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#151 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Soyuz at Kouru - How much more mass to LEo? » 2005-11-16 18:08:05
Due to the rotational velocity of the earth, the difference in total delta-v to achieve is about maximal 400 m/s. Working with a last stage-Isp of about 340 s this will result in a maximum gain of 13% (8.4 MT will became 9.5 MT). This is a rough guess, but without drastically engineering the existing rocket the gain in mass will be not higher than taht 13%, assuming the easiest obtaineble LEO is chosen (5 degree inclination instead of 51 degree as from Baikonour).
Okay, but lets distinguish between gross payload and net payload.
If we add 1.1MT inside the Progress, with all else being equal, perhaps the net useable cargo will increase far more substantially that 13%.
#152 Re: Not So Free Chat » Radio Mars - an original drama » 2005-11-16 16:53:03
Radio Mars - an original drama
Josh Cryer has just posted that he likes this audio file, specifically:
Oh my god, hahaha, I'm listening to this RadioMars thing, it's hilarious.
#153 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2005-11-16 16:18:36
But it is good to see you. Look at the Human Missions forum, lots and lots of activity there, just as it should be!
Ahem, I did and it seems I already had the most recent post, as of this moment.
#154 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Mars Podcast » 2005-11-16 16:15:50
Now I am. And that makes me go "whoa" because, well, yeah. "The competition" whoops our ass without even trying.
And it seems like the last few shows have discussed space commercialization in depth. Interesting.
He's been around for a while.
Don't be discouraged. There is always room for competition.
= = =
Poetry and drama are niches that show doesn't seem to explore.
#155 Re: Not So Free Chat » Palomar » 2005-11-16 16:12:16
Heheh, it says locked but we can still reply, cool. I always unlocked before replying to a locked thread, didn't know I could just click.
Dude, you have da' power.
#156 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2005-11-16 16:10:28
I've also been missing in action, arguing space politics elsewhere. Needed a break after our recent dust-up.
tacitus.org also has some great civilized (but snarky) political debate.
#157 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Mars Podcast » 2005-11-16 16:08:00
Are you familiar with the competition?
#158 Re: Human missions » Nasa Shuttle, ISS Woes & To-Mars » 2005-11-16 16:05:23
In the 1990s the NASA budget guys did an estimate of Mars Direct. Robert Zubrin didn't estimate cost, he focused on the technology. The NASA budget guys said it would cost $20 billion for initial development and the first mission, plus $2 billion per mission; or $30 billion for 7 missions.
$10 billion for 6 follow on missions. $416 million per person.
Delete the Earth return equipment and starting at mission #8 you might be down to $200 million per permanent colonist going one way to stay.
Less than one might think, at first.
#159 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Mars Podcast » 2005-11-16 15:58:01
In the context of the Palomar thread and clark's post, any interest in a commercialization podcast?
#160 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2005-11-16 15:31:10
Maybe I am repeating myself, but I do like this sig. Makes me think about Cobra.
Smith and Wesson, the original "Point and Click" (and soon to be illegal in SF) interface.
#161 Re: Not So Free Chat » Palomar » 2005-11-16 14:47:37
Testing the limits; pushing the envelope
#162 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Mars Podcast » 2005-11-15 17:39:05
A while back, the thought occurred to have the space advocacy gurus record video and audio of their stump speeches. I've attended a number of conferences recently and would suggest the following for starters:
Robert Zubrin
(Of course! He is a riot when speaking live. Very entertaining and informative.)
Rick Tumlinson
(A recent line - "If we ain't going to stay - - send toasters")
George Whitesides - Genteel George
and so on. . .
#163 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Mars Podcast » 2005-11-15 17:35:01
A Mars radio drama. Double posted at malaprops.
Mea culpa.
#164 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2005-11-15 17:29:56
Speaking of podcasts and web audio has anyone played this yet?
Radio Mars - an original drama
I posted a link a few months ago, but forgot which thread it was.
#165 Re: Human missions » Look out! Buzz Aldrins got a plan... » 2005-11-14 14:48:07
I have long believed that a cycler should be built as a variant of an L5 floating space settlement. Visualize an L5 "City in Space" flying free return trajectories between Earth & Mars. A small shuttle carries passengers and freight to the city.
That said, this would be a bit further down the road. Like next century, perhaps?
= = =
Just for fun, visualize tether technology being used to pick up packages and crew capsules as the cycler city zoomed by. Deploy a long flexible tether in front of the city as it approaches. Small rockets should be sufficient to carry a tether a few kilometers ahead of the onrushing cycler.
This allows more than an a single instant to grabble and attach, allowing the shuttle to match course and velocity only approximately.
Attach firmly to the keel of your spacecraft and wait for the acceleration.
Edit: Once attached, reel in the shuttle. Just like 19th century trains picked up the mail from remote stations, all without stopping.
#166 Re: Not So Free Chat » I'll take malaprops for *5* Bob - Apropos of Nothing continues. . . » 2005-11-10 15:26:32
Did you know that a shortage of pirates causes global warming?
Best belly laugh I've had all week Bill -- and I'm a Christian!
I am Roman Catholic, which may or may not be deemed "Christian" depending on one's politics.
Anyway, our ability to treat Genesis as allegory, spiritually and poetically true but not literal science exceeds as back as far as, oh maybe, Saint Augustine. 
= = =
PS- from the FAQ, I love this:
5. You are making God angry.
I doubt it. If there's a god, and he's intelligent, then I would guess he has a sense of humor.
#167 Re: Not So Free Chat » Should we be con-artists? » 2005-11-09 20:53:25
Outlaw commercials that suggest drinking Coors beer will cause supermodels to snuggle on your lap, and maybe I will agree. :shock:
#168 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge » 2005-11-09 20:49:38
This essay is interesting:
According to the NASA press release there will in fact be two prizes “tentatively named the Suborbital Payload Challenge and the Suborbital Lunar Lander Analog Challenge.” Both the space agency and the foundation are expected to work out the details within the next several weeks. It seems that the second part of the competition is oriented towards developing a Lunar Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).
A Lunar RLV could operate using fuel and oxygen from the Moon itself, either from ice or from the lunar crust. The craft would be capable of reaching orbit around the Moon and of “hopping” from place to place on the surface. Again they want to “…reward the first team to build a vertical take-off/vertical landing suborbital vehicle capable of reaching a speed consistent with the energies required to land and launch from the Moon.”
and this:
According to the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS), the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) will ascend using a new liquid oxygen/methane power engine designed to be “ISRU compatible”.
Methane/LOX makes the vehicle Mars compatible.
Cool!
#169 Re: Human missions » Fighting over the Moon » 2005-11-07 15:11:53
I know its politics but it is relevant to this thread.
I have to agree with that assesment BWhite. But we must also put it to its logical conclusion. If one of those craters was found its materials will still belong to the whole world assuming the country accepted that provision in the Outer space treaty. But with the $Billions sitting in such a crater I could well see the Outer space treaty simply discarded and as long as that country kept to the other space provisions and treaties there would not be a problem for that country except for the general lack of legal provision for everyone else.
Actually that is my main concern the Outer space treaty does contain a lot of decent general legislation and it provides a sense of protection and guidelines for many of those who plan for space. If this treaty is dropped to allow a country to use mineral mining then many countries will follow suit. Landgrabbing and probable claimjumping are likely to follow as there will be no set authority to protect those interested in space and utilisation of space.
Of course with China being interested in Mineral exploitation then there is at least one political force interested in changing the current Outer space treaty into something more useful.
Current trends in space law point towards analogies with the open ocean.
Japanese tuna boats cannot claim the ocean but they can claim the tuna they land. Chinese mining modules cannot claim ownership of Luna but they can claim the PGMs they process and lift from the surface.
Even without ownership of the ocean, it is illegal for one fishing boat to drive through or damage the nets of another. China gets there first and "spreads nets" over the relevant crater: survey markers, guide wires for robots and a whole army of (possibly) dumb robots.
Guess what? We cannot move that equipment and therefore cannot access the PGM.
Voila! De facto ownership.
= = =
Edit to add:
All of this assumes NO change to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
#170 Re: Human missions » Fighting over the Moon » 2005-11-07 14:29:33
Also there's alot of Moon out there.
If it turns out the assumed ice-deposits are real, all of a sudden there will be not that 'lots of Moon'
Peak of eternal light, icepits... *those* will be the only interesting places to start an outpost/colony/manufacturing plant...
Griffin was not stupid in requiring the landers to be able to land near the poles.
If Dennis Wingo is correct and intact Ni-Fe asteroid fragments bearing PGM exist near the lunar surface, those won't be everywhere either. 70% of Terra's platinum comes from one source, Merensky Reef in South Africa, the site on an ancient Ni-Fe asteroid impact.
Imagine one crater - - Heh! - - Lets call it "Wingo Crater" that is filled with Ni-Fe fragments. Everywhere else has the usual stuff, silicon, aluminum etc. . .
Under the "non-interference" provision of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 if one nation started mining Wingo Crater and stuck little plastic flags and robotic survey equipment on all of the most promising bolders, it isn't clear to me that anyone else could move ("interfere with") that equipment.
They cannot claim ownership, but if little worker bee robots were busy polishing the most promising fragments, a de facto form of ownership might result.
#171 Re: Not So Free Chat » Joke » 2005-11-04 12:42:11
And I say that those of us who want to go to Mars need to be a little more like that elderly lady who went to the Bank of Canada.
What? Grab the bankers by the short and curlies?
No, play 'em. Like in "The Sting"
#172 Re: Not So Free Chat » Joke » 2005-11-04 10:45:29
Oh man, that Bank of Canada joke was priceless!
And I say that those of us who want to go to Mars need to be a little more like that elderly lady who went to the Bank of Canada.
#173 Re: Not So Free Chat » Political Potlock I » 2005-10-31 19:58:30
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/co … 83,00.html
if Russia Breaks up does that mean an end to Russian support for the Space Program?
If China annexes Siberia. . .
#174 Re: Not So Free Chat » Political Potlock I » 2005-10-30 00:34:06
Too good not to share. From Saturday Night Live:
"66% of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the war in Iraq. The other 34% believe that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church."
#175 Re: Not So Free Chat » The MarsDrive Consortium » 2005-10-28 21:09:55
Web site looks great.
Do I know any of you?