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#551 Re: Human missions » Kepler Prize » 2005-07-08 19:08:45
PDF file
http://www.engr.psu.edu/NewsEvents/EPS/ … ...005.pdf
mentions ERV for 2005
students’ design relies on a reaction known as the Sabatier
carbon dioxide combines with hydrogen to make CH4 oxygen and H2O, methane is fuel for the ERV's return home
#552 Re: Not So Free Chat » Race and Culture - A Changing Europe - Opening a mighty can of worms... » 2005-07-08 18:42:45
Someone please define Islamo-fascism?
Swedish ?
That's nothing comprae to what Chinese were up to, you went to a prision camp, you could be shot or to be worked to death and China's Mao killed eveyone, he didn't care what race you were the sentence is death.
The USA had lots of Eugenics and sterilise of mental-people, sterilisation of convicts, African-American drug addicts,there was a law in Virginia, Indiana was the first state to bring in Sterilisation laws . Forced sterilisation before asylum in the USA The USA that stated that certain people could
be forcibly sterilised, poverty stricken people, interracial marriages were not accepted in 30 states. This was not revoked until the late 1960s. Oregon Board of Eugenics was doing a lot of work in the 80s and there was forced castration in Oklahoma, the drug users and Latinos a lot happening in 1930 until 1990, faced the danger of forced sterilisation of people happens in East Europe - Romani women are subject to forced sterilization in slovakia and there is said to be sterilisation of women in the Czech Republic in a UN report
#553 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2005-07-08 16:37:21
Saturn Ring system
This sweeping view of Saturn’s rings offers a look at how the planet’s moons help shape and maintain this structure, making Saturn the jewel of the Solar System.
Some of the bright lanes seen here within the main rings are due to resonances with moons like Mimas and Atlas, whose gravity nudges the orbits of the ring particles. These resonances can also cause dark gaps in the rings, like the Cassini Division.
Clumps are visible in both the thin, outer F ring and the ringlets within the Encke Gap; the latter is maintained by the presence of tiny Pan (20 kilometers, 12 miles across at left of center). The clumps result from gravitational interactions of ring particles with the small moons that orbit nearby. The structurally complex F ring is maintained by the presence of Prometheus and Pandora
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1124_2 … 2744_1.jpg
Titan pic
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ...747.jpg
The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 1,253,677 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CB3 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ...746.jpg
The camera was pointing toward TITAN at approximately 1,253,706 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the IRP0 and CB3 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1130_2 … 2745_1.jpg
Three of Saturn’s icy moons are seen here, along with the magnificent water-ice rings and the cold gaseous envelope of the planet’s atmosphere. Saturn’s dark shadow stretches completely across the rings.
At nine and a half times farther from the Sun than Earth, Saturn inhabits the deep cold of the outer Solar System. The Sun appears only 1 percent as bright there as it appears at Earth, creating an environment where ice dominates over rock.
The icy Moons visible here, from left to right: Janus (181 kilometers, 113 miles across), Enceladus (505 kilometers, 314 miles across), and Epimetheus (116 kilometers, 72 miles across).
#554 Re: Human missions » China The Dominant Superpower In 20 Years..... - What does this mean for US? » 2005-07-08 11:04:05
Using Galileo and satellite recon, China could probably place H-bombs near enough to our carriers to destroy or at least disable them.
In a full scale Nuke conflict a Navy would be just a sitting metalic duck ready to be blown to bits and sunk in the water
http://wsx.lanl.gov/images/Bakerc.gif]h … Bakerc.gif
http://www.bmcpublications.com/BJMain/B … in/BJ3.jpg
The USA and China have a great realtionship, they do very good trade...the ex-top dog Powell had said US-China relations were the best and healthiest in 30-plus years. Chinese aren't the only ones selling weapons, the Israel people have given China missiles, America sells heaps of bombs and land mines in Africa, English played key roles in international arms brokering routes and a British supply line of Ingram submachine guns. British Sky Air has gone supply guns to both sides in the Sierra Leonean conflict, the USA gave F14 tomcats to Iran, Mark Thatcher had involvement in a coup in Equatorial Guinea after being released on bail by a South African court, son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - former British SAS captain Simon Mann, an old Etonian turned leading African mercenary, has admitted trying to procure dangerous weapons and the UK shipped guns to Eritrea, and to Uganda and Rwanda, read about the USA's sales in Iraq-gate.
Chinese have also done some bad weapons sales, Chinese have done arms business with bad people but a supply line for China on missile and isreal attack drones runs from Israel and French want the EU arms ban lifted.
Chinese are now very friendly with the West, they have good relations with the USA. Neither side would want a fight like so, Chinese Beijing would be buring with radioactivity and there would be much destruction in China, while the USA would take some massive blows, face an economic destructive force and see the US crippled....this would be a foolish war fought over nothing but pride and with nothing but a Naval wreckage and radioactive rubble to win
in victory
![http://wsx.lanl.gov/images/Bakerc.gif]h … Bakerc.gif](http://wsx.lanl.gov/images/Bakerc.gif]http://wsx.lanl.gov/images/Bakerc.gif){kind=link}
Back in the 80s everyone talked about Japan, and the USA wanted the Japanese to stop closing their markets to US steel and stop being isolationist by blocking USA's wheel makers for Cars. Due to poor banking, Yakuza antics, and corruption the Japanese bubble was soon to burst. However one self-made political man, the racial ultra-nationalist Governor of Tokyo gae Japan some ideas. If the USA were to threaten Japan by any more actions Japan leaders could dump the dollar and sell of their US Bonds to hit the USA with more economic warfare damage than a kamikaze Peral Harbor attack. short-term goal has been to keep the US economy strong enough to assure re-election for George Bush in November. Washington reports are that Bush made a deal to re-appoint Greenspan on the promise Greenspan would keep the economy growing until the elections. They have done this by a combination of historic low interest rates, rates only seen before in times of war or depression, and by stimulating the economy by record budget deficit spending, issuing government bonds to finance it. The world has been flooded with cheap dollars as a result. The Chinese mainland has become the second biggest holder of US T-bonds, ranking before the United Kingdom. The largest buyers of US government debt have been the central banks of the Asia-Pacific. The central banks of Japan and China alone hold more than $1 trillion of US Treasury bonds as foreign currency reserves. Worldwide foreign central banks hold some $1.3 trillion of US government debt. If private debt is added, the United States is the world's largest debtor, with some $3.7 trillion in net foreign debt, as of the start of this year, likely well over $4 trillions by now. In 1980 when Ronald Reagan was elected the US was the world's creditor with a plus of $1 trillion. China and Japan, fearing the dollar crisis, have recently begun heavy buying of commodities, from oil to iron ore to copper to gold. In analyzing the precarious predicament that has $1.94 trillion U.S. Treasury debt owned by foreign banks, most notably China, the overloaded U. S. debt burden is already teetering on a fine line. Any hint of a problem in maintaining support of U.S. bonds would create an instantaneous meltdown of the greenback with a simultaneous surge in the price of gold. By the end of May 2002, the balance of overseas US T-bonds reached US$1032.8 billion, (of which US$618.4 billion was held by foreign governments), accounting for around 30 percent of the total US$3433.8 billion in the same period. If China shuns Dollar, look out U.S. BondsThey are using their trade dollars to buy real commodities, instead of US Treasury debt, which is mere paper. Chinese panic buying of oil for stockpiling reserves is a major factor pushing oil prices again to record levels of $42 barrels despite two major OPEC quota rises. Steel prices have exploded due to China demand. Central banks are always reticent to detail their holdings, but one can't help but wonder if Malaysia is buying an increasing amount of euros -- or even yen -- these days. Its central bank sure didn't make that kind of cash holding the dollar, the currency to which its own, the ringgit, is pegged.
The plot thickens when you consider how such a shift away from the dollar would jibe not only with comments from top Malaysian officials, but trends throughout Asia. China also has been in the news as traders speculate that Asia's No. 2 economy may pull the plug on dollar-denominated debt. Such a move by the second-biggest holder of U.S. Treasuries after Japan could send shockwaves through global markets.Foreign central banks, led by China's and Japan's, now hold close to $1 trillion of Treasury bonds and bills, almost a quarter of publicly held U.S. debt. That serves their economic interest, but it also gives them a potential financial lever. "Financial war is a form of nonmilitary warfare which is just as terribly destructive as bloody war, but in which no blood is actually shed...when people revise the history books...the section on financial warfare will command the reader's utmost attention." What would happen if China stopped buying U.S. bonds, or sold them outright? As bond prices fell, their yields, which move in the opposite direction, would rise. Mortgage rates would rise, depressing home sales and weakening the economy.
When Bush became President he inherited a Federal budget in surplus. Since then he has created the largest deficits in US history, near $500 billion, the Chinese and Western economices are very linked, almost inter-connected a conflcit thrugh eocnomics would cause much destruction on both sides, perhaps many times greater than the Middle-East Oil shock of the 1970s when the Anti-American Arabs stopped the oil going to the West, and there was an overnight quadrupling of oil prices and highlights in the trade surplus of other nations, this is why China and the USA can't have an economic war.
Strange how we can't discuss the growth of China without it turing into one of those Cold-war propaganda films or a computer war-games of Chinese fighting USA.
China has gone out of the crazy cruel days of Mao and its is become more open with free-trade, and America have very good relations, even top officals like Powell have said it
#555 Re: Human missions » China The Dominant Superpower In 20 Years..... - What does this mean for US? » 2005-07-08 07:53:30
The Indian Air Force is NOT a match for the US Air Force. I'm sure you are referring to the recent exercise where the Indian aircraft beat the American F-15's.
The whole China versus Taiwan things is over-stated, if Taiwan had want to hit Chinese on the mainland they would have done it during the days of their Totalitarian regime and days of Martial law on the Taiwan island. If mainland China wanted to strike Taiwan they would have done it during the days of crazy Mao and his harsh dictator ways. Conflict could arise from almost anywhere, radicals in Sudan, South-Amercia, Burma, Indonesia, conflict between South Koreans and Japanese, the Middle East, Kosovo, trouble between Russian and Japan in the island dispute. Japan liked what Bush did in Iraq but is causing trouble with its right-wing leaders making stupid remarks, the main part visiting a war criminals Shrine and the Tokyo governor calling foreigners N*ggers and describing the Koreans and Chinese as animals. As we all know, the Iraqi misadventure has cost America at least $400 billion dollars so far, and possibly more in other funds spent on equipment, theft and other slippages. The dollar is losing out as more and more central banks are diversifying their currencies, especially into the Euro and out of the dollar. Germany has taken positions directly opposed to those of the United States concerning the war in Iraq
Will the EU soon be selling a lot of weapons to China ? President Hugo Chavez has recently accused President Bush of plotting to assassinate him, made suggestive comments about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visited Fidel Castro in Cuba, bashed the United States on the al-Jazeera television network and traveled to Libya to receive an award from Moammar Gaddafi. Some say China soon to be a superpower, well maybe it will be the power and maybe not so much. Chinese will rise up powerful for some decade and fall away into the quiet for decades as always, and rise again and decline into a sleep and awaken again....this is the story of the China land for the past thousand years and it will contine. China on Wednesday launched another experimental science satellite into a preset orbit, atop a Long March 2D carrier rocket from a launching center in northwest China's Gansu Province. Will China rock the world ? I think not for Chinese don't have this ambition, to look for ambition in the past there is the land of Arabia, the Russian Soviets, the Amercians and Europe. When Europeans made trouble, it caused shock waves around the globe and WW1 came, aftre World War 2 it was the Soviet Russia against USA and her European friend, the Capitalist Vs Communist was felt everywhere in Angola in Africa and in East Vs West Germany and in Cuba.
When the Bin Laden hijackers attacked the USA it made people think, some people wondered what would have happened if the US was suddenly crippled by a huge event. Would the world continue on without America, if the USA suddenly saw a huge explosion on one of its reactors, or if the US got hurt by a massive volcanic eruption or terrorist strike ? Could the world continue moving on without the United States ? Perhaps the world would just continue moving on, remember a world of science, naval exploration, cannon warfare, philosophy and craft existed long before the United States was ever established.
Could any other power fill the role of the USA, will China, the EU, India or Russia ?Let us picture a scene in the future, the year is 2010and some hostile country hits multiple targets in Europe. Chile sends its submarines up to attack EU and
hit many targets in Europe, or Iran shoots missiles at Sweden, Spain Barcelona, Turkey, Estonia, Frankfurt Germany.
Would Europe unite to defend itself ? The combined power would be larger than the former Soviet Union Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily
airforce, so let us combine the force of Finland, Belgium, Latvia, France, Greece.... EU´s combined amount of soldiers, special forces and border patrol troops would be 8 million,
Euro Union's combined amount of fighter planes, aircraft bombers and helicopters would be over 10,100.
Europe may have some of the most tanks and powerful aircraft and a strong Euro, the Europeans are deeply divided French and English don't see eye to eye politically and the Spanish and Italians have many differences on finance and culture issues. So Europe has the potential for military might but it may only become the Economic superpower because Europeans are very divided. It's true that the Chinese are putting money into their military with H-6X Bombers , Jiangwei 1 ship, 039 Submarine, with Cruise Missile pylon, Luhu ship, J-10A Airbase, Jianghu shore bombardment ship, JH-7A Fighter. In the banking and Economic market China is also moving on. China's debut as an auto exporter, small as it may be for now, foretells a broader challenge to a half-century of American economic and political ascendance. The nation's manufacturing companies are building wealth at a remarkable rate, using some of that money to buy assets abroad. And China has been scouring the world to acquire energy resources, with the bid to buy an American oil company only the latest overture.
Chinese are not very rich, and sometimes it can be said that for all the USA's military might the US economy has done so great. Compare it to the likes of Swiss, the economy of Norway, Canada and such who don't have a strong military. Some wonder about the USA's position in Asia, the India airforce has bought up Russian migs, French aircraft, British Harrier and Russian Su-fighters while its supposed ally Japan seems to act atrange at times. The Beef ban , Jenkins, Japans policy on Whales, Bobby Fisher.. what do all these have in common? That Japan has its own plans and that it can say NO to the US. So what did that Pentagon Report say it more or less talked about China's Space Warfare Tactics, or how the Chinese tactics are Aimed at U.S. Supremacy. Heap of Surface to Air missiles, and going from creating anti-satellite weaponry, the Chinese are doing submarine launches and are building new classes of heavy-lift and small boosters, as well as a heap of other things.
The China military man Shen highlights radar sites and radio stations, communications facilities, and command ships as priority targets vulnerable to smart weapons, electronic attacks. I doubt the Chinese will ever attack the West because they have too much to loose, however do they plan to take over the US superpower status and influence in Asia ? This could be true, Chinese could play hard ball with North Korea, they could take a more tuff stance but it could mean that Beijing gets hit and thousands or millions of people could be killed or injured. When it comes to a war, Chinese have learned from the days of the lunatic Mao and his dictator way that Chinese can afford to lose some people and still win but what kind of damage would be done to the Chinese economy ? China successfully Orbits experimental Science Satellite - Officials at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center said the Shijian-7 (SJ-7) satellite was rocketed at 6:40 a.m. and started orbiting normally 12 minutes later.
The SJ-7 Satellite was designed to monitor space environment and conduct other spacial scientific and technological experiments with a three-year life span, according to the Center. The USA may lose its superpower staus, it faces some big trouble in the middle East and can it afford another fight such as Iran, North Korea or Syria ? Insurgent attacks haven't slacked off, one bit, and the security situation is still tenuous, at best. In Iraq the government is in a mess while American-trained iraqi cops open fire on a poor group of Government Employees, who just wanted their paychecks. The CIA report now says Iraq has become a worse breeding groud for Terrorists than Afghanistan ever was, meanwhile the dollar bills for Afghan security keep rising up the debt clock. The EU Euro Zone has already become an EconomicSuperpower and there are those in Europe who see things much differently to Italian support, Bush or Tony Blair. Germany might be giving them missiles with EU consent, and French may make a move also. This has been suspected after face to face talks between the French Defence minister and the top Chinese military man. Things are already heating up, the USA has already threated they might try and attack the European Galileo spacecraft if a hostile power such as China is using it. The Chinese have already been buying up anti-radar missiles from Israel and carpet bombing aircraft from the Russians, China is keen to get its hand on French developed electronics for military and stealth features and more German weapons. It is clear that France is moving closer to selling its weapons to the largest Empire on Earth, now imagine a nation that is larger than the USA, with a population 5 times the United States size, with a strong rule and a powerful military communist structure, now emerging with free and open trade except it also is keen on making its military the most Modern on Earth. If the US is having so much trouble in, people getting their heads cut off, Terror groups growing in Iraq and the Middle East becoming a no go area for Americans then what makes you think they'd go a few rounds with a big player like China, time will tell ? Chinese have an ambition to become the next superpower, what happens when the USA falls from this role ? The Long March carrier rocket was sent off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in western China. This is the 85th rocket in the Long March series it was sent into luanch on Wednesday. The SJ-7 Satellite was designed to monitor space environment and conduct other spacial scientific and technological experiments with a three-year life span, according to the Center. The launch is the 85th mission taken by the Long March carrier rockets since 1970. President Hugo Chavez is strengthening military ties with Iranians and India, the Chinese people, while closing the door on decades of military cooperation with the United States. Chavez, however, is keen to develop closer energy ties with the United States, partly to help fund tens of billions of dollars in energy investments needed to sustain the Venezuela economy and keep himself in power. But his persistent anti-American , anti-Bush rhetoric and actions are alienating Washington and investors as well as setting the stage for potential future confrontations over regional trade and security issue. Some say that Bush and his policies are bankrupting America. America has been "warned" by the IMF and we are on the "watch list," for currency weakness. Actually, at this time, America is about bankrupt and that is why Bush wants to raid the Social Security Fund and give all of his friends in the brokerage business whatever money is left before the country goes further into a tailspin economically. At this time, foreign banks are diversifying their currencies, people investing in America, both Americans and foreign investors, are taking their money into other markets and funds rather than putting them into weak American markets and the weak American economy. Since threatening to cut off oil shipments to the United States, which buys 1.5 million barrels a day from Venezuela, Chavez has been traveling the globe looking for new markets and allies to unite against "the imperialist power." He recently signed energy deals with France, India and China, which is searching for new sources of oil to power its industrial expansion. Chavez also has made a series of arms purchases, including one for military helicopters from Russia. Chavez hosted President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, a nation that has a secretive nuclear program and has been labeled by Bush as part of an "axis of evil." plus there is now the EU factor...which have a huge powerful central banks and trade blocks and the Euro Zone. Chinese will have strenght to be comparable to that of the USA, but China won't upset the USA it also knows that if it tries to grow into a Superpower its Empire could easily fall apart quicker than the Mongol Huns and genghis khan made a mess of their Empire and saw everything die away so fast.
#556 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Antimatter - More viable than fusion? » 2005-07-06 09:47:09
Depends on how much destruction there would be if it leaked. If the antiprotons are just used to initiate other nuclear reactions, then you may not need that much.
Trucking it all over the country probobly isn't going to happen, or at the least won't be easy, since the storage ring would have to either have a constant energy supply or be a cryogenicly cooled superconductor.
I heard it would cost about $ 8 million per nanogram of anti-Matter and the only way to get its true power is to use pure antimatter rockets, USA's Fermilab has given scientists great info,
the Euro's CERN antimatter factory is producing anti-particles but in the next while we could only really think of using anti-matter for initiating nuclear reactions. European CERN will expand in the next while it is thought they will succeeded very well in producing anti-atoms of hydrogen, and also anti-deuteron nuclei, made out of an antiproton and an antineutron, this may come after the expansion and new CERN Particle accelerators
#557 Re: Unmanned probes » Innovative Interstellar Explorer » 2005-07-06 09:28:53
Will accelerate to burnout speed of 9.5 AU per year in 2029.
200 AU distance should be reached in 2044.
It's a fine craft but that still isn't up to much compared to other designs like solar sails, so why would they sell it as an Inter-Stellar explorer maybe because Voyager is going to get cut down ? For going to other systems maybe anti matter, nuke power, alternative ion drives, microwave sails the annihilation of matter with antimatter is 10 billion times more efficient than the oxygen-hydrogen combustion in the space shuttle. I'm not sure of the real number but when people speak of interstellar I come to think of it as reach another solar system - Wold 359 is perhaps 7 light-years away, Ross 128 is about 10 light years away, Sirius A & B are about 8.5 while Barnard's Star is about 6, now one lightyear = about 62,900 AU (astronomical units) this one has plans for only about 200 AU and is maybe why some say go for Solar sails, the ramjet fusion propulsion, and various ion drive design, the idea for this ion thruster running off electricity provided by radioisotope generators is fine, for exploring interstellar space we would need to be going at a small percentage the speed of light but this mission doesn't seem to be going to be breaking any speed records but instead filling in the gap after the Voyagers get axed.
nice mission all the same, but perhaps its is just a craft to fill in gaps when Voyager gets chopped down
#558 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2005-07-05 17:06:35
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 1589]Looks like a big orange
Except it's not orange. :laugh: Points out old impact basin, etc. A crater named Penelope (I like that name), thought to be a young crater.
--Cindy
::EDIT:: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … 7]Resonant Effects
Great information 
more of Saturn and the Cassini-Huygens info
Moons
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1116_2 … 2641_1.jpg
Cassini-Huygens going down on Titan - high-res image
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cas … ...m_H.png
Hyperion fly by Movie
http://www.hardyboys-uk.com/hyperion_mo … _movie.gif
Rhea
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1085_2 … 2633_1.jpg
Mimas High res
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/i … ...587.jpg
Moon makes waves
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cas … 6237_H.jpg
Epimetheus
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1143_2 … 2741_1.jpg
#559 Re: Unmanned probes » Neptune Orbiter with Probes - ...part of NASA's "Vision Missions" » 2005-07-03 19:00:29
much of this sounds like a great idea 
#560 Re: Unmanned probes » Rosetta - ESA comet orbiter and lander » 2005-07-03 18:58:35
Report for period 10 to 24 June 2005
The Rosetta spacecraft is in active cruise mode and preparation activities for the observation of the NASA Deep Impact probe's encounter with comet Tempel-1 continued over the reporting period.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=37624
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMJUZS1VED_in … dex_0.html
On its journey to a comet, Rosetta will use fly-bys of the Earth and Mars to help it to get to its final destination.
Rosetta gets first glimpse of Deep Impact target
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMKAT5DIAE_in … dex_0.html
#561 Re: Unmanned probes » ESA to do sample return - in 2011? » 2005-07-03 18:54:59
ExoMars is the first Aurora Flagship mission to be assessed.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEM1 … QAD_0.html
Aurora is ESA’s first step in human space exploration outside the low Earth orbits...
#562 Re: Unmanned probes » MESSENGER - Mercury Orbiter » 2005-07-02 07:07:53
Just peaked at the http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.html] The John Hopkins University's MESSENGER Web Site complete with count down timer for the flyby.
What speed will the probe obtain after its flyby?
very good site
#563 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Express (MEX) - ESA orbiter » 2005-07-02 07:06:31
Actually I posted in the new thread for http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic … 322]Marsis to probe for subsurface water
how much water is on Mars
did the NASA rovers discover more info on this ? :hm:
What is ESA's Mars Express expected to find , how much volume of water ? 
#564 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2005-07-02 07:02:29
Titans]http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_050526.html]Titan's weird red spot
*This image from April 16th flyby. They're going to have Cassini fly over the area again, utilizing the same instruments as used in this photo, on July 2, 2006 at night, to see if this red spot glows in the dark. They're speculating it's either from an impact event (disrupted soil?) or might be warm material flowing from a cryovolcano.
The red spot is 300 miles in diameter and lies SE of the Xanadu region.
Will be looking forward to that 2006 flyby.
--Cindy
great picture
some more stuff here,
sorry if any of it was posted before
view of Titan’s south polar region reveals an intriguing dark feature that may be the site of a past or present lake of liquid hydrocarbons.
http://ciclops.org/media/ir/2005/1161_2 … 2748_1.jpg
team of European and US scientists, using Cassini-Huygens data, have found that Saturn’s smoggy moon Titan may have volcanoes that release methane into the atmosphere.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huy … U8E_0.html
view shows the Encke Gap (325 kilometers, 200 miles wide) whose center is 133,590 kilometers (83,010 miles) from Saturn.
http://ciclops.org/media/dr/2005/1146_2 … 2743_1.jpg
dark regions on Titan
http://ciclops.org/media/ir/2005/874_19 … 1927_1.jpg
#565 Re: Human missions » China The Dominant Superpower In 20 Years..... - What does this mean for US? » 2005-06-26 14:21:44
The F-22 is nice, but it's designed to do too many things. When you want something to be a bomber, a dog-fighter, a ground support fighter, get there in a hurry and be stealthy doing it, you are going to have to give somethings up.
Fortunately, these are the same things wrong with the Eurofighter.
China is a growing force. They have a lot of momentum, but they are going to take time to mature. They are going to need to launch several more taikonauts before they are prepared for the more serious mission of landing men on other worlds.
Good luck to them though. Now let us get moving.
Chinese versus the USA
The United States would be hurt very bad, Americans will get killed and Chinese would see much destruction and Beijing would be bombed
too many would die in this kind of stupid war
China is on great friendly terms with USA, they have many diplomatic relations, do much trade
so they will never fight
India has forged strategic alliances, several of which may render the United States none-too-pleased. Cuba has bad realtions with USA, Uruguay’s Tabare Vazquez are ultra-leftist, following U.S. withdrawal from the Panama Canal Zone Hutchison Whampoa the Hong Kong company for Beijing’s Communist Party leased and now controls the ports on both ends of the Panama Canal. Lucio Gutierrez became president shortly after da Silva in Brazil and praises Chavez and Castro. He was a militant member of the Marxist left Peronist Party. Singaporian decision on Eurofighter will be very interesting and there is no doubt the aircraft impressed. Though the decision is probably not imminent yet the French obviously think it is judging by the vast amounts of advertising and marketing for they have been pouring in of late. SKorea might buy some military tech from France or England, India has already bought British Harrier, European missiles, Russian Migs and French fighter aircraft. The European Union, if counted as a single unit, would have the largest economy and military in the world. Thanks to its highly developed economies Europe is a leading place for investment, science, and technology. A superpower is a state with the ability to influence events or project power on a global scale. In modern terms, this may imply an entity with a huge economy, a large population, and strong armed forces, including air and space power and a considerable arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. EU has big GNP but is divided French and Germans are in the Euro but swedish and England have not joined Euro zone currency.
calculate GDP
1 EU $10,800,200,000,000
2 U S $ 10,300,100,000,000
3 China $ 5,800,500,000,000
4 Japan $ 3,350,400,000,000
CIA lists China even higher [6 trillion]
Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2004 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US
Europe lacks not only an operative center, but strategic thinking, for it to be capable of acting on the world political stage. Indian Air Force have shown much superiority over US Air Force - USAF underestimated Indians as Iraqis or Iranians. While acknowledging the performance of their Indian colleagues, who they will meet again in another air combat exercise in Alaska next month and India has shown it can beat the USA in a fight in the air. Indian Oil Corp., a state-run company, reached a January 2005 agreement with the Iranian firm Petropars to develop a gas block in the gigantic South Pars gas field, home to the world's largest reserves. The USA have a great Airforce, F16s, F14 Tomact and the F-15 Eagle at Mach 2.5 are deadly aircraft. The military in Israel used F15 and French Mirage aircraft to fight in their wars, using these France fighters and American aircraft Isreal has a good airforce. India is cooperating with President Mohammed Khatami's government to secure Persian Gulf sea lanes and formulate a common Central Asian strategy. India is also helping Iran to develop its Chahbahar port, as well as several infrastructure projects.
http://www.defencetalk.com/pictures/thu … ...&page=5
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's recent visit to New Delhi – the first such trip by a Venezuelan leader – is seen as crucial for both countries. USA have already given caracas many missiles, F16 and guns but today Venezuela is very Anti-Bush, steady economic growth over the past decade has caused a sharp spike in India's energy requirements. F15 and F14 Tomcat are older design but so are many other planes, who builds a plane over-night ? A great fighter bomber takes time to build. F22 design has been around a long time, and Stealth bomber ideas go back to the late 70s and early 80s. The YF22 is a great plane but the most expensive figter plane ever built, not even the USA can afford it. India have many Migs and Harrier jump jets, India will emerge as the fourth-largest energy consumer by 2010. greater concern, however, are fledgling partnerships with Iran, Sudan, Venezuela, and Myanmar. In pursuing energy deals, the Indian government has set aside issues of human rights abuses by some, and violation of non-proliferation commitment by others. EU will not sell arms to China now because of the politics of human rights problems with the Chinese. The EU already has a tremendous cultural, political and economical attraction for surrounding states. It seems likely that other important states like Turkey and Ukraine will join the EU before 2025. The Indian Air Force can beat the USA, US Air Force underestimated the India Air force Pilots and their numerical skill. They thought these are another set of Iraqi or Iranian Pilots. The numerical analysis and problem solving capability of IAF Pilots are well known and are probably the best in the world. Indians and Pakistan have much combate experience and fought many battles, the British sent Harriers to fly non-stop from England to fight in the war in the Falklands against Argentina. The USA have not really faced a serious airbourne opponent in years, lacking experience this is why India beat them. The US has great experience in Land battles and Urban war of Afghanistan, but the cost of Iraq is doing damage to the US Economy.
India and USA will never fight, they have great connections and are very friendly
#566 Re: Unmanned probes » Venus Express - ESA orbiter » 2005-06-25 08:09:14
Will Europe put a lander on venus ?
Venus has been targeted because it resembles the Earth in many ways, yet the most basic questions about the evolution of the planet and its atmosphere are still a mystery.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=37072
The main objective of the Venus Entry Probe TRS is to study the Venusian atmosphere.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=35987
#567 Re: Human missions » China The Dominant Superpower In 20 Years..... - What does this mean for US? » 2005-06-25 06:53:47
You and I both know that no matter how ambitious a space program China has, it won't be enough to transport population growth to Mars even if Mars could be made to sustain thousands of immigrants a year.
Quite true.
The question is whether they'll come to view it as way to expand their civilization in a cultural, dominance and territorial sense, rather than a mundane "population management" issue.
Americans don't for the most part think this way. The Chinese don't seem to as yet either, but they're closer.
What is very likely to occur is that they will have the will, and we will have the means. This may be a buried undercurrent in China's recent expression of a desire to cooperate in space endaevors.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-04 … -04zx.htmlTime will tell.
Communist mindset was bad and people suffered like a dictatorship under Mao, today Chinese don't want to rule the World they just want to live, be safe and have enough to get on
but they want improved technology and training
USA already gave F14 Tomcats to Iran, the US sold missile to Venezuela but now Chavez doesn't like Bush.
China wanted to get some EU technology and European military equipment
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk … =673262005
http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/j … _1_n.shtml
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/20 … 95747.html
http://www.mbda.net/site/FO/scripts/sit … ..._id=106
http://www.europapress.es/europa2003/no … ...5104532
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ … ...w04.htmThe USA will perhaps soon enough start building Nuke reactors in China for the Chinese electricity demands. French and Germans were thinking about going to sell some high-tech designs to China, but the EU issue of human rights came up
According to various source, the 094 SSBN entered the sea trial last July, however it's not clear whether the 6.16.2005 launched JL2 SLCM is from this platform or not, although many sources implied that. Let’s assure the 094 sea trial lasted for almost 1 year, so it’s possible for PLA to test fire a new ICBM at this stage from this submarine.
Japanese tourists were making themselves very obnoxious at a Taipei-area restaurant. Local Taiwanese say they heard the Japanese calling them a racial term used during WW2.
Japan says its people were attacked by impolite Taiwanese.
Who has the right story ?
A chance encounter over the Lake District between a Eurofighter trainer and two F-15 aircraft turned into a mock dogfight, with the British plane coming off best - much to the surprise of some in the RAF. The episode was hushed up for fear of causing US blushes.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a highly agile twin-engine multi-role canard-delta fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European nations
design resembles other major modern combat aircraft such as France's Dassault Rafale and Sweden's Saab Gripen. However, its combination of agility, stealth features and advanced avionics suggest it is amongst the most capable fighter currently in service with any airforce.
The European Union has shelved its controversial move to lift its arms embargo on China, a senior US official said here today after talks with Britain, France and Germany.
The State Department official, who asked not to be named, said the weapons ban was discussed at a dinner hosted yesterday by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for his US, French and German counterparts.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx … 08041.html
Knox-class frigate to protect fishermen in disputed waters
The de facto Japanese ambassador to Taipei paid a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to express Japan's stance on Taiwan's plan to send a naval ship to patrol disputed waters where the 200-mile exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and Japan overlap.
Some fishermen siad they weren't protetected enough by Taiwan and made a threat to fly the traditional Communists China flag because they suspect Japanese fear Mainland China more tahn Taiwan.
Taiwanese official said that Japan had agreed to discuss its fishing dispute with the island, one day after Taipei sent two warships to protect fishermen who have repeatedly been chased by Japanese patrol boats from disputed waters.
Taiwan sends warship to disputed islands claimed by Japan
A "spaceflight kingdom," covering about 1,200 mu (80 hectares), will begin construction in southwest Shanghai.
Another Shenzhou coming ?
http://centurychina.com/plaboard/upload … 022310.jpg
http://img280.echo.cx/img280/1718/20056 … 5453ld.jpg
SZ-6 in training
China is likely to built a new satellite launching center, the fourth of its kind in the country, on its southernmost island province of Hainan.
Deputies from the island province, in the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) confirmed the report.
Ministry Press Conference on June 2005 - Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao
As to the EU's lifting of arms embargo on China, EU has made its political commitments. It is also clear about China's position on this issue. The Chinese side's requirement on the lifting of arms embargo aims to remove EU's political discrimination against China and the political obstacle standing in the way of the normal development of China-EU relations, rather than to import weapons from EU. China and EU are strategic cooperative partners. We hope to develop the relations with EU on the basis of equality and mutual respect. Therefore, we once again urge EU to truly carry out its political commitments and lift the arms embargo on China as soon as possible.
#568 Re: Not So Free Chat » Challenging America's superpower status - is it possible? » 2005-06-24 06:56:14
No American worth its salt would tolerate a 'killing-machine'
as a leader.just my 2 Eurocents.
Thanks for saying that...
*Yes, but keep in mind that the U.S. in the 1930s has been compared to "an adolescent just starting to flex its muscles a bit." We weren't that great of a power or threat to Hitler; we gained momentum in the 1940s, but we definitely needed the alliance with Russia and the Brits.
However, Japan and the Pacific fights were a different matter (IMO); I think it was Pearl Harbor and all that which really "awoke a sleeping giant" (quoting either the Japanese emperor or the admiral who led the attack on Pearl Harbor...I can't remember which).
Yes, I agree with you on that one. America in the 1930's was a very isolationist, provincial nation, and the last thing the Americans wanted was an expensive war coming on the heels of a decade-long economic depression. But when American soil was attacked without provocation...the U.S. went from almost zero to spending 40% of its GDP on the war effort in the space of three short years. When Americans realized that their country was no longer safe from hostile nations, we quickly learned how to be a "Can Do" nation, and we kicked not one, but two military superpowers in the butt...lol.
But the U.S. certainly had a lot going for it...good leadership, a huge pool of resources and people to draw upon, plus we had the advantage of using England as a giant aircraft carrier to bring Hilter to his eventual defeat....good thing the Brits were able to hold off Hitler's attempts to take them over, huh?
This brings to mind a speech given by two individuals who came to my college...one of them was a Holocaust survivor, and the other was a former Nazi youth leader...and I remember what they both said *quite* clearly. When the former Nazi got to the part in which he went face-to-face with Hitler, and was told that Germany was going to conquer the United States, I quickly developed this vision of a huge military invasion by the Germans on the East Coast, the surf turning crimson as millions of American citizens pushed them back into the ocean with their hunting rifles and handguns. As I said repeatedly back then, I say that was not a battle the Germans (or the Russians, etc...ever see "Red Dawn", anyone...hehe.) could have won. No way, Jose....lol...
B
USA already gave F14 Tomcats to Iran, the US sold missile to Venezuela but now Chavez doesn't like Bush.
China wanted to get some EU technology and European military equipment
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk … =673262005
http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/j … _1_n.shtml
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/20 … 95747.html
http://www.mbda.net/site/FO/scripts/sit … ..._id=106
http://www.europapress.es/europa2003/no … ...5104532
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ … ...w04.htm
The USA will perhaps soon enough start building Nuke reactors in China for the Chinese electricity demands. French and Germans were thinking about going to sell some high-tech designs to China, but the EU issue of human rights came up
#569 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Express (MEX) - ESA orbiter » 2005-06-20 19:56:20
Smooth deployment for second MARSIS
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Expres … U8E_0.html
16th of June 2005
The second 20-metre antenna boom of the MARSIS instrument on board Mars Express was successfully – and smoothly – deployed
#570 Re: Unmanned probes » Cassini-Huygens - NASA/ESA Saturn orbiter & Titan lander » 2005-06-20 19:53:07
images and video - Titan in 3D from the Cassini Huygens Lander#
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=37603
Five months after landing on the surface of Titan scientists are steadily uncovering some of the moon's secrets. In recent weeks a number of interesting results have been published based on measurements made by the Huygens probe.
#571 Re: Interplanetary transportation » China eyeing new HL - Agency Expecting approval this year » 2005-06-20 05:10:12
Shake-up leads to scientific progress ?
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/do … 448560.htm
seeds satellite in 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/20/ … 91297.html
#572 Re: Human missions » Russia can send Man to Mars by 2014:official - at one-tenth the NASA budget » 2005-06-20 05:06:47
Russia to conduct first simulated mission to Mars
http://en.rian.ru/science/20050620/4054 … 49151.html
Space Lab Returns to Earth
#573 Re: Human missions » New Russian Spacecraft » 2005-06-20 05:03:59
Europe pledges support for planned Russian spacecraft
spacedaily
Kliper (Clipper), the brainchild of Russian space corporation RKK Energia, is sketched as a successor to the venerable Cold War workhorse of space, the Soyuz capsule.
It would be a reusable, wingless space plane that would glide back to Earth, with up to seven people on board. It would be used for ferry services to the International Space Station (ISS) or for space tourism.
Mockups of Kliper have been shown in aerospace shows in Europe and Japan in the hope of whipping up interest in it.
The European Space Agency (ESA) on Friday pledged its backing for Russia's plans for manned spacecraft called Kliper, the news agency Itar-Tass reported here.
Daniel Sacotte, ESA's director of human spaceflight, microgravity and exploration programmes, said here his organisation "would support" the project, it said.
The project was discussed by Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency (RSA) and visiting ESA chief Jean-Jaques Dordain, it said.
#574 Re: Unmanned probes » SMART-1 - ESA lunar orbiter » 2005-06-20 04:44:40
image from SMART-1 was dedicated to the Cassini
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/SEM … U8E_0.html
SMART-1's tribute to Cassini
http://sci.esa.int/smart-1]http://sci.esa.int/smart-1
total lunar eclipse from space
The images of the Earth shown here were taken just before and after the eclipse. The apparent relative size of the Earth and Moon, as shown in this picture, is exactly as seen by SMART-1.
The relative distance between the two bodies, however, is not to scale. In fact, the Earth and Moon were farther apart than the field of view of AMIE and could not simultaneously fit within a single image. For this reason, a sequence of images was taken instead.In reality, the physical size of the Earth is about 3.7 times larger than that of the Moon; their diameters are about 12 800 km and 3500 km, respectively. As SMART-1 was farther away from the Moon than from Earth, the difference appears exaggerated.
http://smart.esa.int/science-e-media/im … ...410.JPG
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object … ctid=37443
Ready for Operations Phase
some older pics, Asian region of Planet Earth
http://smart.esa.int/science-e-media/im … t3aiPy.jpg
