card has. I have an oldish PC, but it still more than adequately runs everything I throw at it, on medium settings, fine (it's an XP3200, 2gigs with a Radeon 9800pro).
I ordered Bioshock, it came - it didn't work. The box simply states DX 9.0C compatible and lists a 6600 as the bare minimum (a 9800 pro is 'better') - no warning, no big red sticker. I'm not alone, my local store has never seen so many returns... the official forums are bombarded.
This kinda compatibility mess is surely doing more harm to the PC gaming platform than DX10's adoption, what ever happened to legacy support? Valve's survey shows 50% of gamers don't have SM3.0 capable cards yet...
I'm not going to upgrade for a couple of games, not when it runs everything else fine.
But his Vista experience sounds awfully familiar to my Linux experience. Stuff not working, rubbish drivers, endless fiddling, funny quirks, inability to get on with the work in hand, etc. I can't defend Vista (it's rubbish), but I honestly think he's better off sticking with tried and tested XP - if he's after a smooth ride.
Linux is great, but as a 'hassle free' desktop OS it has a long way to go (imo).
Regardless of whether it's critical or not, why don't they use this as an oppertunity to test their ability to fix such issues in space? Try the emergency sealant/filler/whatever and see how effectively it works in a *real* scenario.
Sooner or later it's no doubt going to be needed, so why not build up practical experience?
I've been using a firefox extension known as Stylish to alter the backgrounds for many sites, i've got black Google, black Gmail, black Youtube, black Slashdot, etc. I did it largely because I found it easier on the eyes, but it massively improved the appearance of many sites as well, watching videos on youtube is a lot more natural with a black background for videos.
Rutan has done a lot of work for Northrop before, he built scaled RCS models of the B2 bomber, for example.
Given that is *highly* classified work there must have been close ties, and high levels of trust involved between both parties for some time. This could be good news, to open up space proper the bigger aerospace companies need to get in on the act - just hope they don't stifle Rutan's creativity in the process.
Not a film, but Babylon5 opened the floodgates to full on CGI use in TV series. The large highly dynamic space battles were also a first generally (afaik).
B5 was the death knell for miniature work in TV (Trek, etc), Foundation went on to do the effects for DS9 and Voyager. A lot of other shows, such as BSG & SG, owe a great deal to the pioneering work done back then - and it was all done on a shoestring budget (read: networked Amigas in an apartment with cables running through rabbit cages!).
Until B5 most TV producers didn't think good CGI was a possibility with the budgets/timescales limitations they had to work with. A lot of jaws dropped when B5 first aired, mine certainly did (it's what inspired me to became a 3D artist).
I really am not surprised by this, I used to be quite a fan of GW products ~13 years ago. At the time they were quite cheap and you could collect armies relatively easily, they had a greater range too (I collected EPIC mostly). Then slowly but surely they began to ramp up the prices, first they made all £3.99 blisters £4 (not a big deal), then every couple of months £4 would change into £5 into £6. They began dropping gaming systems they couldn't market easily, EPIC got the chop - they replaced it with a LOTR themed Warhammer to tie in with the movies. Even the official rag White Dwarf has changed from a hobby magazine into an overpriced catalogue.
When I first started they would let you play with custom armies in-store, if you had the odd model from another dev they didn't care, if you didn't have a Terminator with a Flamer they would let you use a normal one and put a counter by it. Nowadays the staff are nazi's, they wont let you play with a badly painted army, they wont let you use other miniatures in your army, you have to have the proper model for everything (unless it's a custom conversion using their gear). They wont even let you play their old games there anymore. The higher ups only want people to see in-store what they can buy, in-store gaming is now product placement, using the unpaid kids who game there these days.
Since GW floated they have tried to screw everyone over, and a few of their big name developers walked (unsurprisingly). They are now in a catch 22; their steep price has deterred many from pursuing the hobby and they have driven away the vets (who now use Ebay). The result is lower sales, necessitating yet higher unit costs. In the not too distant future I can see them having to bail on miniature gaming altogether, and simply use their IP for video games and literature.
Talking of games - I wonder if this will have an impact on the modding scene? There are an awful lot of WH/40k themed mods, most of which directly compete with the official games (and some tabletop systems). Time will tell I guess...
They really are shooting themselves in the head with this one, utterly retarded given their predicament.
Don't buy it, make your point in a way that is meaningful.
There are far better games available already on the PC. GOW is pretty weak when put alongside existing PC games.. HL2, UT2K4, Battlefield, etc. all offer superior gameplay - there's lots of great mods out there as well.
HALO1/2 have both bombed on the PC due to their blatant 'console friendly' design, can't see GOW doing much better either - not with UT3 around the corner.
Why is there such a big fuss over China launching a new boomer?
China is already in possession of an outdated ballistic missile sub, they are simply building a replacement class. Yet news sites and the 'omg China' crowd seem to be thinking it's a sign of aggression, and similar nonsense. Here in the UK the govenment has recnetly raised a bill for ~£20 Billion for a replacement SSBN system.
As to it's secrecy, I've seen models and diagrams of it for years on various blogs and military tech sites, the fact they were building a new submarine was not secret. It was also know that it would look (unsurprisingly) just like the current russian boats. All China has managed to do is keep it's construction somewhat secret. China can track satellites, and it's not hard to hide a sub (most facilities have hangers for them) - this is not an intelligence coup, it's simply China showing the West their new toy. We do it via public launches and bottle smashing, China simply parks theirs outside and waits for someone to notice.
As much as I admire Tesla, I think you have to call bullshit on that possibility.
If such a weapon existed (and had been demonstrated) I rather suspect the US wouldn't have gone through the expense of developing nuclear weaponry, stealth bombers and a whole host of other weapons systems. The war against Germany/Japan would have been over before it began. What is the point in having such a system if you don't intend to use it when the heat is on?
Mind you, the conspiracy nutters would prob argue that it was too secret to be used on anything less than Godzilla...
Assuming the worst case scenario plays out (ISS is abandoned and ends up providing a spectacular fireworks show), what will the knock on effect be on manned orbital space flight?
The Russians have no need to continue flying manned Soyuz without the ISS, and lets face it space tourism isn't at the stage where it could sustain their entire manned space program. The Americans are already in trouble with their manned program. The shuttle is only flying to finish the ISS - it would be retired tomorrow otherwise. CEV (the Shuttle replacement) is having all sorts of technical design problems with the launchers and is still only a 'powerpoint project', given it is really only a 'quick & safe' replacement for the shuttle - chances are it could get axed if there's no ISS for it to ferry people to.
Can't really see the Lunar/Martian missions happening either, at least not unless China makes steps that way.. and lets be honest their space program isn't going accomplish anything greater than what the russians (who they are copying) already have. So overall the way I see it, No ISS = No Manned Orbital flight for a long time?
The Inuit seem to get modern clothing, technology and stuff just fine. They have land cruisers, ski-doo's and all manner of mechanical equipment (along with fuel, oil etc). If they can get all that surely they can get the same food anyone else gets delivered. They do not need to kill rare whales to survive.
They can shove their 'tradition' up their collective arses, they no longer respect it. Reality is they want the best of both worlds, they want the convenience of the modern world and perks of their protected status. Hence you have them 'traditionally' hunting whales with explosive harpoons from sonar equipped vessels. If it was 2 men in a row boat, with a sharp stick you could maybe sympathise more...
I'd much rather they focussed on making chips more energy efficient than faster. At the moment barring a few high end applications most of the cpu power on the majority of current processors is largely unused.
I dream of the day when my gaming computer doesn't need any active cooling, or heat sinks the size of houses. Focussing on efficiency would also force developers to write better code, honestly its unbelievable how badly some programs run and how resource intensive they are for what they do.
Clearly a product designed by naive boffins who don't have a clue what the real world is like.
Would be really reassuring to know that the egress route is to dangerous for a fellow human to risk coming to help you, yet you have to do it in the arms of a clumsy robot, that probably has poor situational awareness and mobility. Personally i'd shoot the bloody robot and take my chances waiting (if I was conscious and able to do so).
Only possible scenario I can see it being vaguely useful would be dragging people out of burning wreckage/houses, but even then it would need to cocoon the casualty, or they would just get grilled a little bit faster.
I guess these things are too expensive to be sacrificed exposing minefields/IED's?
Personally I've been using Paintshop-Pro (PSP) for years now instead of Photoshop. I personally find Photoshop's UI extremely clumsy and bloated in comparison - when I switched to PSP my productivity sky rocketed. I'm primarily a texturer/3D modeller so never really play too much with colour print profiles, but afaik PSP does have a lot of options enabling you to play with the various CMYK profiles (no idea if they are up to the described task though).. PSP also is compatible with most photoshop plug-ins, which is a bonus. PSP is not free, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper than Photoshop, and in my eyes just as capable.
I try GIMP every so often, but to me it feels like it was designed by people who don't actually have to use the software, lots of features but very clumsy to use.
Societies seem to need a common enemy to unite against. Where there isn't an existing enemy there is always a need to conjour one up, it pacifies the population to an extent and restores national pride. Ideally the 'enemy' is one that won't fight back, because frankly a real war spanners it.
In the west we conjured up the GWOT, for a while the general population got behind the governments, national pride was restored and the defence industry had a field day. I would imagine the Russians are doing the same. By hyping up and vilifying the West, they will largely take peoples eyes off their domestic problems and help unite the population. I know a lot of Russians, most seem to want to to go back to the old days in some ways, they don't miss the purges but they do miss the national pride and less obvious corruption.
Regarding ABM's etc, the current ABM missiles are intended to take out a single incoming warhead, 50 or so ABM's will do jack shit against the Russian arsenal, if they wanted to blow up the planet. Even if the rockets had a 100% success rate that means they could stop at most 50 Warheads, assuming each ICBM has 5 warheads that is just 10 missiles that are countered. As for principle, well yes it must be a bit irritating - but Russia has its own (albeit obsolete) ABM system - they have about 60 or so 'Gazelle' missiles located around Moscow (iirc).
In summary: Russia has no intention of vaporising the West, they need us to beat their chest at. They know full well that M.A.D. makes a real nuclear war inconceivable, they may go up to the line but they will not cross it. Western politicians behind the scenes are probably breathing a sigh of relief - they have a new threat to hype, and one which they wont ever have to fight directly. Wouldn't want to be living in a neighbouring Baltic state right now though, as I can see the 'Bear' flexing its muscles before too long,and lets face it, the only western response will be that of harsh language.
On one hand, I really don't know if it's a good idea for politicians to read books at all, let alone speak to writers. Here in the UK someone misread 1984 and took it to be a guide book promoting the merits of the police state, complete with instructions.
On the the other hand though, if the writers really pushed the boat out and highlighted the - ever so real - danger of space based terrorism, who knows, NASA may get funding to build decent spacecraft (maybe even a Star Destroyer). Wouldn't want one of them little rascals redirecting an asteroid to hit N.Y. now would we?
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You'd think MS would be glad anyone (pirate or not) was using the product and helping to hype it.
Seems like they are shooting themselves in the foot here. Think I will stick with XP...
Have they finally got that troublesome N1 working then? No?
How and with what rocket are they going to use to achieve lunar orbit? What do they have that can put the required mass into orbit? The only rocket (in my knowledge) the Russians had capable of lofting the required mass reliably was the Energia, yet with the fall of the USSR the project floundered and was scrapped. This begs the question, what spacecraft do they currently have capable of getting to a lunar orbit? I am sure they prob could use a number of Soyuz type flights to assemble a lunar mission in orbit, but to build a base, methinks youd need something heftier..
Also 'as early as' seems a bit of a joke in the article, that's an age away. When you look at how much progress was made in the early days of the space age to the present, you'd think we were regressing. Still, if this is a genuine threat and not just chest beating, I see it as a good thing.
I like the idea, but where would you use it? 10 ft isn't high enough to clear houses, fences, trees etc. So you would still be restricted to using the road system. Then there's the problem of tunnels, bridges and overhangs which could mess your day up when cruising along 10 ft above the ground...
Would these things even be allowed to hover along roads? I'd imagine they would pose a considerable hazard to regular traffic who wouldn't be expecting a 'bunny hop' overtake.
I don't see a market for it in the real world, the mega rich have helicopters and personal jets already.
Do they have little speed cameras to catch people with fat pipes? :P
As annoying as DX10 is, i'm more frustrated with the relatively stealthy move to SM3.0 only games.
I consider myself tech literate, but I don't keep up with every trend/fad in the gaming scene or worry myself with what shader model my card has. I have an oldish PC, but it still more than adequately runs everything I throw at it, on medium settings, fine (it's an XP3200, 2gigs with a Radeon 9800pro).
I ordered Bioshock, it came - it didn't work. The box simply states DX 9.0C compatible and lists a 6600 as the bare minimum (a 9800 pro is 'better') - no warning, no big red sticker. I'm not alone, my local store has never seen so many returns... the official forums are bombarded.
This kinda compatibility mess is surely doing more harm to the PC gaming platform than DX10's adoption, what ever happened to legacy support? Valve's survey shows 50% of gamers don't have SM3.0 capable cards yet...
I'm not going to upgrade for a couple of games, not when it runs everything else fine.
But his Vista experience sounds awfully familiar to my Linux experience. Stuff not working, rubbish drivers, endless fiddling, funny quirks, inability to get on with the work in hand, etc. I can't defend Vista (it's rubbish), but I honestly think he's better off sticking with tried and tested XP - if he's after a smooth ride.
Linux is great, but as a 'hassle free' desktop OS it has a long way to go (imo).
Regardless of whether it's critical or not, why don't they use this as an oppertunity to test their ability to fix such issues in space? Try the emergency sealant/filler/whatever and see how effectively it works in a *real* scenario.
Sooner or later it's no doubt going to be needed, so why not build up practical experience?
Whats the big fuss over mission choice?
Dune2 had that sorted rather well years ago - nothing new there.
I've been using a firefox extension known as Stylish to alter the backgrounds for many sites, i've got black Google, black Gmail, black Youtube, black Slashdot, etc. I did it largely because I found it easier on the eyes, but it massively improved the appearance of many sites as well, watching videos on youtube is a lot more natural with a black background for videos.
Rutan has done a lot of work for Northrop before, he built scaled RCS models of the B2 bomber, for example.
Given that is *highly* classified work there must have been close ties, and high levels of trust involved between both parties for some time. This could be good news, to open up space proper the bigger aerospace companies need to get in on the act - just hope they don't stifle Rutan's creativity in the process.
Why not simply have the large craft land unmanned, and have a smaller lighter pod for the passengers?
Heck, go all the way and have Starship Troopers style individual pods, with small retro's and parachutes.
I'm sure I read somewhere that such a study was done (by either NASA or the Russians), as an escape system - back in the day.
Would make for one heck of a ride!
Not a film, but Babylon5 opened the floodgates to full on CGI use in TV series. The large highly dynamic space battles were also a first generally (afaik).
o ry_id=3971
B5 was the death knell for miniature work in TV (Trek, etc), Foundation went on to do the effects for DS9 and Voyager. A lot of other shows, such as BSG & SG, owe a great deal to the pioneering work done back then - and it was all done on a shoestring budget (read: networked Amigas in an apartment with cables running through rabbit cages!).
Until B5 most TV producers didn't think good CGI was a possibility with the budgets/timescales limitations they had to work with. A lot of jaws dropped when B5 first aired, mine certainly did (it's what inspired me to became a 3D artist).
CG Society has quite a nice writeup on the work: http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?st
I really am not surprised by this, I used to be quite a fan of GW products ~13 years ago. At the time they were quite cheap and you could collect armies relatively easily, they had a greater range too (I collected EPIC mostly). Then slowly but surely they began to ramp up the prices, first they made all £3.99 blisters £4 (not a big deal), then every couple of months £4 would change into £5 into £6. They began dropping gaming systems they couldn't market easily, EPIC got the chop - they replaced it with a LOTR themed Warhammer to tie in with the movies. Even the official rag White Dwarf has changed from a hobby magazine into an overpriced catalogue.
When I first started they would let you play with custom armies in-store, if you had the odd model from another dev they didn't care, if you didn't have a Terminator with a Flamer they would let you use a normal one and put a counter by it. Nowadays the staff are nazi's, they wont let you play with a badly painted army, they wont let you use other miniatures in your army, you have to have the proper model for everything (unless it's a custom conversion using their gear). They wont even let you play their old games there anymore. The higher ups only want people to see in-store what they can buy, in-store gaming is now product placement, using the unpaid kids who game there these days.
Since GW floated they have tried to screw everyone over, and a few of their big name developers walked (unsurprisingly). They are now in a catch 22; their steep price has deterred many from pursuing the hobby and they have driven away the vets (who now use Ebay). The result is lower sales, necessitating yet higher unit costs. In the not too distant future I can see them having to bail on miniature gaming altogether, and simply use their IP for video games and literature.
Talking of games - I wonder if this will have an impact on the modding scene? There are an awful lot of WH/40k themed mods, most of which directly compete with the official games (and some tabletop systems). Time will tell I guess...
They really are shooting themselves in the head with this one, utterly retarded given their predicament.
Don't buy it, make your point in a way that is meaningful.
There are far better games available already on the PC. GOW is pretty weak when put alongside existing PC games.. HL2, UT2K4, Battlefield, etc. all offer superior gameplay - there's lots of great mods out there as well.
HALO1/2 have both bombed on the PC due to their blatant 'console friendly' design, can't see GOW doing much better either - not with UT3 around the corner.
Why is there such a big fuss over China launching a new boomer?
China is already in possession of an outdated ballistic missile sub, they are simply building a replacement class. Yet news sites and the 'omg China' crowd seem to be thinking it's a sign of aggression, and similar nonsense. Here in the UK the govenment has recnetly raised a bill for ~£20 Billion for a replacement SSBN system.
As to it's secrecy, I've seen models and diagrams of it for years on various blogs and military tech sites, the fact they were building a new submarine was not secret. It was also know that it would look (unsurprisingly) just like the current russian boats. All China has managed to do is keep it's construction somewhat secret. China can track satellites, and it's not hard to hide a sub (most facilities have hangers for them) - this is not an intelligence coup, it's simply China showing the West their new toy. We do it via public launches and bottle smashing, China simply parks theirs outside and waits for someone to notice.
As much as I admire Tesla, I think you have to call bullshit on that possibility.
If such a weapon existed (and had been demonstrated) I rather suspect the US wouldn't have gone through the expense of developing nuclear weaponry, stealth bombers and a whole host of other weapons systems. The war against Germany/Japan would have been over before it began. What is the point in having such a system if you don't intend to use it when the heat is on?
Mind you, the conspiracy nutters would prob argue that it was too secret to be used on anything less than Godzilla...
Can we start calling them Agridomes, please? :P
Assuming the worst case scenario plays out (ISS is abandoned and ends up providing a spectacular fireworks show), what will the knock on effect be on manned orbital space flight?
The Russians have no need to continue flying manned Soyuz without the ISS, and lets face it space tourism isn't at the stage where it could sustain their entire manned space program. The Americans are already in trouble with their manned program. The shuttle is only flying to finish the ISS - it would be retired tomorrow otherwise. CEV (the Shuttle replacement) is having all sorts of technical design problems with the launchers and is still only a 'powerpoint project', given it is really only a 'quick & safe' replacement for the shuttle - chances are it could get axed if there's no ISS for it to ferry people to.
Can't really see the Lunar/Martian missions happening either, at least not unless China makes steps that way.. and lets be honest their space program isn't going accomplish anything greater than what the russians (who they are copying) already have. So overall the way I see it, No ISS = No Manned Orbital flight for a long time?
The Inuit seem to get modern clothing, technology and stuff just fine. They have land cruisers, ski-doo's and all manner of mechanical equipment (along with fuel, oil etc). If they can get all that surely they can get the same food anyone else gets delivered. They do not need to kill rare whales to survive.
They can shove their 'tradition' up their collective arses, they no longer respect it. Reality is they want the best of both worlds, they want the convenience of the modern world and perks of their protected status. Hence you have them 'traditionally' hunting whales with explosive harpoons from sonar equipped vessels. If it was 2 men in a row boat, with a sharp stick you could maybe sympathise more...
I'd much rather they focussed on making chips more energy efficient than faster. At the moment barring a few high end applications most of the cpu power on the majority of current processors is largely unused.
I dream of the day when my gaming computer doesn't need any active cooling, or heat sinks the size of houses. Focussing on efficiency would also force developers to write better code, honestly its unbelievable how badly some programs run and how resource intensive they are for what they do.
I personally would recommend using 'noclip', and 'iddqd' (just incase!).
Spawning at the top could lead to all sorts of clipping problems if he gets the coords wrong...
Clearly a product designed by naive boffins who don't have a clue what the real world is like.
Would be really reassuring to know that the egress route is to dangerous for a fellow human to risk coming to help you, yet you have to do it in the arms of a clumsy robot, that probably has poor situational awareness and mobility. Personally i'd shoot the bloody robot and take my chances waiting (if I was conscious and able to do so).
Only possible scenario I can see it being vaguely useful would be dragging people out of burning wreckage/houses, but even then it would need to cocoon the casualty, or they would just get grilled a little bit faster.
I guess these things are too expensive to be sacrificed exposing minefields/IED's?
Personally I've been using Paintshop-Pro (PSP) for years now instead of Photoshop. I personally find Photoshop's UI extremely clumsy and bloated in comparison - when I switched to PSP my productivity sky rocketed. I'm primarily a texturer/3D modeller so never really play too much with colour print profiles, but afaik PSP does have a lot of options enabling you to play with the various CMYK profiles (no idea if they are up to the described task though).. PSP also is compatible with most photoshop plug-ins, which is a bonus. PSP is not free, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper than Photoshop, and in my eyes just as capable.
I try GIMP every so often, but to me it feels like it was designed by people who don't actually have to use the software, lots of features but very clumsy to use.
Societies seem to need a common enemy to unite against. Where there isn't an existing enemy there is always a need to conjour one up, it pacifies the population to an extent and restores national pride. Ideally the 'enemy' is one that won't fight back, because frankly a real war spanners it.
In the west we conjured up the GWOT, for a while the general population got behind the governments, national pride was restored and the defence industry had a field day. I would imagine the Russians are doing the same. By hyping up and vilifying the West, they will largely take peoples eyes off their domestic problems and help unite the population. I know a lot of Russians, most seem to want to to go back to the old days in some ways, they don't miss the purges but they do miss the national pride and less obvious corruption.
Regarding ABM's etc, the current ABM missiles are intended to take out a single incoming warhead, 50 or so ABM's will do jack shit against the Russian arsenal, if they wanted to blow up the planet. Even if the rockets had a 100% success rate that means they could stop at most 50 Warheads, assuming each ICBM has 5 warheads that is just 10 missiles that are countered. As for principle, well yes it must be a bit irritating - but Russia has its own (albeit obsolete) ABM system - they have about 60 or so 'Gazelle' missiles located around Moscow (iirc).
In summary: Russia has no intention of vaporising the West, they need us to beat their chest at. They know full well that M.A.D. makes a real nuclear war inconceivable, they may go up to the line but they will not cross it. Western politicians behind the scenes are probably breathing a sigh of relief - they have a new threat to hype, and one which they wont ever have to fight directly. Wouldn't want to be living in a neighbouring Baltic state right now though, as I can see the 'Bear' flexing its muscles before too long,and lets face it, the only western response will be that of harsh language.
On one hand, I really don't know if it's a good idea for politicians to read books at all, let alone speak to writers. Here in the UK someone misread 1984 and took it to be a guide book promoting the merits of the police state, complete with instructions.
On the the other hand though, if the writers really pushed the boat out and highlighted the - ever so real - danger of space based terrorism, who knows, NASA may get funding to build decent spacecraft (maybe even a Star Destroyer). Wouldn't want one of them little rascals redirecting an asteroid to hit N.Y. now would we?