Virgin Galactic's suborbital vehicle does not have the capabilities required to reach low Earth orbit, and this is not going to change anytime soon. They would need to charter Falcon rockets from SpaceX or something similar.
On the other hand, it is interesting to speculate whether a true space tourism industry is possible. If prices for access to orbit were slashed tenfold, I suppose you could draw on a pool of thousands of clients.
You're effectively comparing one hypothetical model against the other. The models address conditions many decades from now. You cannot possibly make a dependable judgement as to which one makes sense.
The James Web Space Telescope will also reside in the Earth-Moon L2 point, and AFAIK it will transmit data directly to Earth, so communication from/to L2 should not be an issue.
The masters of contemporary sci-fi (Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds) are surpassed only by precious few from the celebrated "classics." Those would be Clarke and Herbert.
"Detection of broadband signals from Earth such as AM radio,
FM radio, and television picture and sound would be
extremely difficult even at a fraction of a light-year
distant from the Sun. For example, a TV picture having 5
MHz of bandwidth and 5 MWatts of power could not be detected
beyond the solar system even with a radio telescope with 100
times the sensitivity of the 305 meter diameter Arecibo
telescope."
SETI@home FAQ
I would also recommend Celestia, because in addition to simulating the night sky it lets you "travel" to points of interests -- the planets and nearby stars, so you can view them from different angles. Lively modding community around that one, too.
No, dear A. Coward, Slashdot karma is not really a primary concern of mine. I ask the question because I hope ReactOS may become an alternative to the next Ubuntu LTS edition -- an easy-to-confugure and use solution for home users and small businesses. And, thinking of games and certain productivity tools, it would be great to have a free Windows clone. I think that adding Debian-style packet management to such a platform -- no, integrating it into ReactOS, as opposed to making it an optional addition, will be a great thing.
About gameplay physics: yes, I know a game that comes close to "real-universe physics in a space environment," meaning mostly that momentum is conserved. And it ain't Orbiter, although that one is a riot. Guess what: the game is actually fun. Link to game (Bonus: game is based on Babylon 5).
I foresee that once next year there are solar arrays on either side of the ISS and it becomes symmetrical, people will suddenly stop referring to it as a "sad joke." It's all about aesthetics, folks:]
Fair enough. I only disagree on the time scale for adopting fusion reactor technology. According to the people behind the $20 billion ITER project, the first commercially viable fusion power plant is expected to be online by 2050.
Why did the parent get moded informative? Multiple trips around the sun, close passes with planetary bodies, and all that for a trip to Mars? Gravity assists are used only for missions to the outer planets; Mars launches are set every 2-3 years, when the two planets are close to each other, and the transfer orbit is more or less direct.
From the interview with Alastair Reynolds:
"If Alastair Reynolds ends up pairing the good Doctor with Sky's rabid porpoise, somebody had better watch out!"
"Moving Mars" is something of a sequel to another of Greg Bears' book -- "Heads," which I enjoyed more. It tells the story of the first experiments with the technology that later, well, moved Mars. And it all takes place on the Moon, before it becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth. "Moving Mars" is about the distrust of stable societies towards looser social organization; "Heads" is about the hypocrisy of organized (modern) religion.
Slashdot Mirror
Revolutionary 3D render, more like.
Virgin Galactic's suborbital vehicle does not have the capabilities required to reach low Earth orbit, and this is not going to change anytime soon. They would need to charter Falcon rockets from SpaceX or something similar. On the other hand, it is interesting to speculate whether a true space tourism industry is possible. If prices for access to orbit were slashed tenfold, I suppose you could draw on a pool of thousands of clients.
You're effectively comparing one hypothetical model against the other. The models address conditions many decades from now. You cannot possibly make a dependable judgement as to which one makes sense.
They'll either die on Mars, die taking off, or die getting there.
Those people have been swindled out of their admission fee and not one of them is getting outside the Earth's atmosphere anytime soon.
The James Web Space Telescope will also reside in the Earth-Moon L2 point, and AFAIK it will transmit data directly to Earth, so communication from/to L2 should not be an issue.
I guess this is the right time to forecast that, once again, quality information is going to cost money?
The masters of contemporary sci-fi (Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds) are surpassed only by precious few from the celebrated "classics." Those would be Clarke and Herbert.
"Detection of broadband signals from Earth such as AM radio, FM radio, and television picture and sound would be extremely difficult even at a fraction of a light-year distant from the Sun. For example, a TV picture having 5 MHz of bandwidth and 5 MWatts of power could not be detected beyond the solar system even with a radio telescope with 100 times the sensitivity of the 305 meter diameter Arecibo telescope." SETI@home FAQ
That's the intro cinematic for Warhammer Mark of Chaos, and apparently there are also a lot of rickrolls out there entitled Elder Scroll V trailer.
Launch windows for Hohmann transfer orbits occur at intervals of 780 days, and the one-way trip takes about 220 days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_exploration#Launch_windows
I would also recommend Celestia, because in addition to simulating the night sky it lets you "travel" to points of interests -- the planets and nearby stars, so you can view them from different angles. Lively modding community around that one, too.
Japanese and European science/tech validation space missions have also used ion propulsion.
No, dear A. Coward, Slashdot karma is not really a primary concern of mine. I ask the question because I hope ReactOS may become an alternative to the next Ubuntu LTS edition -- an easy-to-confugure and use solution for home users and small businesses. And, thinking of games and certain productivity tools, it would be great to have a free Windows clone. I think that adding Debian-style packet management to such a platform -- no, integrating it into ReactOS, as opposed to making it an optional addition, will be a great thing.
So, in theory this should work with ReactOS when they are both finished, right?
About gameplay physics: yes, I know a game that comes close to "real-universe physics in a space environment," meaning mostly that momentum is conserved. And it ain't Orbiter, although that one is a riot. Guess what: the game is actually fun. Link to game (Bonus: game is based on Babylon 5).
So, the Singularity is going to run on Windows Vienna?
I foresee that once next year there are solar arrays on either side of the ISS and it becomes symmetrical, people will suddenly stop referring to it as a "sad joke." It's all about aesthetics, folks :]
Fair enough. I only disagree on the time scale for adopting fusion reactor technology. According to the people behind the $20 billion ITER project, the first commercially viable fusion power plant is expected to be online by 2050.
Why did the parent get moded informative? Multiple trips around the sun, close passes with planetary bodies, and all that for a trip to Mars? Gravity assists are used only for missions to the outer planets; Mars launches are set every 2-3 years, when the two planets are close to each other, and the transfer orbit is more or less direct.
Firefox's default theme? Pimpzilla FTW!
Damn, you're right.
From the interview with Alastair Reynolds:
"If Alastair Reynolds ends up pairing the good Doctor with Sky's rabid porpoise, somebody had better watch out!"
A sobering thought, indeed.
"Moving Mars" is something of a sequel to another of Greg Bears' book -- "Heads," which I enjoyed more. It tells the story of the first experiments with the technology that later, well, moved Mars. And it all takes place on the Moon, before it becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth. "Moving Mars" is about the distrust of stable societies towards looser social organization; "Heads" is about the hypocrisy of organized (modern) religion.
Yeah, AC is right: initially the tag was used to mark all things Microsoft; now look at Slashdot's frontpage, and it's all over the place.
here it is.
P.S.
When I have the money, I promise to buy The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Arr.