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#3076 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Ares I (CLV) - status » 2006-04-29 06:42:38
The Vision is Collapsing
http://www.nasaproblems.com/
NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration is collapsing.
This argument imploded almost as soon as it was raised a few weeks ago together with the totally unsupported and now denied claim that the CLV first stage was way over budget. It seems that the media just can't let the truth get in the way of a bad story. The strategy is so obvious, bash the VSE to bash Bush.
And what a silly site that is (btw the html code seems to be collapsing too haha) .. what is the point of comparing the size of the CLV with the Shuttle?
#3077 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Black Hole Drives » 2006-04-29 06:27:16
cIclops,
If we could get a few suns together i bet it would be a devastating event for the local area to create a black hole.
I bet it wouldn't be a seamless transition to a black hole.
They shouldn't be stars, just the equivalent in mass. Stars won't work because their radiation would prevent the gravitational collapse needed to form the BH. The gravity of the stars would also make mergering them quite difficult to control, extreme care should be taken if you try to do this 
The transistion of the object to a BH is not easy to model, yes it could be quite dangerous if you stood too close.
#3078 Re: Human missions » NASA Exploration Roadmaps » 2006-04-29 03:20:48
NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale during the Exploration workshop telecon:
As you know 2005 was the year in which we defined our exploration architecture and 2006 is the year we plan to develop a global exploration strategy for what we do on the surface of the moon and also the preliminary planning for Mars and other destinations
It's good to hear and see NASA firmly committed now to human Mars exploration.
Another interesting sound byte from Griffin at the Senate budget hearing last week, he said "Moon, Mars and Near Earth Asteroids" . NEAs should be the next destinaiton after the Moon. The nearest ones are only a few weeks away, they will be excellent stepping stones to Mars.
#3079 Re: Human missions » NASA Exploration Roadmaps » 2006-04-28 12:57:25
Ripped from Doc Horowitz presentation to the NASA Exploration workshop April 25 2006
Click here for full size image (279kb)
Note:
o 2010 / 2011 for the initial CEV "capability"
o 2014 / 2015 for first human CEV flight 
o 2020 / 2021 for the start of Mars Expedition design
#3080 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Black Hole Drives » 2006-04-28 03:12:56
Creating a BH artificially will either require a fundermental breakthorugh in Physics or probably more energy than it will produce.
It can be done right now if you are able to assemble about 3 solar masses of non radiative matter in a volume approximatey that of the Sun. Then all you have to do is wait for gravity to cook you a nice new BH.
#3081 Re: Human missions » Alt.space debacle (GCNRevenger 's gonna love this) » 2006-04-28 02:59:21
Who is the AntiZubrin?
Given the absence of NASA criticism in that rant, I'd say the author was
#3082 Re: Human missions » Reducing Costs - Changing the Human Centric Space Approach » 2006-04-28 02:46:27
While I agree with your general point, I disagree with your specific example. Even the most precise automated milling machine (or 3d printer) will ocasionaly produce peices with errors or defects. This may be due to incorrect instruction or calibration, or may simply be due to defects in the source material or drill bits. This is especialy true for rocketry where the tolerances are so tight. This is why it is necessary for a technician to come back and re-measure to make-sure the machine got it right. So while advances can drasticly lower the costs, there are still limits.
As technology improves it's hard to say what those limits will be other than the cost of the raw material and machinery. Identifying and then correcting / rejecting bad parts will become as close to 100% as is required, as is the case today with many less complex manufacuturing processes. The low volume of rocket parts is one of the main reasons for their high cost.
#3083 Re: Pictures of Mars » Looking for cover art » 2006-04-27 21:32:50
NASA images are not copyrighted and there are plenty of superb ones to choose from ... commerical use is possible too guidelines here
Wikipedia also have a lot of public domain images that you should be able to use.
Let us know when your book is ready!
#3084 Re: Human missions » Next Shuttle Launch: Late 2006? » 2006-04-27 20:55:50
...do they mean the PAL ramp? It sounds like they do.
Not according to spaceflight now
ice-frost ramps, areas of foam around the brackets supporting the pressurization lines that are intended to prevent ice formation before blastoff
They are different external ET structures. The ice frost ramps are located near the protuberance air-load (PAL) ramp which is an air deflector. The PAL ramp has been removed.
#3085 Re: Unmanned probes » Phoenix - North Pole Region Lander (PHX) » 2006-04-27 05:02:53
Update from Spaceflight Now
"The propulsion system and the wiring harness have been added to the vehicle," said Ed Sedivy, Phoenix program manager for Lockheed Martin. "We will be loading flight software onto the flight computer in the next few days. The flight software is much more mature than typical for a planetary program at this stage. As soon as the flight computer is mated up, we can apply external power to the vehicle."
Navigation components, such as star trackers, and communication subsystems will become part of the spacecraft in coming weeks, followed by science instruments in the summer.
Phoenix will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in May 2007
#3086 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Ares V (CaLV) - status » 2006-04-26 10:24:56
Hopefully this will tie all the CaLV threads together
This report in Flight International says the RS-68 has been selected as the CaLV’s main engine!
Life-cycle cost also drove selection of the Rocketdyne RS-68 as the CaLV’s main engine, rather than the RS-25e. However, this led to an increase in CaLV core structure diameter from 8.38m, the same as the Shuttle’s external tank, to 10m. The wider core was needed to enlarge the fuel tanks to provide the extra propellant required to allow the RS-68 to burn long enough to deliver RS-25e-like performance.
#3087 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Ares I (CLV) - status » 2006-04-26 09:55:16
NASA CLV Upper stage RFI (March 20 2006) available here 6 MB PDF
Lots of technical details and diagrams including development timeline showing flight tests in 2011
#3088 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Ares I (CLV) - status » 2006-04-26 05:36:33
Extract from Mike Griffin's testimony to the Senate yesterday
For the CLV, NASA has directed two industry teams to begin initial development of the vehicle's propulsion systems, and to develop designs for the CLV upper stage. The Agency also plans to award design, development, test, and evaluation contracts later this year. NASA is planning a systems requirements review for this project in the fall with a preliminary design review in 2008 in order for this new launch vehicle to be ready for when the CEV comes on-line.
#3090 Re: Mars Analogue Research Stations » NASA tests equipment at MDRS » 2006-04-25 08:29:50
The agency will conduct the tests of its Brahms software and hardware packages until May 7 at its Mars Desert Research Station near Hanksville, Utah. During the field exercises, researchers will evaluate Brahms, which is designed to help astronauts by monitoring their electrical power systems and sounding alarms that indicate problems.
The news report is here
#3091 Re: Human missions » Nasa Shuttle, ISS Woes & To-Mars » 2006-04-25 08:24:05
"Yes, I was going to give this astronaut selection my best shot, I was determined when the NASA proctologist looked up my ass, he would see pipes so dazzling he would ask the nurse to get his sunglasses."
---Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane
Heh that is a great quote ... btw Mullane did a long interview on the space show recently, he speaks very clearly about NASA and the VSE .. you can hear it here
#3092 Re: Human missions » Nasa Shuttle, ISS Woes & To-Mars » 2006-04-25 06:08:32
it's been ready for two years
#3093 Re: New Mars Articles » Manned mission to 'Mars' » 2006-04-23 10:32:17
A detailed article focusing on human missions to Mars, MDRS and RTTM. Interesting read for the view that the media presents to the public. Numerous factual errors, count them here
#3094 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » 3D simulation of black holes mergering » 2006-04-19 03:44:05
This visualization shows what Einstein envisioned. Researchers crunched Einstein's theory of general relativity on the Columbia supercomputer at the NASA Ames Research Center to create a three-dimensional simulation of merging black holes. This was the largest astrophysical calculation ever performed on a NASA supercomputer
#3096 Re: New Mars Articles » The challenges of manned Mars exploration » 2006-04-18 03:16:00
Rapp discusses propulsion, life support and other problems of human missions read article here
#3097 Re: Interplanetary transportation » USV - Unmanned Space Vehicle » 2006-04-18 02:55:36
First flight tests of Italy’s 8m supersonic glider are expected soon. This prototype is part of an ESA RLV research project.
#3099 Re: Not So Free Chat » The year is 2061 - where will we be ? » 2006-04-15 01:26:34
The old saying says it all, "never make predictions, especially about the future" but it is a lot of fun to try. Yes looking back 50 years and taking a straight line through the trend should give a minimum extrapolation. So 1957 produced Sputnik, a 50 kg LEO satellite. Today 100,000 kg to LEO has been achieved, a factor of 2,000. Just as in 1957 almost no one would have imagined that 100 mt would be doable, do we dare think that another factor of 2,000 is possible .. 200,000 mt to orbit by 2057 - equivalent to putting an oil tanker in LEO!
It's not clear where the upper limit is to chemical rocket lifting capacity, or even if there is one, however just as ships have maxed out around 200,000 mt tons there will be an *economical* maximum size for rocket payloads. Given the VSE and the move outwards together with commercial exploitation of space, 200,000 mt may well happen. With that lift capacity in 2057 the whole solar system will be within human reach.
That was fun
#3100 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) » 2006-04-13 13:32:34
First images released from MRO CTX camera (built by Malin Space Science Systems)