New Mars Forums

Official discussion forum of The Mars Society and MarsNews.com

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Announcement: This forum is accepting new registrations by emailing newmarsmember * gmail.com become a registered member. Read the Recruiting expertise for NewMars Forum topic in Meta New Mars for other information for this process.

#276 2024-09-30 10:46:30

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

There is a hospital. For major operations that cannot be handled here, they have air transport to Winnipeg. Jet aircraft from airport to airport.

They have a French immersion grade school, one school has 2 locations separated by 4 blocks. Another school. And an special school for aboriginal. Government has organized University College of the North, a remote campus of universities in Winnipeg. Not sure how it"s run, could be recorded lectures, simulcast lectures, local professors, or more likely a combination.

The city is connected to the province-wide power grid. Hydroelectric dams are up here and farther north. Long distance power lines deliver power to the south. Winnipeg Hydro built hydro dams in southeast Manitoba, but that was purchased by Manitoba Hydro. So there are some dams there too. Point is it was easy to connect this city.

They have water and sewage utilities, just don't know their details. They are connected to rail and highways. Thompson isn't remote enough to be the exception you're looking for.

Aboriginal reservations up north have no road, usually an airport with one crushed rock runway. The airport terminal building is the size of a double car garage. Construction materials delivered in winter by ice road. Do you know what an ice road is? They had telephone and satellite internet, but StarLink works much better.

Offline

#277 2024-09-30 12:23:37

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 19,405

Re: Chat

For RobertDyck re #276 and more detail on the city of 22,000 during boom times.

The reason I asked about bright kids was Dr. Johnson's course on Basic Orbital Mechanics....

We don't yet have a teacher who both knows about the free course material, and is interested in using it.

You may run into such a person, so please consider promoting the offer.

GW is working on a book that will attempt to reach younger readers.  The present course material is best suited for late high school, early college.

***
So tell me about this new scanner technology.

Lasers may be more precise, and the software to read may be more sophisticated.

Scanners in supermarkets here are amazing. They can decode product labels despite conditions that a human would find difficult.

(th)

Offline

#278 2024-10-14 12:32:31

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

Happy Thanksgiving. In Canada it's today. Leaves are yellow and falling. Went to the grocery store for a chicken yesterday. My girlfriend found a frozen stuffed turkey crown. I usually stuff the chicken myself, from scratch. Cut off the metal staple and put in microwave on defrost. Will see what a "turkey crown" is when it finishes defrosting and remove from the bag. Got baby potatoes and baby carrots to put in the roasting pan.

Offline

#279 2024-10-14 13:44:20

kbd512
Administrator
Registered: 2015-01-02
Posts: 7,856

Re: Chat

RobertDyck,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the chicken or "turkey crown" (whatever that is).  "Royal Turkey", maybe?  That sounds like a good name for a bourbon.

Offline

#280 2024-10-14 14:00:45

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

Thawed. It's pieces held in string mesh. Looks like turkey parts, mostly a breast.
My girlfriend also got a whole rutabaga.

Offline

#281 2024-10-14 14:11:26

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

Not drinking whisky this weekend. But the name has "royal" in it: Canadian rye whisky.
cr-delux.png

Offline

#282 2024-10-15 06:31:13

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

The "turkey crown" proved to be the body cavity including rib cage. No wings, no legs (drum sticks). Breasts look like they were trimmed. Looked like a juvenile turkey that was whittled down so the stuffed turkey was 6 pounds. The two of us ate less than half, but did finish the stuffing. The cat got a chunk of fresh turkey, which he really liked. He gobbled the piece of turkey breast, but threw up on the carpet. Rather than throw it out, I cleaned up the mess and put it in a bowl. I notice the cat ate everything in the bowl. So he ate his own upchuck. Cats do that. It's still better than commercial cat food.

Offline

#283 2024-11-14 15:14:38

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 7,820

Re: Chat

A bit awkward, but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IWDeA67MoM
Quote:

Will NASA's SLS program be... CANCELED? ft. Joe Tegtmeyer

Ellie in Space
159K subscribers

Things mentioned that I picked up on.

-Orion could be put to LEO by Falcon Heavy.  Of course it is not human rated, but I would say they could transfer crew from Dragon.

-And someone else has thought that Starship could host Orion on a trip to the Moon.  I see that the military has been doing tests on skipping a ship on the Earth's atmosphere.  My thinking is that perhaps Starship could host Orion to the Moon, and then come back, with the Orion delivering the crew to the Earth's surface.  Then perhaps if it is the typical Starship, the Starship might skip several times as Starship could not take the heat of a Lunar return otherwise.

But then you would still need to send a Lunar Starship as well.

In the Video they seemed to think that if Lunar Starship were used, perhaps it could return to an Earth orbit for refilling, but I don't know that it would have the propellant budget to be able to do that.  But if they did, you could skip the aerobraking for Starship.

I will be interested on what happens on the Hog Farms.  neutral

Ending Pending smile

Last edited by Void (2024-11-14 15:22:53)


End smile

Offline

#284 2024-11-16 16:20:33

Calliban
Member
From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
Posts: 3,793

Re: Chat

Starship isn't fully operational yet.  But when it is and if it is able to operate with a launch cost of $2million per launch, I cannot see SLS surviving long.  With the newly created department of government efficiency, it is an easy target for saving a non-trivial amount of money.  Still, many interested parties may wonder if Musk has a conflict of interest in this area.


"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

Offline

#285 2024-11-16 19:30:15

Void
Member
Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 7,820

Re: Chat

Well, if SpaceX makes a worthy product, then neither person in the D.O.G.E. will have to put their hands on it.  I think it would be unwise if they did.  However, they might go after bureaucracy that interferes with development of new space hardware.

I think the Orion has value anyway.  It is made to bring people safely through the atmosphere at Lunar return speeds.
My own view is that a method of some kind SLS or not could get it to LEO, and then a Starship already in LEO, could escort it to the Moon.  A Lunar Starship could then do what it was supposed to do.  Or, in my dreams a NOVA from Stoke Space properly revised could land people or robots or both.

The Starship that went into Lunar orbit with the Orion could then escort it back towards Earth.  They would separate and the Orion will hopefully bring the people safely to the surface of the Earth.  The Starship might try to do multiple skips off of the Earth's atmosphere to get itself into a refilling orbit.

But I don't think that SpaceX and Co. will put their fingers on a kill motion for SLS.  It seems likely that SLS will just continue to get more expensive.  Sooner or later, someone will look at it with hard eyes.

Ending Pending smile

Last edited by Void (2024-11-16 19:35:24)


End smile

Offline

#286 2024-11-21 21:01:51

RobertDyck
Moderator
From: Winnipeg, Canada
Registered: 2002-08-20
Posts: 7,934
Website

Re: Chat

Yesterday Russia launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Initial reports said it was an ICBM, but turned out to be Russia's new intermediate range ballistic missile. Launched from the coast of the Caspian Sea, closest to Ukraine. The missile had dummy warheads, not nuclear and not conventional explosives either. However, a former operator of Minuteman 3 missiles said RVs enter at mach 23. No way missile defence systems would intercept that. And at that speed, kinetic damage did a lot. Reports said there were casualties.

A Russian spokes person was at the podium giving a news announcement when she received a call on her cellphone. The microphone was still turned on, and caught both sides of the conversation. Her supervisor told her not to comment on the missile strike. She initially responded in English, but her boss spoke in Russian so she continued it Russian. There are people who understand Russian, the clip has subtitles with English translation of both sides of the conversation. Her boss effectively confirmed the strike.

I think this group would be interested in knowing the target was Yuzhmash. That's an important rocket factory. Zenit rockets were made there. During Soviet era it was called Pivdenmash. From Wikipedia: PA Pivdenmash

Missiles produced at Pivdenmash included the first nuclear armed Soviet rocket R-5M (SS-3 'Shyster'), the R-12 Dvina (SS-4 'Sandal'), the R-14 Chusovaya (SS-5 'Skean'), the first widely deployed Soviet ICBM R-16 (SS-7 'Saddler'), the R-36 (SS-9 'Scarp'), the MR-UR-100 Sotka (SS-17 'Spanker'), and the R-36M (SS-18 'Satan'). During the Soviet era, the plant was capable of producing of up to 120 ICBMs a year. In the late 1980s, Pivdenmash was selected to be the main production facility of the RT-2PM2 Topol-M ICBM (SS-27 "Sickle B").

After the beginning of perestroika, demand for military production declined significantly, and the Pivdenmash product line was expanded to include non-military uses such as civilian machinery. ...

In addition to production facilities in Dnipro, Pivdenne Production Association includes the Pavlohrad Mechanical Plant, which specializes in producing solid-fuel missiles. ...

In February 2015, following a year of strained relations, Russia announced that it would sever its "joint program with Ukraine to launch Dnepr rockets and [was] no longer interested in buying Ukrainian Zenit boosters, deepening problems for [Ukraine's] space program and its struggling Pivdenmash factory". With the loss of Russian business some thought that the only hope for the company was increased international business which seemed unlikely in the time frame available. Bankruptcy seemed certain as of February 2015, but was averted.

On 14 August 2017, the Institute of International Strategic Studies issued a report presenting evidence that "North Korea has acquired a high-performance liquid-propellant engine from illicit networks in Russia and Ukraine", likely produced by Pivdenmash facilities. Both the company and the Ukrainian government denied the allegation.

In October 2016, An Antares 230 launch vehicle using a Pivdenmash core launched the Cygnus OA-5 mission from Wallops Island to deliver supplies to the ISS. This was Antares' return-to-flight following the failed Cygnus Orb-3 mission nearly two years earlier, resulting from a faulty AJ-26 engine. The vehicle was modified to utilize the NPO Energomash RD-181 engine, which has since performed flawlessly.

In December 2017, after a two-year hiatus, the final Zenit launch vehicle was launched by Roscosmos from Baikonur Cosmodrome to deliver AngoSat 1.

In February–March 2018, Pivdenmash announced plans to develop a testing platform for Hyperloop technology developed by Elon Musk and was scheduled for completion in 2019 in Dnipro. Thought the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine later cancelled this as an "absurd" project. Even so, by 2021, the group was reported to have partnerships with 23 countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB