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#1 Re: Space Policy » NASA 2008 Budget » 2007-07-03 08:27:33
Volunteer spirit during Apollo?
I'd believe that if Apollo wasn't such a bloat on the budget. Gemini? Maybe. I'm quite fond of the Gemini program from a technical history standpoint.
I'm not even going to touch on the family point, because that is completely a matter of perception.
But I don't think there's any less of that, you could say, dreamer mentality in this generation. We just lack a common competitor (I'm not counting the Chinese quite yet) for us to get all together against. Americans typically don't get their act together unless they're someone to compete or fight against (think about what brought us out of the Depression--a world war).
Not trying to argue, but "kids these days" type of comments aren't exactly helping us kids to want to pick up the slack when people retire.
#2 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Look Out Research! » 2007-07-02 09:38:25
I bet many of you check NASAwatch, but I found one entry today rather disheartening.
And NASA wonders why a lot of my colleagues in school are getting into the private sector instead?
Sorry if this is old news or spam.
#3 Re: Space Policy » NASA 2008 Budget » 2007-07-02 07:49:14
That's a very nice article there, cIclops.
You'd think by now people would figure out throwing money at social problems hasn't really been working.
What ever happened to the volunteering spirit to put forth effort without looking for their hands to be filled with gold...The desire to achieve for the betterment man and of having a job that needs your talents to make it happen....
And not to sound cynical, but when was this apparent golden age? There hasn't been a time since the before Wrights that invention hasn't been parallel with monetary gain. And even then, inventors were always looking for ways to sell their products.
#4 Re: Unmanned probes » Cavern exploration » 2007-06-29 15:17:08
Admittedly, finding said "holes" is actually rather easy on a Martian surface as opposed to the Earth's surface. The problem with most nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology is that plants and such get in the way, but presto, Mars doesn't have that problem. NIR and ultrasonics even could be used more readily (though they're a mite expensive).
What might not make this such an enthusiastic venture is tectonics. Mind you, I'm more of an engineer than a scientist, so this is speculation on my part. How much do we actually know about Martian tectonics? Is the risk worth the gain?
#5 Re: Not So Free Chat » Is something going on? » 2007-06-29 15:09:49
You might have gotten linked somewhere big, or something brought up your google hits. This was one of the first places that popped up when I was doing Mars research for the project I'm on.
Clearly you all did something right.
#6 Re: Youth Group / Educational Outreach » An Educational Video Game » 2007-06-29 14:57:30
Most plans I've seen rely heavily on abundant nuclear energy
Yes, we were going to start looking into that too (to some extent this phase is a lot of "if you have parts A, B, and C, then we can do such and such activities). But thank you for reminding me to expand my energy document. 
Overall, for example, there is a nitrogen shortage on Mars, but for small populations (i.e, < a million) you can mine nitrate beds as long as you have enough energy.
Well that's quite useful. And we're not making it a very big colony, so that's very pertinent. In fact, it's more of a base than a colony, with possibly later additions of a true colony so to speak if the game concept gets accepted into the next grant phase. But I'm supposed to look at the big picture as well.
Have you seen the Mars Home project?
No I haven't! I can't believe I missed that! Great link.
I think the most likely use for nanotech is in the manufacture of strong, lightweight materials for construction. Carbon nanotube (CNT) composites, CNT aerogels, etc. So, fancifully, you take the CO2 atmosphere, split out the O2 for lifesupport and use the carbon to create CNT composite domes.
That's what I figured, that it would be more on the materials side. And I was wondering if there was some theoretical way to split the O2 out like that. The funny thing about education is they're all about starting this nanotechnology lesson plans and areas of study, but barely have anywhere to go to develop them. But that's my headache, not yours. XD
#7 Re: Youth Group / Educational Outreach » An Educational Video Game » 2007-06-29 09:33:46
Hello all, new here. I'd almost given up that I'd get membership!
Anyway, I'm an intern at a company that develops "serious games" (we all hate the term) and the project I've been given the research for is a space game.
Considering the awesome opportunities for education and outreach in a Mars setting, that was our chosen focus (for this phase). While a finished product is going to take YEARS and probably a lot of headaches, the current research and module and some graphics phase we're in is pretty fun.
I've already done a fair bit of research already, and we've figured out the basics of the layout of the base, but there are a few things I'd like to bounce off you all.
I'm currently trying to develop a few problem scenarios within some educational standards. One idea we came up with involved mining (not strip mining, though, don't want to mess up the planet right away) and another involved the maintenance and placement of remote science stations.
The last one I'm trying to explore, though, is giving me a little trouble. And it involves life support and growing food. I've got the basics of the biology down (had to take a refresher, last time I had biology was junior high, thank goodness I have friends that major in it) but how it all works together has made me hit a bit of a wall.
So, to boil it all down, what I'd like is some up to date discussion on what's going on with life support systems for proposed colonies. Are biodome-like systems old news? What sorts of things have been proven to work with food (I know hydroponics is nifty, I did that at space camp way back in '95)? Can concepts like the nitrogen and carbon cycles be synthetically done? Anything found in nanotechnology (I know, it's a buzz word, this is an NSF grant)?
Hit me with your best sources and even previous threads (though I have been sifting through them, some really exciting discussions!) Don't worry about how complicated any of the concepts are, I'm an Aerospace Engineering student, if I don't know it, I at least have the sense to look it up. 
And if you have anything that might help with anything involving mining or other instrumentation out there too, more information is better. I'll be fishing around in the threads when I can as well.
Hopefully that's all clear. I'll be sure to check the forum regularly.
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