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#1 2022-11-13 10:57:57

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Steve Stewart Postings

Steve Stewart joined NewMars in 2019: Registered: 2019-09-21

The post below provides a comprehensive, documented overview of the ways to make paper on Mars.

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 29#p203129


(th)

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#3 2022-12-31 16:19:42

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

In this post, Steve Stewart provides the very ** best ** (and most thorough) explanation of how to use imgur.com to show images to the NewMars audience.

http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 96#p204596

SearchTerm:imgur how to use to show images on NewMars

SearchTerm:images how to use imgur.com to show on NewMars

(th)

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#4 2023-01-01 20:00:29

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Very nice images and content added to http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 31#p204631 usefulness of caves for a first underground habitat of mars.

I was able to get an account to post an image that was transferred from my cellphone up link for the computer to it via the micro-usb port earlier today.

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#5 2023-05-06 23:15:37

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Here is a link to my proposal Storing Energy, Introducing a "Cell", and a Soil Factory on Mars
Below is the index for that proposal.

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

          Storing Energy, Introducing a "Cell", and a Soil Factory on Mars
                               Copyright 2023 by Steve Stewart


                                        INDEX

The importance of Storing Energy on Mars  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  2


Introduction to the ClearEdge5(c)   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  3
  Figure 3.1 Image from a sales brochure of the Clear Edge 5(c)
  Figure 3.2 Diagram of internal workings of a CE5


The "Methane-Oxygen Cycle" .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  4
  Figure 4.1 The Methane-Oxygen Cycle


Opening the Loop  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  5
     Figure 5.1 Open loop version of the Methane-Oxygen Cycle
     Open loop Methane-Oxygen Cycle
     Review


My Proposal of a "Cell"  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  6
  Figure 6.1 Functional view of a Cell
  Figure 6.2 Example of a composter


The Air in a Cell  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  7
    Figure 7.1 Example of how breathing apparatus might look
    Removing Oxygen from the Air
    Figure 7.2 Methane-Oxygen Cycle open loop oxygen and water
    Different view of the same process
    Figure 7.3 Different version of a Cell's functional diagram


Harvesting Carbon and a Martian Soil Factory  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  8
(Part 1 of 2)
    Harvesting carbon from the Martian atmosphere
    Figure 8.1 Example of natures "capture and hold" system
    The importance of carbon
    Building a soil factory on Mars


Harvesting Carbon and a Martian Soil Factory   .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  9
(Part 2 of 2)
    Hydroponics vs Soil
    Figure 9.1 List of recommended books


How the Martian Atmosphere is Brought into a Cell  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 10
    The Martian
    How vacuum pumps work
    Figure 10.1 Principle of operation for a vacuum pump
    Figure 10.2 Large vacuum pump
    Burning methane cleans the air in a Cell
    Other ways of cleaning the air
    Figure 10.3 Advertisement for an HVAC ultra-violet light
    Figure 10.4 Example of an ultra-violet light in HVAC systems
    Cleaning the air with plants


How to build a Dehumidifier that Doesn't have any Moving Parts.  .  .  .  11
    Figure 11.1 Functional diagram of a dehumidifier
    Figure 11.2 Personal photos taken at Pioneer Village
    Figure 11.3 Image of Icy-Ball refrigerator
    Figure 11.4 List of RV refrigerators
    Figure 11.5 List of absorption refrigerators for the home
    Figure 11.6 Wikipedia image of the nitrogen cycle
    Figure 11.7 Diagram of absorption refrigerator cooling cycle
    Figure 11.8 YouTube Video: IcyBall & Parabolic Mirror


The Air Pressure Control System.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  12
    Figure 12.1 Tank that separates CO2 from the other gases
    Figure 12.2 Refrigerant tank with two valves.
    Monitoring the level of liquid CO2
    Figure 12.3 Example of refrigerant scales.
    Normal operation of the Air Pressure Control System


Martian Resources Out of Thin Air .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  13
  Harvesting nitrogen from the air
  Uses for other gases
  Figure 13.1 Example of a fractional distillation machine
  Uses for CO2


How Much Oxygen Does a Cell Produce? .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 14
    Figure 14.1 Floor plan of a Cell
    Figure 14.2 Floor plan of a Cell with dimensions (English units)
    Figure 14.3 Floor plan of a Cell with dimensions (Metric units)
    Figure 14.4 3D cutaway view of the Cell described
    Figure 14.5 Amount of oxygen produced by a Cell
    How much methane does a Cell require?
    Figure 14.6 Cubic meter of methane and oxygen
    Figure 14.7 One cubic meter of methane reacts with oxygen
    If the methane were burned, how much heat would be produced?
    Figure 14.8 Diagram of a burner in a Cell
    If all the methane were used in a CE5, how much electricity/heat?
    Figure 14.9 Diagram of a CE5 in a Cell
    Amount of oxygen stored is always equal to the amount produced by a Cell
    Figure 14.10 A Cell with 13,000 liters of oxygen to be removed


Metrics in a Cell  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .15
    Metric #1: Oxygen created per unit of volume
    Metric #2: Ratio of area of plants to area of building
    Figure 15.1 Cell with 12 trays of plants
    Figure 15.2 Cell with 6 trays of plants
    Metric #3: Percentage of soil per unit of volume
    Figure 15.3 Cell with 6 trays of plants
    Metric #4: Amount of food produced per unit of volume
    Metric #5: ACH - Air Changes per Hour
    Conclusion


Summary .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .16
    Review of energy storage
    Other ways of storing energy
    Types of plants
    Composting on Mars
    Figure 16.1 Example of a composter
    Composting enables recycling human waste
    Figure 16.2 Screen capture of Gabe Browns video
    Closing the loop
    Harvest rotation
    Figure 16.3 Cell with 6 trays of plants
    Figure 16.4 Example of a "Dual-Cell"
    Growing grain crops on Mars
    Figure 16.5 Screen capture of Gabe Browns video
    Features of a Cell
    Figure 16.6 Cell with Discretionary Space
    A Cell is compatible with other proposals, including the Moon
    Figure 16.7 Another view of proposed "Ice House"
    Figure 16.8 Proposal displayed in London Nov 2016

Edited 9/24/2023 Added links to index

Last edited by Steve Stewart (2023-09-24 12:55:57)

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#6 2023-05-07 18:51:38

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

It is also why we had a wiki page long ago but its seems that manpower is the issue.

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#7 2023-05-08 06:34:30

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart ....

It appears you may be able to submit your paper directly.... please visit the Mars Society Papers page ...

MarsPapers
The official library for the Mars Society
Home Papers Publish
While most of the documents in this archive have been presented at the Mars Society annual Convention, we encourage everyone with a Mars related paper to submit it for inclusion in MarsPapers where it is available for public reading. You may email your paper for inclusion in the MarsPapers archive to the Editor of Mars Society Proceedings fcrossman@marssociety.org, even if the paper has been presented or published elsewhere as long as you, the author, have retained copyrights to your paper and can give permission to the Mars Society to publish your paper in the MarsPapers archives.

To submit your paper to MarsPapers, first download and read the TMS Author's Instructions.

MarsPapers Policy Statement

The Mars Society accepts for posting in its Marspapers library any formally presented paper that meets the requirements of the authors' instructions formatting and is accompanied by the signed copyright license agreement and which bears a relationship to the purposes of the Mars Society, the founding declaration of the Mars Society, or to Mars in general.

In the spirit of openness to the expression of all ideas that cut across a wide range of topics and expertise, the papers presented at Mars Society Conventions that are submitted formally for publication by the Mars Society and/or for inclusion in the MarsPapers archive are not peer reviewed, although specific abstracts and papers may be deemed unacceptable if they are considered to be primarily unsubstantiated opinion or a tirade or if they are deemed socially or politically offending in some way. Peer reviewed papers from other organizations and journals are encouraged for posting in MarsPapers if the author has retained copyright and will give the Mars Society permission to post the paper. The Mars Society also encourages the submission of responses to posted papers or preprints of papers prepared independently, subject to the guidelines discussed above.
Please contact the Mars Society Webmaster with any technical problems using this site.

(th)

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#8 2023-05-08 06:37:30

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart....

There are other media where your work might be a good fit.

Are you interested in exploring other possibilities, in addition to the Mars Society Papers department?

I am wondering if the National Space Society might be a possibility?

The Space Studies Institute would be a perfect fit, if it were still in operation.

Your paper would have been a natural fit for one of Dr. O'Neill's Space Manufacturing Conferences at Princeton.

***
I'm piling a lot on your plate... Please look at My Hacienda, to see if there are specializations not present there that you would need to implement your soil creation concepts.

(th)

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#9 2023-05-11 16:02:39

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Tahanson #8,
Thanks for all your information. I would be interested in posting it on other media's later on. Right now I'll look at the Mars Society papers. They have a lot of information as you pointed out. It'll take me a little while to go through it and convert my files to their format. I'll get back with you later on the other media sights. I'll take a look at My Hacienda On Mars as well.

By the way, I did run across a few "server errors" while test posting my proposal. I had to break post#8 of my proposal into two parts, which became post#8 and post#9. Apparently when a post is too long it creates an error, which I think you have mentioned. Another interesting thing I ran across was in post#12 of my proposal. When I posted "trace gases)." in the first paragraph of post#12 I got a server error. When I added a space before the right parentheses "trace gases )."  I didn't get an error. I tried different combinations several times and it does not fail consistently. I was unable to get it to post with all the text and space omitted, so I had to post it with a space. When I removed all the text and only left "trace gases)." without the space, it would post okay. I'm not sure what is going on. I thought I'd pass this on, maybe it would help in troubleshooting.

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#10 2023-05-11 17:39:35

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Steward re #9 and specifically the Apache Server error ...

Thanks for your reporting on the problem, and your experiments to try to discover a pattern ...

Several of us have tried a variety of procedures to deal with the problem once it shows up.  I collected a number of references to the problem and posted the list in Housekeeping a while back, but I never had time to investigate them.  Since Mr. Burk was promoted to Executive Director he's been too busy to continue as webmaster for our site, and (as far as I know) the Society has not found a replacement volunteer with the needed expertise. 

It appears (I have no direct feedback) that the Society may have moved NewMars to a different server ... we had a period of time when DNS cache had to be rebuilt.  That is a sign of a hardware move.  In addition,. our email service has become far more reliable than it had been until the move.  From this I deduce that ** something ** was done, but we have no way of knowing what.

There is a great deal of information on the Internet about this particular problem, and (apparently) there may be solutions recorded as well.

If someone with experience in IT wants to investigate and report findings, that would be welcome.

As things stand, it seems to me the episodes of the problem are less frequent, but your experience suggests that the large post trigger is still there. 

While I'm thinking of it .... Google Drive offers a full 15 Gb of free storage, and it is possible to link to files on Google Drive using their "share" feature.  I've been using this lately, and it seems to work well.  Apache seems to wave short posts with such links through without a problem.

Your entire publication could have been served that way.

We are doing something similar using Dropbox to serve Dr. Johnson's class modules.

Speaking of that !!! We have summer vacation coming up, and it would be great if one (or more) of our members could publicize the class in the local area.  The class is free for anyone to download.  Dr. Johnson is offering to help students via email or even a phone call, but that willingness is probably limited if a lot of folks take the class.  At this point, I am not aware of anyone downloading the material and starting in on it.

(th)

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#11 2023-09-15 06:16:32

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart re two new Posts .... Mars Convention and possible life signal in "nearby" planet ...

Thanks for both those reports! The links look interesting, and I'm planning to follow them later today.

(th)

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#12 2023-09-23 19:10:31

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Steward re QuickCAD assistance for RobertDyck ...

We are all rooting for RobertDyck as he prepares for his presentation, so your pitching in to help is most welcome!

(th)

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#13 2023-09-23 19:40:33

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Tom #12,
Yes we are all rooting for RobertDyck. All of us not only want him to succeed, but succeed with extreme success. Good luck RobertDyck!

Last edited by Steve Stewart (2023-09-23 19:43:22)

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#14 2023-09-25 07:17:03

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart ...

It would have been good to have been able to talk to you last night, during the last Zoom for a while.

It appears (to me at least) that your abilities to create professional looking graphics might blend well with the work done by GW Johnson to plan for propulsion of a 5,000 ton space vessel.

For the time being, I am holding GW's work back, but if you are interested in working with GW offline, I would be happy to facilitate that.

I have some (limited) experience with Fusion 360, so I have a pretty good idea of the capabilities of the software you are using.

I would like to see GW's vision for the structure of a propulsion and force management system implemented in 3D Cadcam format.

(th)

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#15 2023-09-25 09:39:28

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Tom, Sorry I missed your Zoom, I had a number of other things I HAD to finish before going to bed. I'm not sure if I can run Zoom on my laptop. I think I'd have to download something. I've only worked with Zoom a couple of times and that was on someone else's computer.

I'd be interested in working with GW on his projects. I follow his web-site An Ex Rocket Man's Take On It. I'm not familiar with Fusion 360, I had to look it up. I see it's made by Autodesk. That's the same company that makes AutoCAD so it probably works similar.

I use QuickCAD, it's a low budget version of AutoCAD. I bought QuickCAD for about $50 new off of Amazon. That was about 20 years ago. QuickCAD does not do 3D.

I was one of the lucky ones that downloaded "Google SketchUp" when it was free. Later Google sold SketchUp and I think a copy used to cost around $250, which I never bought. Now I think SketchUp can only be rented with a monthly fee, I don't think it can be bought anymore. A lot of software companies have pushed that business model, renting software instead of owning it. They make more money that way. I never rent software because it costs more money. My old copy of SketchUp still works. I used it for some of the 3D that I have done and posted.

I also use "Punch Pro Home Design Software" for 3D modeling. I have an older version of it (Version 19), it works real well. I just checked their web-site and it looks like version 22 is their latest version. A lot of older software can be bought on eBay for a reasonable price. Sometimes stuff is sold real cheap. I usually buy used software cheap that's a few revisions behind. I think I bought my first version of Punch years ago at Goodwill for $1. Goodwill type stores have been another good source for me to find software cheap.

One thing I like about V19 of Punch-Pro is that I'm able to draw shapes in SketchUp and then import them into Punch-Pro. This allows me to do 3D drawings using both sets of software. Punch is easy to use, but it's hard to draw anything that's not a house or living room that has straight walls that are either north-south or east-west. I don't think it can do curved walls or a curved ceiling.

All of the 3D drawings I did for my proposal that I posted earlier this year were done in Punch and/or SketchUp. All of my 2D drawings were done in QuickCAD. I also do screen captures (Windows logo + Print-Screen) and then paste them into Windows Paintbrush. From there I can touch up drawings, or make modifications. I do that for both 2D and 3D drawings. That's how I did the drawings I just posted for Rob.

I was getting ready to post some more drawings to answer questions on my proposal. I thought I'd try and help Rob out while working on some of my own stuff. I think I'd like to focus on getting Rob ready for his presentation (It's less than two weeks away!). I'd also like to focus on answering questions on my own proposal. I've got some drawings ready that I'm about to post, hopefully it'll help explain things. Probably after the annual convention I can start working with GW on whatever he needs. I've Emailed GW before about some things on his web-site. I'll shoot him an Email and let him know I'd be glad to help him with any drawings he needs.

By the way, I see you and SpaceNut both are needing a new furnace. I'm in the same boat. I had a new furnace put in about 10 years ago. The company that put it in does most of the HVAC work in the County. The furnace hasn't worked well for the past few of years and I've never been happy with it. This past summer the AC on it quit working during a hot spell. We also had some storms move through the area this summer that knocked out a lot of peoples power. I was without power for about 3 days during one of the hot spells. I have a friend that does HVAC work. I need to get with him soon about a new unit. So I have that on my "to-do" list.

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#16 2023-09-25 10:36:13

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Hi Steve!

Thanks for your lengthy post #15

Best wishes for a solution for the pesky HVAC equipment.  My furnace is repaired, and hopefully good for another 12 years.  The repairs are going to take years to pay off, but hopefully they'll last as long as the payback period.

SpaceNut's furnace is another story.  I'm hoping he can accumulate the funds he needs.  As a Granite State resident, he avoids borrowing, and while I admire strength of character it takes, he's likely to be telling us about 50 degree winter days once again.

Thanks for the overview of your software library, and of the wise purchases you have made over the years!

Fusion 360 is indeed a subset of AutoCad, and it can do 3D, as you suggested.

It is not clear to me that RobertDyck is in a position to accept any help from friends.  I'd hoped a voice communication might have helped to overcome any hesitation there might be.

We can still do an unscheduled Zoom.  The license will be transferred to the Conference at any moment, so if you think that you can spare some time, and if I can persuade RobertDyck to try to match whatever window opens up for you, I'd like to make the offer.

This is not primarily a technical problem, as you will understand if you get a chance to meet directly over Zoom.  There are some problems that may not be solvable using text posts.

(th)

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#17 2023-09-27 07:39:25

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart re new posts in "Cell" topic....

It is good to see you returning to work on your "CELL" concept ...

I am interested in seeing your initiative here develop gradually, and possibly evolve into a form that can be offered for publication in a peer reviewed environment.

When your large set of posts first arrived, it did have the effect of overwhelming the reader.

I'd like to encourage you to take advantage of the managed environment that has come about here, thanks to the leadership provided by SpaceNut.

You can invite folks you'd like to interact with over an extended period of time, to refine your paper and to continue to develop responses to questions and even the occasional objection that may occur.

Under SpaceNut's guidance, this forum has a generally accepting tone, but an individual author can request assistance in managing a topic.

As you have already seen, SpaceNut obliged when you asked him to move posts that did not seem to fit handily into your original topic.

The procedures for admitting new members are outlined reasonably well in the Recruiting topic.  So far, NONE of the new members we've admitted have become regular contributors, but that could change at any time, if something comes up that they find interesting.

In your case, if you were to advertise (somehow) for folks to review and contribute to your work, and if you can persuade them to work here, then I am happy to set them up with accounts.  We have over 10,000 just ** waiting ** to be put to good use.

(th)

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#18 2023-09-29 07:18:46

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart re Outstanding new post in Caves topic ...

This latest posting is ** impressive ** !!! I am glad to see this additional development of your ideas for large scale agriculture in the challenging environment of Mars. It occurs to me that your ideas ** should ** work just fine on Earth.  The difference in gravity should make no difference whatsoever.

There appear to be funds available for folks who want to try vertical gardening, so perhaps someone is ** out there ** who would be interested in funding a large scale experiment along the lines you're describing.

it occurs to me that with the Convention coming up, and with this group (NewMars) having a member in attendance, there might be a chance for you to make contact with presenters who are doing similar work, and who might be interested in collaboration.

(th)

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#19 2023-09-30 06:22:40

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart re new posting about Discretionary Spaces

Thanks for adding this new addition to your vision!

***
I was intrigued by your experiment with the # as a prefix for tags.  I tried an experiment with #Mars and got more results than I expected. There should have been only one, so I suspect the FluxBB Search algorithm ignores the #.  If a member has a bit of spare time, and the question is of interest, please run some experiments to see if the # character is ignored by the search algorithm, as I suspect.

The source code for the Search algorithm can be found in the search.php module of the punBB collection, which can be downloaded from punBB.org.  FluxBB was a spinoff of punBB.

I would most definitely be interested in a report on how the search algorithm is designed.

***

For Steve Stewart ... It is good to see Cells concepts showing up in related topics.  However, on the theory that the original topic might become a single-point-of-contact for a future reader, please consider adding links to new posts about Cells, that are added to other topics. 

A brief text summary of the purpose or value of the link might help a future reader to know if the link is worth investigating.

(th)

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#20 2023-09-30 11:30:14

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Tom,

I'm not sure how tagging works. I see people using them often, thought I'd try it. The idea is to tag certain posts so that Internet searches are brought to this forum. I see the Mars Society using them on Facebook often (See lettering in blue below).

I'm not sure if it's a Facebook thing, or if it works for all Internet searches. It seems like there should be a way to add tags to GW Johnson's "Launch Fundamentals" in order to bring Internet searches to his document. But again, I'm not sure how they work.

NNgMqND.jpg

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#21 2023-09-30 12:10:45

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Hi  Steve Steward!

Thanks for explaining where the # prefix came from!  I can certainly understand how that is possible!  Someone wrote code to look for the # character as the marker for a tag.  The NewMars forum is running with software that does NOT recognize # as a tag.

What I've done is to create a tag: SearchTerm: and I then concatenate the item of interest.

When setting up a search, I create a composite term of the form: SearchTerm: and :interestingObject

I don't know if the colons actually help, but they don't seem to hurt.

In the case of looking for your tags, a person could include author as ]Steve Stewart] and FluxBB seems to be able to handle that reasonably well.

A classic example is to look for Dr. Johnson's advice on education. I am spacing the letters to avoid an unwanted hit:

s e a r c h t e r m (colon) and (colon) e d u c a t i o n d o n e r i g h t

If you enter that search term, and specify posts instead of topics, you ** should ** get back a set of six posts.

If you haven't read them yet, there's no time better than now << grin  >>

(th)

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#22 2023-09-30 16:10:56

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

The hash tag serves the same as the browser meta data header section for pages that are displayed for searches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata

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#23 2023-10-01 11:05:33

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
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Re: Steve Stewart Postings

SpaceNut #22,
Thank you. That's a lot of good information. It'll take me some time to go through all that. So I have a question:

Is there any kind of tagging that can be done to GW Johnson's "Launch Fundamentals" document that would bring Internet traffic to his posts?

There are a lot of Internet searches done everyday by search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Bing, etc), for topics on rocket science, space, Moon, Mars, etc. Some of these searches are done by people who have never heard of the Mars Society or this forum. My question is how can a document/post be tagged so that some of these Internet searches are directed to this forum?

In this case I am not asking about how members of this forum can search for posts on this forum. Rather I'm asking how we can direct Internet searches to documents/posts, such as GW Johnson's document? There are millions of searches done on the Internet every second. If we could tag documents so that 0.001% of the searches for Mars, rockets, etc, are directed to this forum, it would greatly enhance our ability to attract people to this forum, and to the Mars Society in general.

If we knew what kind of tagging to use, such as the "hashtags" that I see often, maybe it would help direct Internet searches to this forum. If members knew how to use them, posts like GW Johnson's could be tagged and hopefully would result in more people seeing his document.

Just something to think about.

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#24 2023-10-01 11:22:17

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,754

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

For Steve Stewart ... re #23

Thanks for reminding us of the value of externally visible tags.  In the past, it was not possible for us to do anything at the Webmaster level, but now kbd512 has been promoted to that position for NewMars.com.  This happened when the site crashed recently, and Executive Director James Burk is too busy to handle NewMars.  However, that said, I'm not sure what you and SpaceNut are talking about.  I'll just leave it for the two of you to figure out.  Perhaps what you are talking about can be done with tags inside the posts.

***
On another matter .... your skills with drawing tools are first rate!  Can I enlist you to help with a bit of a challenge that is outside your field?

Dr. Johnson is an Aerospace Engineer, but his experience and training are in traditional technologies, generally involving use of hot gases to provide thrust for rocket engines.  ChatGPT isn't an engineer of anything, but it ** is ** a world class search engine, able to scan the entire collection of human knowledge that was fed into it's data collection as of the cutoff date, which is now given as January, 2022.

The problem we are facing is that ChatGPT has (as near as I can tell) found a space craft propulsion system that provides high ISP and high thrust at the same time.  This is unheard of, so naturally it is not something that a traditionally trained engineer would know anything about.

Your time is already severely constrained by your obligations, so you may not have time to spend on this.  What is needed is animation showing how this new propulsion system would work.  The animation needs to be so clear that a member of the forum who is NOT an engineer can understand it.

If you are not familiar with Blender, which is designed to do animation, I can show you what I've learned so far.  You can see some of my experiments in the Blender topic.

(th)

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#25 2023-10-01 12:49:08

Steve Stewart
Member
From: Kansas (USA)
Registered: 2019-09-21
Posts: 161
Website

Re: Steve Stewart Postings

Hi Tom,
I'd be glad to help GW Johnson anyway I can. I just sent him an Email. (Thanks for the reminder, I meant to do that sooner). I can do 2D and/or 3D, but doing animation is quite a bit more difficult than anything I've done. I have heard of Blender. I know there is a free download, but I have never used it. I think animation is beyond my capabilities. I just need to know specifics as to what drawings are needed.

Yes I'm short on time. I did find time to stop by my friends business and talk to him about a new furnace/AC. A few days later my friends son (Jason) came out and looked at what I had. It turns out they are having a sale at the moment. I'm guessing HVAC places are busy in the heat of summer and in the peak of winter, but they are between seasons at the moment, so I guess the manufacturer is having a sale during "off peak" times. The whole system is still going to cost a bit, but not as much as I expected. I scheduled a time for them to come out next month and swap out the old and new systems.

On the subject of searches:
Here is an example of what Google gives me when I search for "new mars forum".
Notice the topics and the dates listed (2011, 2012, and 2015).
I'm curious how Google comes up with this, and how Google decides to pick these topics.


1PKt4iA.jpg


At the bottom of the image above, it has the text "More results from new mars.com"
I clicked on that and this is what I got:


tXH8jKb.jpg


I assume when the general public does an Internet search they would see the same thing. I don't know if tags would help influence the search results. SpaceNut knows infinitely more about this stuff than I.

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