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#126 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Mass Drivers on Mars - "Space gun" to shoot stuff to Earth??? » 2002-10-28 16:13:26
Just an idea here, what about mounting some kind of Scram jet on the object we are trying to accelerate with the mass driver? Could that offset the shock of hitting air pressure with a boost from the jet? Of course we are missing O2 in a Martian atmosphere, but hey, I sure there is someone smarter then me out there that could find away around that :>
#127 Re: Not So Free Chat » Mars Society red and blue crescents flag - ridiculous flag » 2002-10-28 13:33:41
People that are infinitely smarter then us.
#128 Re: Not So Free Chat » U.S. ARMY INTELLIGENCE AND ANTIGRAVITY - THEFT OF ANITGRAVITY TECHNOLOGY » 2002-10-28 13:23:16
no no no, see, the reason there has been no more major attacks is the top secret tech that the USA has...
silly...
#129 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Mass Drivers on Mars - "Space gun" to shoot stuff to Earth??? » 2002-10-27 15:44:30
What would the center of the tether be attached to?
#130 Re: Not So Free Chat » Lifetime of advanced machinery - How long can advanced machinery last? » 2002-10-27 15:33:34
About coating the circuit boards, if you ever have to repair anything, you are hooped. Also, heat may become a problem.
As for sealing off moving parts, there are some things that can't. If you have a piston that has to interact with the outside world, sealing if off would be hard. As well, you would need some kind of filter for the fluid incase it was contaminated. But I think that would be our best bet. It's not too complicated and is not at all radical from what we have now.
#131 Re: Not So Free Chat » Mars Society red and blue crescents flag - ridiculous flag » 2002-10-27 15:25:28
I agree with dickbill, I think the flag should include some type of mythology. But the CNN color scheme is nice.
#132 Re: Not So Free Chat » New Moon & New Planet!!! » 2002-10-27 15:22:07
Not to be mean, but I hope we are not spending too much money on things that are 10 light years away. I don't really see the point.
#133 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Mass Drivers on Mars - "Space gun" to shoot stuff to Earth??? » 2002-10-24 18:49:32
I Is there any way to gradually add air? Instead of an object hitting a wall, could you gradually increase the air density in the tube so by the time it gets out it's at atmospheric pressure?
You will lose velocity this way, but it's allot safer. But I could be wrong.
#134 Re: Not So Free Chat » Metric Conversion - Pros and Cons » 2002-10-24 18:45:42
You said:
Then let the engineers learn it, why should I be forced to suffer for the sake of some guy with a computer that can do the math for him?
f there will be a mission to mars, everyone will need to know how to do the other's job. In this aspect, everyone will have to know, and be proficient in metric. I will say again, they will have to. Why? Because that is the language that science uses. Now why not make everything the same?
Why try and make room for error? Why not do all you can to eliminate it?
#135 Re: Not So Free Chat » Metric Conversion - Pros and Cons » 2002-10-24 14:32:21
Clark, you grew up in the imperial system, right? So you say, why bother to change?
I have said this before, it's simple. The system is just simple.
How many feet in a mile? do you know off hand?
If you had to estimate distances, would you do it in yards or feet? Can you divide yards into feet easily if you have too?
Of course learning a new system is going to be hard, and many Americans don't want to do things that will be hard in the beginning but benefit them later.
You are going to tell me that there are no benefits.
There are. If I see a sign that says 50 Meters, I can tell you that it's going to be 5 000 Centimeters away. If I asked you to convert 50 feet into inches, could you do it in your head?
Think of drafting and engineering. You won't ever have a scale of 1:37 1/4 and have to divide that each time. It's going to be 1:10 or 1:100.
It eliminates confusion and error. changing base every time you want to change a unit is not helpful. It's slow and impractical. Just because you like it, does not make it right. And don't say the same thing for me, because I have used both, and I can tell you what one is better.
#136 Re: Not So Free Chat » Metric Conversion - Pros and Cons » 2002-10-24 09:09:46
1Km = 1000m just to clear that up
Everything is in powers of three. Everything. Electrical properties, (Volt Amp and Ohm) Lengths (Meter) and volumes ( L )
What i mean by that is a KM is = to mX10^3
a MegaMeter is mX10^6
A litre is just L, but a millilitre is LX10^-3
It's just so easy, why would you not want to use it?
At least learn to use both, and convert. If you do, I guaranty that you will want to switch.
Look at any electrical component. A kilo ohm resistor? A capacitor in mill farads? That?s metric.
#137 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Mass Drivers on Mars - "Space gun" to shoot stuff to Earth??? » 2002-10-23 16:26:26
#138 Re: Not So Free Chat » Hello Everyone » 2002-10-23 16:16:36
If they let me
#139 Re: Not So Free Chat » Metric Conversion - Pros and Cons » 2002-10-23 16:14:03
Well, I use a mix of both. All the math I do is in metric, but I still weigh my self in pounds and what not.
Anyone that knows how to use it knows it's easier. Anyone that has done any kind of work with binary knows that a base ten is better then a base-what-ever-the-hell-we-feel-like 1/2
I hate trying to figure out what 4 and 5/16th of an inch is.
We count in base ten, so why not do all our math in base ten? I do.
#140 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Mass Drivers on Mars - "Space gun" to shoot stuff to Earth??? » 2002-10-22 10:04:25
What about using a mass driver instead of initial booster rockets? put a shuttle on a few hundred meters of rail to give it an extra boots?
And if we could lay down a 10 or 20 Km of rail on mars, it could do allot of the work, and cut down on allot of the fuel needs or rockets and what not.
#141 Re: Terraformation » on a smaller scale » 2002-10-22 09:39:57
Would it be possible to get a sample of Martian soil and synthesize it here to test how difficult it would actually be?
#142 Re: Terraformation » From the Ground Up - Is terraforming Mars REALLY possible? » 2002-10-02 09:07:01
As a side note, how hard would it be to start seeing what plants we could take and what supporting plants/insects/animals would we need? Has anyone done any work on this or knows anyone who has?
#143 Re: Life support systems » Growing plants on Mars » 2002-09-30 13:31:52
okokok,
so dickbill, if i hear you right, you want to make a eco-soup here on earth to take to mars?
sounds good to me. But what is the differce from doing that then just taking fertilizer or compost with us?
but the idea of taking worms or fish aswell to creat a self contained system is a good idea. That should be a #1 priority, and something that we can acctual do (we being you and me in our basements.)
#144 Re: Human missions » Mars 24 Project - To Mars with Existing Commercial Rockets » 2002-09-30 13:17:36
oh wow...
that's alot of writing.
:0
not to be mean, but we can have the best ideas in the world, but how are we going to get people to hear them?
Unless you're a NASA CEO or something.....
#145 Re: Martian Politics and Economy » Mars as an alternative to War. - Can space exploration replace War? » 2002-09-30 13:10:15
Or solving problems like starvation and all that fun stuff.
Imaging that you are on a mars mission, and the control center radios back that it must stop transmitting because they lost funding, NASA got bought out by Coke or the world is going to war.
I still think we need to fix the problems at home before we start setting off somewhere else. Anywhere else.
#146 Re: Martian Politics and Economy » Mars as an alternative to War. - Can space exploration replace War? » 2002-09-29 16:09:32
I don't think it could replace it, but it could act as a distraction. Like the moon race during the cold war. Sort of like an arm wrestle instead of a fight to the death.
I for one would like to see the American government stop being so stupid and open their eyes and see what they are doing.
One of my biggest worries is that big corporations will take over and start fighting each other for what ever they can find. And that includes planets, asteroids and so on. People need to stop being dick heads before we can start some serious exploration.
#147 Re: Youth Group / Educational Outreach » Just to start a topic :) - stuff » 2002-09-26 20:19:14
Hell, i will be on the first ship out there (If they let me)
Don't worry, there are young people out there who want to go!
#148 Re: Not So Free Chat » ISS to crash and burn? - Russia reconsiders » 2002-09-26 20:16:14
It raises some issues, but if they can't afford it, I don't want them to throw something together half-ass.
I hope it still goes through; the space station will be a big land mark (land mark.... hehe) in the minds of the public. I think if it goes well, it will be a big step for space exploration because of good public opinion.
And if it goes bad... well...
#149 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Liquid fission rocket » 2002-09-26 20:11:44
damn... you guys are smart. 
I feel very out of my field here. Of course, if am in my first year of electronics electrical engineering, so, I don't have much of a field.
#150 Re: Civilization and Culture » CLARKEVILLE - The first prototype Martian settlement » 2002-09-26 19:59:44
That's scary. Who is to say that they won't war with each other, just like on earth? I think that there has to be allot of work done socially before any of this will work. I am not as worried about the individual bases as I am base VS base, or even corporations spreading their evil. I think some kind of lose social structure should be laid out. People need structure. You have to know where you are and what you have to do. Especially since there is no way you can survive on your own. You need your team, and you need it to work. Having a colony break down at the social level would just suck.