New Mars Forums

Fantasy time.

Go highly exotic composites and make the SRB 100% disposable. Achieve a 95/5 mass fraction and your shuttle C can add 256,000 pounds IN ADDITION to the base payload to LEO.

Thats extra mass added to the rest of the stack, not to the final payload mass, which will be a signifigantly smaller gain.

I don't think that it will be easy to so radically change the boosters, making such a large composit structure which must resist high mechanical (stresses and internal pressure) and thermal loading, metals may actually be preferable, and I bet that you really really don't want to know how much an all-composit SRB would cost. The vast majority of the empty weight of the SRB doesn't have a "low stress" area, since its being used to hold back the insane forces from the world's biggest rocket engine.

I'm not thinking about adding a liquid upper stage to the Shuttle-C design at all, instead putting one on the payload inside the payload faring, and only firing it in orbit for a TLI/TMI burn. If you are going to do a big second stage, you might as well put the payload faring on top in line with the tank, which will cost big bucks to modify.

I wonder if it will push the EU in space closer to Russia and China.

If Europe and USA truly joined forces with a spirit of mutual respect and equality towards each other, I believe we could eradicate Islamic-fascism rather easily.

*How can forces be joined against a threat with people who deny the threat exists? 

Or who believe the threat is all your fault? 

Or who think you're over-reacting and they're not as bothered by it?

If both parties don't SEE/ACKNOWLEDGE the threat equally...

--Cindy  ???

First of all, we have reached agreement on the character of the new threats and on the best way that NATO and its members should respond to them. Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are two of the defining challenges of the 21st century. The NATO Allies acknowledged this by invoking Article 5 in response to the 9/11 attacks. And they did so again by sending forces to Afghanistan to fight al Qaida and the Taliban. As a result, in 2002, we effectively buried the perennial debate on whether NATO could or should go "out-of-area".

NEW YORK -- White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said yesterday that President Bush views America as a ''10-year-old child" in need of the sort of protection provided by a parent.

* * *

''It struck me as I was speaking to people in Bangor, Maine, that this president sees America as we think about a 10-year-old child," Card said. ''I know as a parent I would sacrifice all for my children."

But really, you know what my evil solution to the Palestinian problem? Just offer to fly them off to Mecca somewhere, get them the freak out of there. Most would leave, I am absolutely sure of this, if provided with the assistance. It wouldn't cost that much either (I guarantee it would cost less than our military budget to Israel), people aren't that expensive to maintain, and can be self supporting once they're moved about. But this is diverging from the topic at hand.

*Yes, you are a collectivist.  The worst sort.  Maybe you're not aware that many of your own "fellow Muslims" deride and denounce you, and claim you DON'T represent true Islam in any manner?  Your own family disowns you.  Looks like you don't speak for Muslims any more than I do.

100,000 dead Iraqi civilians would tend to reduce Islamic hatred for bin Laden.

*Many Muslims I've read about and heard speaking denounce him.  He has been disowned by his family, etc. 

As for the Muslims who can't or won't admit/acknowledge that U.S. forces in Iraq try to keep civilian causalities to a MINIMUM...what can I say?

*Yes, you are a collectivist.  The worst sort.  Maybe you're not aware that many of your own "fellow Muslims" deride and denounce you, and claim you DON'T represent true Islam in any manner?  Your own family disowns you.  Looks like you don't speak for Muslims any more than I do.

A Pentagon official Thursday acknowledged that the United States had been forced to leave many ammunition dumps in Iraq unguarded. The official, who declined to be identified, said the U.S. military had identified about 900 sensitive weapons sites in Iraq but had assigned only "a brigade-sized force" to deal with them. A brigade typically has about 3,500 soldiers.

"The country was made into a major ammo dump by the Hussein regime as they prepared to fight, and have left cleanup to us," the official said by e-mail. "If that were our only job we could devote more troops to the task, but the majority of our troops are fighting the enemy. When bullets are flying you've got to decide on your priorities, and sending a bullet back is the preferred alternative."

The official said he could not speak to how Sanchez had handled the report about Ukhaider.

So the shuttle will remain soaking NASA funds like a giant sponge. If the Shuttle is to remain flying then funds must be found to keep it going and yes this means cutbacks to the CEV etc. And with the cost of the ISS rising it seems it will be a long time before any return to the Moon or a mission to Mars will come.

Of course Europe and China may well get there first and stay, it will be a bit embarassing that. Only the retirement of the Shuttle and a decent replacement will ever give space advancement a chance.

Cobra, had Bush partitioned Iraq 14 months ago (as I called for right here at this site!) I believe his re-election would now be a cake-walk.

Perhaps, though the rabid donkeys would have attacked for that. No one but the President himself is disputing that mistakes were made, and he has political reasons for not giving up that soundbite.