This reminds me of technology that has been under study for over a decade (and about a century for Sabatier) for generating chemical feedstocks on Earth and fuel on Mars. Granted, that just moves the carbon around, but this proposal even mentions carbon dioxide sequestration.
This new process (or method) may cut out one step of the process, making the process simpler and easier for Mars and Earth alike!
That sounds interesting, though I don't have time to read more (plus the blog didn't let me in). Does this explain why some plants have red or purple leaves? Perhaps the greens just never evicted them from their niche?
The statement
Models indicate the planet is either rocky like the Earth or covered in an ocean is about as useful as saying
The vehicle is something between an inner tube and an Orion" As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
The other replies cover the rest of the territory... By the way, where can I get an advisory group of models?
This idea might have some liability issues, but why couldn't a utility company install its own solar panels on other people's structures? They could pick a new housing development or office complex. They could install and service the hardware (like telco companies do now), and residents would see some decrease in their energy bill.
Has anyone developed this idea? Is it just too complicated?
"My sources" also now tell me that there was indeed a Progress reentry some hours after this reported encounter. One speculates that the pilot read the warning bulletin, saw a meteor, and "put 2 and 2 together and got 5".
The risk to people is quite low, but the chance of debris striking the Pacific Ocean (a large area) is higher since controlled reentries are often targetted for that large "empty" area. The risk is nearly cancelled out by the human population of shipping and air routes being (on average) nearly zero.
Ah, now I see some more info. One of these cars would be fine for me, commuting 30 miles in Houston (TX). One problem with an all-electric car here is using the battery to cool the cabin air in summer. The winters aren't THAT cold, so I could probably do without cabin heating.
Of course, I still can't forget when that car (NOT an SUV) rear-ended the car BEHIND me on the highway, my 4-door sedan was nearly totalled, and my passenger and I walked away without a scratch. Personally, I'd like something like the Smart ForFour (discontinued).
I've heard that some people can get nauseated in an anechoic chamber (being disconnected from a normal environmental input). An anechoic chamber lined with this stuff would make a neat sideshow attraction, sort of the opposite of the house of mirrors.
No one complains about Goldstar customer service when their VCR burns their house down. Or do they? Anyway, I've heard of other appliances (usually TV's) starting fires, and that's usually where it all ends.
This is really more an issue of appliance "standby" mode, isn't it?
A couple of years ago, the government (i.e. taxing authority) web sites dropped the pictures and sketches of homes. (I don't think they ever had them for commercial properties.) The web sites now say "Texas law prevents us from displaying residential sketches on our website." Of course, you can still go to the tax office for that info.
Google found this:
Title 1, Subtitle D, Chapter 25, Sec. 027:
(a) Information in appraisal records may not be posted on the Internet if the information is a photograph, sketch, or floor plan of an improvement to real property that is designed primarily for use as a human residence.
(b) This section does not apply to an aerial photograph that depicts five or more separately owned buildings.
At 850km, the "lighter" objects (high area-to-mass ratio, e.g. insulation, thin plates) will decay within 30 to 60 years. A 1cm steel sphere at that altitude, for example, will only drop about 80km over the next 100 years.
NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News has general articles, and always ends with a launch table and "box score". We'll have to wait for the next issue, but China has more than tripled its cataloged debris. With this one event, it's now got about a quarter of what the US and Russia each have, pulling well ahead of France and locking in its position in 3rd place.
I'm really curious about what's going on behind the Chinese wall. I know that NASA in no way controls what the US DoD does in space, and can only nag the administration to keep its promises. NASA scrambles the same way no matter who does the test. Does the Chinese Minsistry of Science (or whatever) butt heads with the Ministry of Defense? I look forward to reading the history, many years from now.
Add windstorms to the list of "what ifs". We get plenty of sun here on the Gulf Coast, but it'd be a shame if the next hurricane removed your solar panels. It would be even worse if the panels made it more likely you'd lose the whole roof. (Hopefully a contractor could answer that one.)
The problem is our neighbor dumping nearly 1000 kg of satellite fragments into the street. Hundreds of bits, travelling at 7.4 km/sec, at an altitude (~850 km) where they will stay up for a long time (even the lightest flakes will be up there for at least 30 years, heavier chunks maybe for hundreds of years). The US has about 1.5 million kg (of all types) in orbit, Russia/CIS about 2.9 million kg, and China about 0.2 million kg.
IMHO it's the same as other environmental arguments: do we hold everyone to the same standards, or do we allow developing polluters to continue while we limit the worst polluters? We're out there trying to clean up the huge pile of trash we've built up in the street, and our neighbor is dumping another bucket on top. "Hey, man! Cut that out!"
It's sort of like the difference between underground and atmospheric nuke tests. The US anti-missile tests are (so far) relatively low altitude, and usually on descending tracks. That's not exactly ASAT, I know, but it's an effort to minimize orbital debris.
I wonder if there's push and pull within the Chinese space community? China is a member of the IADC, which has one goal of reducing junk. NASA and the DoD sometimes argue over debris-producing "events", though I think the DoD wins those matches. Debris threats to the Shuttle, ISS, and commercial space are a big deal, and the DoD doesn't want its junk to punch a hole through someone's crew module.
Great info! I just want to add, because people tend to forget, that Isp and Thrust are related but separate quantities. Heavy hydrocarbons and polymers are good first-stage propellants because they give high thrust (F=ma). They use the big thrust to get up off the pad, then drop those stages for the higher-Isp propellants.
Slashdot Mirror
This reminds me of technology that has been under study for over a decade (and about a century for Sabatier) for generating chemical feedstocks on Earth and fuel on Mars. Granted, that just moves the carbon around, but this proposal even mentions carbon dioxide sequestration.
This new process (or method) may cut out one step of the process, making the process simpler and easier for Mars and Earth alike!
That sounds interesting, though I don't have time to read more (plus the blog didn't let me in). Does this explain why some plants have red or purple leaves? Perhaps the greens just never evicted them from their niche?
The other replies cover the rest of the territory... By the way, where can I get an advisory group of models?
This idea might have some liability issues, but why couldn't a utility company install its own solar panels on other people's structures? They could pick a new housing development or office complex. They could install and service the hardware (like telco companies do now), and residents would see some decrease in their energy bill.
Has anyone developed this idea? Is it just too complicated?
You could use one of these (scroll down), for starters.
"My sources" also now tell me that there was indeed a Progress reentry some hours after this reported encounter. One speculates that the pilot read the warning bulletin, saw a meteor, and "put 2 and 2 together and got 5".
If it does happen, though, there's always the chance that it involves mysterious princesses, psionic powers, and potiential cosmic destruction.
The risk to people is quite low, but the chance of debris striking the Pacific Ocean (a large area) is higher since controlled reentries are often targetted for that large "empty" area. The risk is nearly cancelled out by the human population of shipping and air routes being (on average) nearly zero.
Maybe we can learn how to better keep county commissioners, lawyers, or moon dust out of our underground dens.
Ah, now I see some more info. One of these cars would be fine for me, commuting 30 miles in Houston (TX). One problem with an all-electric car here is using the battery to cool the cabin air in summer. The winters aren't THAT cold, so I could probably do without cabin heating.
Of course, I still can't forget when that car (NOT an SUV) rear-ended the car BEHIND me on the highway, my 4-door sedan was nearly totalled, and my passenger and I walked away without a scratch. Personally, I'd like something like the Smart ForFour (discontinued).
of consent?
It would be like a Gee Bee racer. Doolittle was one of the few who could tame this beast, and he quit while he was ahead.
How would you rate a car that might roll over when you cranked the engine? "Mad Max"?
I've heard that some people can get nauseated in an anechoic chamber (being disconnected from a normal environmental input). An anechoic chamber lined with this stuff would make a neat sideshow attraction, sort of the opposite of the house of mirrors.
No one complains about Goldstar customer service when their VCR burns their house down. Or do they? Anyway, I've heard of other appliances (usually TV's) starting fires, and that's usually where it all ends.
This is really more an issue of appliance "standby" mode, isn't it?
Slightly OT, but it's funny how Asimov used the idea of MULTIVAC in different ways, e.g. The Last Question vs. The Machine that Won the War.
A couple of years ago, the government (i.e. taxing authority) web sites dropped the pictures and sketches of homes. (I don't think they ever had them for commercial properties.) The web sites now say "Texas law prevents us from displaying residential sketches on our website." Of course, you can still go to the tax office for that info.
Google found this: Title 1, Subtitle D, Chapter 25, Sec. 027:
(a) Information in appraisal records may not be posted on the Internet if the information is a photograph, sketch, or floor plan of an improvement to real property that is designed primarily for use as a human residence.
(b) This section does not apply to an aerial photograph that depicts five or more separately owned buildings.
At 850km, the "lighter" objects (high area-to-mass ratio, e.g. insulation, thin plates) will decay within 30 to 60 years. A 1cm steel sphere at that altitude, for example, will only drop about 80km over the next 100 years.
NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News has general articles, and always ends with a launch table and "box score". We'll have to wait for the next issue, but China has more than tripled its cataloged debris. With this one event, it's now got about a quarter of what the US and Russia each have, pulling well ahead of France and locking in its position in 3rd place.
I'm really curious about what's going on behind the Chinese wall. I know that NASA in no way controls what the US DoD does in space, and can only nag the administration to keep its promises. NASA scrambles the same way no matter who does the test. Does the Chinese Minsistry of Science (or whatever) butt heads with the Ministry of Defense? I look forward to reading the history, many years from now.
Homer: Oh, boy. It's gonna take a lot of fireworks to clean this place up.
I did that once, but little paper boats were always clogging the turbines.
Perversely, the list of things that'll stunt your growth is always growing.
Add windstorms to the list of "what ifs". We get plenty of sun here on the Gulf Coast, but it'd be a shame if the next hurricane removed your solar panels. It would be even worse if the panels made it more likely you'd lose the whole roof. (Hopefully a contractor could answer that one.)
The problem is our neighbor dumping nearly 1000 kg of satellite fragments into the street. Hundreds of bits, travelling at 7.4 km/sec, at an altitude (~850 km) where they will stay up for a long time (even the lightest flakes will be up there for at least 30 years, heavier chunks maybe for hundreds of years). The US has about 1.5 million kg (of all types) in orbit, Russia/CIS about 2.9 million kg, and China about 0.2 million kg.
IMHO it's the same as other environmental arguments: do we hold everyone to the same standards, or do we allow developing polluters to continue while we limit the worst polluters? We're out there trying to clean up the huge pile of trash we've built up in the street, and our neighbor is dumping another bucket on top. "Hey, man! Cut that out!"
It's sort of like the difference between underground and atmospheric nuke tests. The US anti-missile tests are (so far) relatively low altitude, and usually on descending tracks. That's not exactly ASAT, I know, but it's an effort to minimize orbital debris.
I wonder if there's push and pull within the Chinese space community? China is a member of the IADC, which has one goal of reducing junk. NASA and the DoD sometimes argue over debris-producing "events", though I think the DoD wins those matches. Debris threats to the Shuttle, ISS, and commercial space are a big deal, and the DoD doesn't want its junk to punch a hole through someone's crew module.
Great info! I just want to add, because people tend to forget, that Isp and Thrust are related but separate quantities. Heavy hydrocarbons and polymers are good first-stage propellants because they give high thrust (F=ma). They use the big thrust to get up off the pad, then drop those stages for the higher-Isp propellants.