I want to return to the flyable rocket proposition, if I may.
The Shuttle system seemed to me to be an incomplete design. If the idea was resusability and rapid turnaround, then it failed. But there were a number of accomplishments. Being able to return the orbiter was one and the recovery of the solid rocket boosters (SRB) was another. A third possibility was to reuse the external tank while still in orbit, but this never materialized.
It failed because, even though the orbiter returned to the launch site, it wasn't a fast turnaround. The same was true of the SRBs. And no effort was made to return the external tank or reuse it in space at all. This all came up short, but why? Could the Shuttle and the SRBs be processed faster? Could there have been a way to use the external tanks? Or was it just a flawed design, which needed to be improved upon?
I think it was the latter. The Shuttle was called upon to do too many things in order to satisfy too many people. Its primary purpose was lost in all this and was shoved back into a lower level of priority. It had to please Congressional districts, who wanted a piece of the business. This led to a SRB design which required that SRB's be sent from Utah to Florida- not very convenient. It led to the Challenger disaster because of the segmented rocket boosters failed to seal off hot gases which led to the disaster. Another factor was the Shuttle's main engines were run greater than capacity, which caused greater turnaround time, as well. Furthermore, it was called upon to deliver a lot of cargo, which required a much bigger orbiter. Too many objectives had to be met- it needed to be simplified and less ambitious.
Now, we can ask, what if? What if the orbiter was smaller and used boosters made and serviced in Florida, near the launch site? What if its only mission was to deliver small amounts of cargo unmanned, or just a few astronauts? The orbiter weighed over 100 tons. Could this have been improved upon? Given that 95% of what launches is fuel and oxidizer, a much smaller shuttle would have made a much smaller launch system feasible. One half of the size of the shuttle would have halved the size of the external tanks and SRB's. Or, you could have kept the size of the launch system the same, while improving the reusability of the remaining part that wasn't reused- the external tank.
If you have added flight capability to the external tank, or protective heat shield with some thrusters and parachutes, then you may have save the external tanks. But then, where do you splash down? But if the tanks were smaller, might it have been possible to make them flyable? On the other hand, if the tanks were small enough, might they have fit on top of a plane and sent back to Florida?
In other words, could have system been devised which would allow all the pieces to be collected, serviced, and reused in a shorter time frame? It seems like a little more thought may have made that possible.
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
EGO OUT: How does apply Prof. Piantelli the Rules of Galile...
EGO OUT: How does apply Prof. Piantelli the Rules of Galile...: Applications of Galileo’s Rules in TM-LENR (from Piantelli’s messages) His experimental facts gathered in 20+ years of work in the most or...
Quite a long post, but worth reading. He has more on his site, if you're interested.
Perry returns to the early primary state of South Carolina | The Associated Press | Nation | Washington Examiner
Washington Examiner
Amen to that.
"The answer is we're going to cut the taxes, we're going lower the regulations, we're going to get the lawyers out of our business and we're going to get America back working again," Perry said.
Amen to that.
Bella on Twitter
It looks like a got on her radar screen somehow. Also, she gets a lot of followers. I don't know how it happened, but it looks like a good thing. Here she is discussing how she manages her Twitter account. (You may learn something. I did.)
Watch the Lynx Experience Video
Next Big Future: Elon Musk is interviewed by NPR about Spacex going to the Space Station
NBF has the transcript on his site here. So, I went to the link provided there and got this embed code so that you can listen in right here:
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah moving closer to getting its first nuclear power plant
by Brandon Loomis
In response to this article, Kirk Sorensen says that they should consider LFTR's instead of a LWR. Utah is pretty dry, and the LFTR's are an air-cooled design. A LFTR would be easier on the environment. Not to mention that it is a safer and cheaper design.
Why consider anything else?
Because there's a lot of money in building these things, and there are those who would rather spend a lot of money as opposed to spending less money in order to accomplish the same thing. So the most expensive design, the LWR will get built, as long as somebody doesn't stop it first. In the meantime, they get no power, and probably waste a lot of time and money.
Update:
Sorensen tweeted a link to this article, which I will link to here. The striking thing was that it was written in 1959. These problems aren't new. Yet we are not making sufficient progress in solving them.
In response to this article, Kirk Sorensen says that they should consider LFTR's instead of a LWR. Utah is pretty dry, and the LFTR's are an air-cooled design. A LFTR would be easier on the environment. Not to mention that it is a safer and cheaper design.
Why consider anything else?
Because there's a lot of money in building these things, and there are those who would rather spend a lot of money as opposed to spending less money in order to accomplish the same thing. So the most expensive design, the LWR will get built, as long as somebody doesn't stop it first. In the meantime, they get no power, and probably waste a lot of time and money.
Update:
Sorensen tweeted a link to this article, which I will link to here. The striking thing was that it was written in 1959. These problems aren't new. Yet we are not making sufficient progress in solving them.
Uncle Vic's Kitchen (Inaugural Episode) - Big Knife ( found it via Web Series Today)
I think he needs to do more cooking and turn down the heat with the hot babe. Not that I mind ogling the hot babe, but there is plenty of that elsewhere on the web, know what I mean?
Hot Air: Bad news from NASA: If we don’t reduce carbon emissions, the aliens might come and kill us; Update: Not a NASA report
The bad news is, they might not find them. The good news is, the resulting alien invasion will inspire the Keynesian orgy of Paul Krugman’s wettest dreams.
Krugman gets slammed pretty good there, ha ha. Unfortunately, the incompetence is out there. The story here is of that very thing. It has gotten pretty darned bad. At least NASA isn't that far gone, they have disavowed the report, but the perps are "affiliated" with NASA, nonetheless. It is really sad that people could write such nonsense. Even sadder still is that there's people who may believe it.
NDTV: Soon, India to have its own space shuttle
An engineering model of what scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) call the re-usable launch vehicle, is currently housed at a secure and secret facility in Kerala. Covered with special heat resistant tiles, soon it will roar skywards.I saw this on the Free Republic website. It got my attention due to my interest in the flyable rocket concept, which could be a way to make access to space affordable.
The Free Republic commenters said that this was a rip off of the Boeing X-37, which has flown a couple of times in recent years. So, I started looking into the X-37. It is launched by an Atlas V, so it is not a fully reusable system. It also carries a payload onboad. It's total launch weight is only 11,000 pounds, which makes it a small vehicle. It does go to orbit and returns and lands like a plane.
The interesting thing to me is that it weighs 11,000 pounds and has these really short wings. Not knowing any better, I'd say something similar might be done with a rocket casing itself, thereby making a first stage flyable. After all, it seems rather pointless to have only a part of the launch system reusable. A Falcon 9 first stage should weigh no more than say an empty shuttle external tank, which came in at 50,000 pounds. I don't know what the Falcon 9 weighs while empty, and counting only the weight of the first stage.
It would seem that outside of SpaceX, there doesn't appear to be much interest in making the entire launch system reusable. But significant portions are already reusable. Frankly, it looks to me like something could already be put together that would make all of the system reusable, but would it have fast turnaround times? That is basically the whole point.
Friday, August 19, 2011
I guess you can say it went viral
This video looks as if it went up on YouTube just 10 days ago, and it has over a million views.
One amazing feat of athleticism. With that, I say until tomorrow. Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.
One amazing feat of athleticism. With that, I say until tomorrow. Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.
Betsy's Page: Obama projects his own attitude onto the Republicans
Charles Krauthammer is in splendid form as he ridicules Obama's excuse-making about the run of bad luck that has somehow prevented his splendid economic policies continuing the economic growth that Obama tells us he had started with all his stimulus spending and health care reforms.
What makes Obama's attacks all the more galling is that he got what he wanted. He wanted a "clean" bill to raise the debt and he got it! Actually, the debt pretends to do something about spending, but that is all it does.
Therefore, to blame the Republicans for the state of things as they are right now is so far over the top that it is unreal.
It does give you some perspective on why they kept insisting that this deal was a bad deal for them, even though it doesn't do anything to hurt them at all. As I pointed out at the time, it was an Oscar winning performance. Now we know why they were putting on such a show. So that they could blame the Republicans for what has happened. But how can anything that the Republicans have done be a cause for anything when basic policy has remained the same? The point is that nothing has changed, therefore the policy that has been in effect still controls events and is the responsible cause of the current condition.
And Obama is out there blaming others for what in effect has been the failure of his own policies. If you believe him, it can only be a result of blind partisanship.
Update:
I just found this Paul Shanklin parody that was on Rush today. It kinda sums it all up nicely
Featured YouTube videos
Catching up with my YouTube channel, which I've been neglecting lately.
Baby That's Not You James R. Stout
Haunting - Caryl Archer
The Voice Behind The Hot Blonde by Sarah LaCroix
Five Questions Dating Service (collab with Wolfbracker)
Baby That's Not You James R. Stout
Haunting - Caryl Archer
The Voice Behind The Hot Blonde by Sarah LaCroix
Five Questions Dating Service (collab with Wolfbracker)
Independent E-cat News: The Krivit Show
Looks like Krivit has a series of videos to look at. So, I will.
The first of the videos with Levi. It looks pretty plain vanilla to me. There's no confrontation nor accusations being made. It generally discusses Levi's background, how he came to know about the E-cat, and what his general impressions were about it.
The second video gets into more specifics, but nothing sticks out at me. Krivit is starting to ask specific questions, but they aren't challenging type questions, in my opinion.
The third video, Krivit asks Levi how he knew the E-cat was working on its own power. This seems a bit more challenging type question. Levi seems to be getting a little annoyed. I could almost swear that Krivit is on the verge of calling him a liar.
Krivit is now asking about steam and the quality of the steam. There seem to be some nitpicking type questions about reports and why they weren't available. A challenging type question regarding a lack of a scientific report while reporting it to the media. Levi says he lacked data. I see a bit of exasperation on Levi's face near the end of this video.
The final video. Appear to be discussing methodology. Looks to be back to plain vanilla discussion. There did appear to be an interruption toward the end and the interview ended somewhat abruptly.
General impression: Krivit seems to be demanding more scientific rigor than what Levi was willing or able to manage with this demonstration. The only thing that Krivit is establishing here is that it isn't a rigorously scientific demonstration which will be unassailable on all levels. If you take it any further than that on the basis of this interview, that would be going too far.
Levi doesn't come off looking badly here is basically what I'm saying.
The first of the videos with Levi. It looks pretty plain vanilla to me. There's no confrontation nor accusations being made. It generally discusses Levi's background, how he came to know about the E-cat, and what his general impressions were about it.
The second video gets into more specifics, but nothing sticks out at me. Krivit is starting to ask specific questions, but they aren't challenging type questions, in my opinion.
The third video, Krivit asks Levi how he knew the E-cat was working on its own power. This seems a bit more challenging type question. Levi seems to be getting a little annoyed. I could almost swear that Krivit is on the verge of calling him a liar.
Krivit is now asking about steam and the quality of the steam. There seem to be some nitpicking type questions about reports and why they weren't available. A challenging type question regarding a lack of a scientific report while reporting it to the media. Levi says he lacked data. I see a bit of exasperation on Levi's face near the end of this video.
The final video. Appear to be discussing methodology. Looks to be back to plain vanilla discussion. There did appear to be an interruption toward the end and the interview ended somewhat abruptly.
General impression: Krivit seems to be demanding more scientific rigor than what Levi was willing or able to manage with this demonstration. The only thing that Krivit is establishing here is that it isn't a rigorously scientific demonstration which will be unassailable on all levels. If you take it any further than that on the basis of this interview, that would be going too far.
Levi doesn't come off looking badly here is basically what I'm saying.
SpaceX updates
UPGRADE: SpaceX's 550,000 HQ was used to assemble 747 fuselage sections. Today it houses F9 rocket/ Dragon spacecraft production. Pics of the factory floor then and now.
Four years ago, SpaceX moved into our headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. Since then we’ve made a lot of changes. Then and now pics
In 2007 the SpaceX lobby wasn't nearly as welcoming as it is today.
Four years ago, SpaceX moved into our headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. Since then we’ve made a lot of changes. Then and now pics
In 2007 the SpaceX lobby wasn't nearly as welcoming as it is today.
Unleash videos- How to ( cook vegetarian )
How To Make Candied Walnuts With Herb Salad Mix
by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Candied Walnuts With Herb Salad Mix from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
How To Make Cream Of Tomato Soup by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Cream Of Tomato Soup from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
How To Make Chili Con Tofu
by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Chili Con Tofu from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Candied Walnuts With Herb Salad Mix from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
How To Make Cream Of Tomato Soup by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Cream Of Tomato Soup from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
How To Make Chili Con Tofu
by Karen Buckolt and Jeremy Campbell
How To Make Chili Con Tofu from Karen Bukolt on UnleashVideo
Assorted Space Colonization videos
Here I have collected some videos obtained partly through my YouTube subscription to "fragomatik". The others came from skimming the extra links provided therefrom.
Island One - Settlements in Space (video) by thregar
Habitat (video)by fragomatik
Habitat Fly-thru by fragomatik
Arthur C. Clarke's Rama (video) by cobrabase
Island One - Settlements in Space (video) by thregar
Habitat (video)by fragomatik
Habitat Fly-thru by fragomatik
Arthur C. Clarke's Rama (video) by cobrabase
Presidential Politics
Now that Governor Perry is in the race, let's take a look at where we are. It seems to me that Perry is the latest flavor, in which there have been many.
It started with Trump, but he flamed out pretty quickly. Cain seemed to catch some folk's fancy for awhile. Then Bachmann seemed to catch fire, but that appears to be peaking. Now, there's Perry. Perry seems to be someone who will appeal to your gut instincts, for better or worse. Bachmann seems to be poised while under attack. She will need to be, because she will be. Cain talked tough about Islam, but seems to have backpedaled. Trump wasn't trusted as a real Republican. Which way to turn? There are plusses and minuses to each candidate.
One more candidate not mentioned a whole lot, but seems to be percolating a bit is of Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. After watching a couple of his videos, I think he could be a contender. Ryan seems to me to be someone who will appeal to your intellect. I haven't seen anything yet that may be considered a minus. Here's a video of Ryan, which I got from his YouTube channel:
Can Ryan win? Or is it too early for him? He is quite young, by political standards. He is only 41. He would have a long way to go.
It started with Trump, but he flamed out pretty quickly. Cain seemed to catch some folk's fancy for awhile. Then Bachmann seemed to catch fire, but that appears to be peaking. Now, there's Perry. Perry seems to be someone who will appeal to your gut instincts, for better or worse. Bachmann seems to be poised while under attack. She will need to be, because she will be. Cain talked tough about Islam, but seems to have backpedaled. Trump wasn't trusted as a real Republican. Which way to turn? There are plusses and minuses to each candidate.
One more candidate not mentioned a whole lot, but seems to be percolating a bit is of Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. After watching a couple of his videos, I think he could be a contender. Ryan seems to me to be someone who will appeal to your intellect. I haven't seen anything yet that may be considered a minus. Here's a video of Ryan, which I got from his YouTube channel:
Can Ryan win? Or is it too early for him? He is quite young, by political standards. He is only 41. He would have a long way to go.
Morning Summary, 8/19
Good morning. There was a joke that comes to mind when I used that stock phrase. Sometimes, you would just say "morning". That's because things aren't so "good", you see.
Gold has skyrocketed almost 50 bucks an ounce this morning. Sure, it vindicates what I've been saying all along, but it isn't good to see. And the amazing thing to me is that these people who caused all this are still talking their Keynesianism game.
The definition of insanity has been said as the doing of the same things over and over again while expecting a different result. That fits these Keynesians to a tee.
They really believe that can manage everything and just paper over everything and it will just be fine. Nuts!
Our leftists want to be more like Europe. A fine example they are making about now. Europe is a mess. Why would any sane human being want to be more like Europe?
If you go on the leftist sites, they mock those on the right who question all their prized beliefs. They really believe in their own superiority, but look at the world that they've made! It is falling apart. Yet, they still believe in it. It would seem to me that they've lost all credibility. Why should anybody listen to them? I don't see why anyone does, to put it frankly. I know I haven't been for a long time now.
Where does it all lead? We are headed directly to a new situation, but, at the moment, the end result is too hard to see. One thing though, Keynesianism is deader than hell. These people who believe in it are dead men walking. It cannot stand, it will fall. How hard it falls is just a matter of how long the people continue to listen to them. The longer they get listened to, the harder the unavoidable fall will be.
Gold has skyrocketed almost 50 bucks an ounce this morning. Sure, it vindicates what I've been saying all along, but it isn't good to see. And the amazing thing to me is that these people who caused all this are still talking their Keynesianism game.
The definition of insanity has been said as the doing of the same things over and over again while expecting a different result. That fits these Keynesians to a tee.
They really believe that can manage everything and just paper over everything and it will just be fine. Nuts!
Our leftists want to be more like Europe. A fine example they are making about now. Europe is a mess. Why would any sane human being want to be more like Europe?
If you go on the leftist sites, they mock those on the right who question all their prized beliefs. They really believe in their own superiority, but look at the world that they've made! It is falling apart. Yet, they still believe in it. It would seem to me that they've lost all credibility. Why should anybody listen to them? I don't see why anyone does, to put it frankly. I know I haven't been for a long time now.
Where does it all lead? We are headed directly to a new situation, but, at the moment, the end result is too hard to see. One thing though, Keynesianism is deader than hell. These people who believe in it are dead men walking. It cannot stand, it will fall. How hard it falls is just a matter of how long the people continue to listen to them. The longer they get listened to, the harder the unavoidable fall will be.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Nancy Sinatra "Up Up and Away"
I started today with the Deltoid Pumpkinseed. That was about a way to make launch costs cheaper, so that space can become accessible. So, along the same lines, I'll finish today with this video. Thanks for coming by, and have a great evening.
Trump: 'Obama's Constantly on Vacation'
Make him Secretary of Treasury in a new Republican administration.
Inflation Expectations Falling?
Inflation Expectations Falling, Will Narayana Kocherlakota Admit He Was Wrong?
Something isn't computing out there. On the one hand, gold is rising, which is indicative of rising inflation expectations. On the other hand, bond yields are dropping in expectation of recession and possible deflation. These two scenarios don't go together. One or the other must yield.
Haven't these people read any history? In the late seventies, gold went on a tear which resulted at the time in a price that seemed impossible to breach- until these last few years. Now the price is over twice that and rising. This is indicative of something, wouldn't you think?
Back then, we had inflation as well as recession. It was called "stagflation". It wasn't supposed to happen according to Keynesian economic theory, but it did. Is history repeating itself?
By the way, bond yields didn't stay low back then. They rose, as they will in the present, once this misconception gets settled. Because back then, not even the government had seen fit to do "quantitative easing". Yet, this same policy allows some people to delude themselves that the market is strong for US Debt.
If it is, it is only because foreign governments want to protect the dollar in order to protect their markets. Also, the US government is buying its own debt. This is distorting the market and must come to an end at some point.
The bond market may crash as it is in a bubble. If, by any chance the deflationists are right, gold must go down. This seems inconceivable given the policy of the Fed and other central banks. It is also inconsistent with history, as all fiat currencies fail.
As for me, I would never, ever, ever, buy any bonds. That's for suckers.
Sumner of Computing News says
IBM unveils chips that mimic the human brain
If you see a guy who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger
going around whacking people, then you know what the deal is.
Hasta la vista, baby!
If you see a guy who looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger
going around whacking people, then you know what the deal is.Hasta la vista, baby!
LA Times: Taxing Warren Buffett
"Republican critics are seemingly oblivious that, in many ways, his tax ideas mirror those of Ronald Reagan."
It seems that the latest strategy for the left can be boiled down to two points
- Call their opponents bullies
- Latch onto Ronald Reagan
- "a GOP lawmaker is teasing liberals by introducing a bill to add a line item on state tax forms allowing people to voluntarily pay extra taxes" and "like most bullies confronted with a powerful argument, they'd rather mock it than try to refute it"
- "Congress has steadily drilled loopholes back into the code while lowering the tax burden for wealthy people who make money through investments rather than labor" with respect to the Reagan tax reform of 1986, in which .. "capital gains were taxed at the same rate as ordinary income".
What powerful argument? It is nothing more than class envy. Now, here is a matter of equity- do not allow for losses to be attributed to capital gains to offset gains at the ordinary income rate. In other words, if someone loses a lot of money, this cannot reduce their income at a higher rate than what is gained. For example, a million dollar gain is taxed at the lower rate, a million dollar loss should offset more than a million in income. If that is already in the code, then it is fair.
What these people fail to understand is that capital gains is not like putting money in a bank. It is subject to risk. The lower rates do not discourage more risk taking, but higher rates would. After all, it is a matter of common sense. If your capital gains are taxed at ordinary income rates, and the top rate is close to 40%, then why would you take greater risks? To get only a little more than half of what you earned by an activity that is more risky?
Some tax codes don't tax capital gains at all. There is no risk in being a laborer. You work and you get paid. On the other hand, if you risk capital, you risk that money before you make a dime. In some cases, you will lose. When you lose, you can't go cry to mommy and daddy about the owie you took.
Update:
Lots of good rebuttal at the Free Republic site.
Update:
It is also useful to point out that AIG got bailed out and Berkshire Hathaway had a exposure to that. So, the taxpayer bailed Buffett out, but he wants everybody else to pay for it. That makes all his concern seem a bit false.
Thorium near Lunar North Pole
"The red spots are small volcanoes made up of felsic rocks. We know from data returned by the DIVINER thermal imaging spectrometer on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that these landforms are rich in silica. From the Lunar Prospector gamma-ray data, we have determined that they are also enriched in the element thorium, a key indicator of chemically evolved rock types."
It wouldn't take much thorium to make a lot of energy. Plus, it is near the North Pole, which makes it near a source of water.
These 8 Dragons, and those that follow, will lay the groundwo... on Twitpic
These 8 Dragons, and those that follow, will lay the groundwo... on Twitpic
One of these days, a Dragon just might land on the Moon. Then, it could take off again and splashdown. What a hoot that would be.
One of these days, a Dragon just might land on the Moon. Then, it could take off again and splashdown. What a hoot that would be.
VIDEO: Christine O’Donnell Walks Off Piers Morgan Interview
From the so called Moderate Voice.
These guys do not know how to be polite. He claims in this post on that there moderate blog that this will help CNN. Well, maybe. But I am sympathetic to O'Donnell because it appears that there was some understanding about what was going to be discussed and evidently, he broke the agreement. No reason for her to put up with that nonsense. Obama wouldn't debate on Fox, so what?
These guys do not know how to be polite. He claims in this post on that there moderate blog that this will help CNN. Well, maybe. But I am sympathetic to O'Donnell because it appears that there was some understanding about what was going to be discussed and evidently, he broke the agreement. No reason for her to put up with that nonsense. Obama wouldn't debate on Fox, so what?
Cargo Carrier for SpaceX missions
This will dock with the ISS and deliver the goods.
 |
| was going to add a link, but wouldn't let me |
Women In Web Series with MUMSY!!!
Made it! To Webseries, that is. Click on the link to the left, if you're interested.
Hank Williams, Jr.-If Heaven Ain't Alot Like Dixie
Just saw the story of how the term "Dixie" came into being. I won't repeat the story, but the guy who told it is the guy who has a link up in the products page for his music. (It isn't Hank, though, sorry.) Not that Randy is a slouch himself. But Hank Williams Jr. is a big name.
Dirty Perry?
LMAO!!!
Comparisons are being made between the character Dirty Harry
and presidential candidate Rick Perry
. If that happens, and if it sticks, I think Perry wins in a landslide. Who could resist a guy who becomes something of an avenging angel who sets things right?Can you visualize Perry saying something like "go ahead, make my day"! I think people would love it.
July CPI up 0.5%, core rate up 0.2%
What?!? Inflation is rising???? Who woulda thunk it? Certainly not Paul Krugman. No sir. He assured us nothing of the sort was happening. Even though he did suggest that inflation would be a good thing for the economy.
Gold went way up this morning. I wonder why that is? It was supposed to be in a bubble. Dear, dear me.
What could these people have been thinking about? /sarc
Gold went way up this morning. I wonder why that is? It was supposed to be in a bubble. Dear, dear me.
What could these people have been thinking about? /sarc
Deltoid Pumpkinseed II
Here is a possibility for bringing back the first stage of a rocket. Since this "aerobody" could carry a large object, such as a rocket's first stage, it seemed like a plausible alternative. Well, maybe it is plausible.
Anyway, the Deltoid Pumpkinseed
, which I covered briefly here back in April, is a type of hybrid aircraft. It combines the attributes of an airship with the attributes of an airplane. The design was intended to carry huge amounts of cargo at an affordable price. The concept was proven in a small prototype was flown about the time of the lunar landings during the Apollo project. Obviously, it never caught on.
This idea would be to have an inflatable structure attached to the sides of the rocket. Once the rocket is spent, the pumpkinseed would inflate, and bring the lower stage back to the launch site.
The pumpkinseed was a flyable design and it was proven. The amount of weight would be no more than a mid-size Gulfsteam plane. Therefore, this pumpkinseed need not be as big as the one in the book pictured below:
It could be scalable to the size of the spent rocket. Instead of propellers, it could use one or more of the rocket engines as propulsion. It could not have a rigid body, of course.
The idea also occurred to me that it would take a lot of time to inflate a large structure. Perhaps the air could be compressed and held until needed. Once released, inflation would occur rapidly.
This idea may seem pretty cockeyed, but, who knows? It may work.
Anyway, the Deltoid Pumpkinseed
, which I covered briefly here back in April, is a type of hybrid aircraft. It combines the attributes of an airship with the attributes of an airplane. The design was intended to carry huge amounts of cargo at an affordable price. The concept was proven in a small prototype was flown about the time of the lunar landings during the Apollo project. Obviously, it never caught on.This idea would be to have an inflatable structure attached to the sides of the rocket. Once the rocket is spent, the pumpkinseed would inflate, and bring the lower stage back to the launch site.
The pumpkinseed was a flyable design and it was proven. The amount of weight would be no more than a mid-size Gulfsteam plane. Therefore, this pumpkinseed need not be as big as the one in the book pictured below:
The idea also occurred to me that it would take a lot of time to inflate a large structure. Perhaps the air could be compressed and held until needed. Once released, inflation would occur rapidly.
This idea may seem pretty cockeyed, but, who knows? It may work.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Texans Cheerleaders Dance to Satisfaction
You can't hear the music, but who cares?
Thanks for coming by, and have a great evening.
Thanks for coming by, and have a great evening.
Behindtheblack: Another cave found on Mars
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found another cave on Mars.
Heck, that's the first one I've heard of.
Study of the Shuttle RTLS abort mode
Why? Well, it occurred to me that if the Shuttle was designed to do this, perhaps it isn't an impossible maneuver.
It was designed to do a RTLS abort after the SRB's discontinued firing, which is a little over 2 minutes into the flight. Up to T plus 4 minutes, the maneuver was still possible.
The idea is to design a RTLS for the first stage of a reusable rocket. The second stage continues with the payload to orbit.
The trick in this proposed system is to have almost 95% of the entire mass at launch supported by this airframe. On second thought: why? You only need the structural support for the stack at launch. On the return to launch site, your mass is going to be much less, meaning the wings only need to support less than 5% of the launch mass. Therefore, the strongest part of the structure needs to resist gravity, which means straight down the middle.
On return, the wings can support the much lighter craft. My original thought was to have the tanks in the wings, but that means more weight supported by the wings, which is a non starter. That appears to be the stumbling block. Perhaps the wings can support the engines? The fuel would stay in the "fuselage".
It was designed to do a RTLS abort after the SRB's discontinued firing, which is a little over 2 minutes into the flight. Up to T plus 4 minutes, the maneuver was still possible.
The idea is to design a RTLS for the first stage of a reusable rocket. The second stage continues with the payload to orbit.
 |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Space_Shuttle_vs_Soyuz_TM_-_to_scale_drawing.png |
On return, the wings can support the much lighter craft. My original thought was to have the tanks in the wings, but that means more weight supported by the wings, which is a non starter. That appears to be the stumbling block. Perhaps the wings can support the engines? The fuel would stay in the "fuselage".
Web Series Today featuring Philip DeFranco
I've put up DeFranco's videos before. I found one of his latest on Web Series today, which I found via Twitter.
By the way, here's a commercial for Rhett and Link's Commercial Kings
Women In Web Series
This is a T-Bone Pearson video, but it isn't him, but a puppet who does an interview of some women and their shows. Done in connection with spivid.com.
Women In Web Series from Travis Gordon on UnleashVideo
Women In Web Series from Travis Gordon on UnleashVideo
Cold Fusion Now: New (?) Piantelli group patent
by Ivy Matt
"After taking the time to read through the hypothesis proposed in Piantelli’s 2008 patent application, however, I feel that the phrase “hydrogen adsorbed by orbital capture” is incorrect, because the adsorption is a process that happens before the orbital capture. Any corrections by those who speak Italian are welcome."
Just Who, Exactly, Is Delusional? | Robert Ringer
Just Who, Exactly, Is Delusional? | Robert Ringer
Isn’t it remarkable how the left is railing on and on about how the tea-party members of Congress held the debt-ceiling talks hostage by demanding that there be no tax hikes? They’ve even referred to them as terrorists and suicide bombers, malcontents who ignored the heartfelt pleas of that paragon of unity, Barack Obama, to tone down the rhetoric after the Tucson shootings.
But something doesn’t quite ring true here. If the tea-party contingency sabotaged the debt-ceiling talks, why would a majority of Republicans be so mad at them?
Democratic feigned anger aside, the truth is that what the Republicans actually accomplished was to (1) raise the debt ceiling enough to take the pressure off Obama until after the 2012 elections, (2) fail to make certain that there will be no tax hikes in the near future (trust me, there will be), and, (3) rather than cut spending, merely slow the growth of spending (as Republicans have been doing for decades) from an Obama baseline that would have been unheard of even in the George W. Bush years.
Nevertheless, along comes a real radical, CNBC’s Martin Bashir, and conducts an anti-tea-party interview with a left-wing shrink by the name of Stanton Peele. Peele told Bashir (with the utmost objectivity, of course) that tea-party conservatives are “delusional,” “could become a very angry movement,” and “could potentially become a violent movement.”
Really? Funny, but in all the tea-party events I’ve been to, I haven’t seen anyone who looks like he has the “potential” to become violent. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of union thugs who are violent, but, for some reason, neither Bashir nor Peele mentioned any of those guys. Hmm, that’s weird … I wonder why? Must have just slipped their minds.
At one point, Bashir asked Peele: “So you’re saying that they [the tea-party people] are delusional about the past and adamant about the future?” To which Peele responded, with an air of professional pomposity, “They are adamant about achieving something that’s unachievable, which reminds us of a couple of things: It reminds us of delusion and psychosis. It reminds us of addiction because addicts are seeking something that they can’t have.”
Something they can’t have? Hmm … and here I thought the tea-party candidates won the mid-term elections in a landslide, so gaining control of the House and increasing the number of Republicans in the Senate turned out to be something they could have.
Could it be that Martin Bashir, Dr. Peele, and angry Democrats are the ones who are delusional? Do they not understand that history has repeatedly shown that radicalism and violence are overwhelmingly traits of the far (and sometimes not so far) left?
Nevertheless, even though the tea party won the mid-term elections for Republicans, a majority of the GOP, both new and old, failed to do what they were instructed to do. Would that the accusations of the left were true and that Republicans really had held the talks hostage to their demands. But it was not to be.
Congresspersons elected by tea-party voters were not sent to Washington to compromise. They were not sent there to raise the debt ceiling. They were not sent there to “change the debate.” They were not sent there to show how civilized they could be.
The tea party sent Republicans to Washington for the express purpose of CUTTING GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
Which is why it was breathtaking when John Boehner, after he signed on to yet another of the endless bad deals Republicans have made with Democrats over the decades, said, according to GOP officials on a conference call: “It isn’t the greatest deal in the world, but it shows how much we’ve changed the terms of the debate in this town.” He added that the agreement was “…all spending cuts. The White House bid to raise taxes has been shut down.”
Based on his analysis of the Democratic victory over raising the debt ceiling, it is John Boehner and his fellow sellouts in the Republican Party who are also delusional — not the tea-party members.
If you want proof that Martin Bashir, Stanton Peele, and John Boehner are all delusional, just take a look at the latest Gallup Poll regarding the outcome of the debt-ceiling debate. According to Gallup, 64 percent of Republicans nationwide say they disapprove of the debt-ceiling deal made with the Democrats, and independents disapproved of the deal 50 percent to 33 percent.
On the other side of the coin, Democrats approved of the deal 58 percent to 28 percent, and even liberals approved by a 51 percent to 35 percent margin. The figures pretty much underscore what the end result really was, notwithstanding all the jabber about “changing the debate.”
I should add that the same Gallup Poll also found that a majority of Americans believe the debt-ceiling deal will make the economy worse. It certainly didn’t do anything to impress either Wall Street investors or Standard & Poor’s.
Would that the Republicans had thrown a temper tantrum (as Democrats and the left-wing media accused them of doing) and gotten their way. If so, we’d be looking at a very panicked Barack Obama today rather than the same cool community organizer who is focused on raising a billion dollars to aid him in anesthetizing the public once again and winning what should be, based on the results of his presidency, an unwinnable election for him.
Maybe the tea-party people do need to get violent, given that the left will continue to accuse them of doing so regardless of how civil they act. Even if they throw out of office enough RINOs who still don’t get the tea-party message and bring in a whole new group of Republicans who are willing to take a chainsaw to the budget (rather than just getting excited about “changing the terms of the debate” in Washington), the violence that Messrs. Bashir and Peele so worry about is sure to happen anyway.
However, violence that results from real (as opposed to imaginary) spending cuts won’t come from the tea-party folks. It will come from those who are unwilling to give up the good life they’ve become so accustomed to as a result of the government’s redistribution-of-wealth policies.
But let’s see the spending cuts first. We can worry about the violence later.
You have permission to reprint this article so long as you place the following wording at the end of the article:
Copyright © 2011 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is the author of three #1 bestsellers and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. Ringer has appeared on numerous national talk shows and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
To sign up for his one-of-a-kind, pro-liberty e-letter, A Voice of Sanity, visit: www.robertringer.com
Isn’t it remarkable how the left is railing on and on about how the tea-party members of Congress held the debt-ceiling talks hostage by demanding that there be no tax hikes? They’ve even referred to them as terrorists and suicide bombers, malcontents who ignored the heartfelt pleas of that paragon of unity, Barack Obama, to tone down the rhetoric after the Tucson shootings.
But something doesn’t quite ring true here. If the tea-party contingency sabotaged the debt-ceiling talks, why would a majority of Republicans be so mad at them?
Democratic feigned anger aside, the truth is that what the Republicans actually accomplished was to (1) raise the debt ceiling enough to take the pressure off Obama until after the 2012 elections, (2) fail to make certain that there will be no tax hikes in the near future (trust me, there will be), and, (3) rather than cut spending, merely slow the growth of spending (as Republicans have been doing for decades) from an Obama baseline that would have been unheard of even in the George W. Bush years.
Nevertheless, along comes a real radical, CNBC’s Martin Bashir, and conducts an anti-tea-party interview with a left-wing shrink by the name of Stanton Peele. Peele told Bashir (with the utmost objectivity, of course) that tea-party conservatives are “delusional,” “could become a very angry movement,” and “could potentially become a violent movement.”
Really? Funny, but in all the tea-party events I’ve been to, I haven’t seen anyone who looks like he has the “potential” to become violent. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of union thugs who are violent, but, for some reason, neither Bashir nor Peele mentioned any of those guys. Hmm, that’s weird … I wonder why? Must have just slipped their minds.
At one point, Bashir asked Peele: “So you’re saying that they [the tea-party people] are delusional about the past and adamant about the future?” To which Peele responded, with an air of professional pomposity, “They are adamant about achieving something that’s unachievable, which reminds us of a couple of things: It reminds us of delusion and psychosis. It reminds us of addiction because addicts are seeking something that they can’t have.”
Something they can’t have? Hmm … and here I thought the tea-party candidates won the mid-term elections in a landslide, so gaining control of the House and increasing the number of Republicans in the Senate turned out to be something they could have.
Could it be that Martin Bashir, Dr. Peele, and angry Democrats are the ones who are delusional? Do they not understand that history has repeatedly shown that radicalism and violence are overwhelmingly traits of the far (and sometimes not so far) left?
Nevertheless, even though the tea party won the mid-term elections for Republicans, a majority of the GOP, both new and old, failed to do what they were instructed to do. Would that the accusations of the left were true and that Republicans really had held the talks hostage to their demands. But it was not to be.
Congresspersons elected by tea-party voters were not sent to Washington to compromise. They were not sent there to raise the debt ceiling. They were not sent there to “change the debate.” They were not sent there to show how civilized they could be.
The tea party sent Republicans to Washington for the express purpose of CUTTING GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
Which is why it was breathtaking when John Boehner, after he signed on to yet another of the endless bad deals Republicans have made with Democrats over the decades, said, according to GOP officials on a conference call: “It isn’t the greatest deal in the world, but it shows how much we’ve changed the terms of the debate in this town.” He added that the agreement was “…all spending cuts. The White House bid to raise taxes has been shut down.”
Based on his analysis of the Democratic victory over raising the debt ceiling, it is John Boehner and his fellow sellouts in the Republican Party who are also delusional — not the tea-party members.
If you want proof that Martin Bashir, Stanton Peele, and John Boehner are all delusional, just take a look at the latest Gallup Poll regarding the outcome of the debt-ceiling debate. According to Gallup, 64 percent of Republicans nationwide say they disapprove of the debt-ceiling deal made with the Democrats, and independents disapproved of the deal 50 percent to 33 percent.
On the other side of the coin, Democrats approved of the deal 58 percent to 28 percent, and even liberals approved by a 51 percent to 35 percent margin. The figures pretty much underscore what the end result really was, notwithstanding all the jabber about “changing the debate.”
I should add that the same Gallup Poll also found that a majority of Americans believe the debt-ceiling deal will make the economy worse. It certainly didn’t do anything to impress either Wall Street investors or Standard & Poor’s.
Would that the Republicans had thrown a temper tantrum (as Democrats and the left-wing media accused them of doing) and gotten their way. If so, we’d be looking at a very panicked Barack Obama today rather than the same cool community organizer who is focused on raising a billion dollars to aid him in anesthetizing the public once again and winning what should be, based on the results of his presidency, an unwinnable election for him.
Maybe the tea-party people do need to get violent, given that the left will continue to accuse them of doing so regardless of how civil they act. Even if they throw out of office enough RINOs who still don’t get the tea-party message and bring in a whole new group of Republicans who are willing to take a chainsaw to the budget (rather than just getting excited about “changing the terms of the debate” in Washington), the violence that Messrs. Bashir and Peele so worry about is sure to happen anyway.
However, violence that results from real (as opposed to imaginary) spending cuts won’t come from the tea-party folks. It will come from those who are unwilling to give up the good life they’ve become so accustomed to as a result of the government’s redistribution-of-wealth policies.
But let’s see the spending cuts first. We can worry about the violence later.
You have permission to reprint this article so long as you place the following wording at the end of the article:
Copyright © 2011 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is the author of three #1 bestsellers and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. Ringer has appeared on numerous national talk shows and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
To sign up for his one-of-a-kind, pro-liberty e-letter, A Voice of Sanity, visit: www.robertringer.com
Morning Summary, 8/17
Getting off to a late start today. No reason for it. Maybe there is, but I don't know it at the moment.
This morning, my attention seems to be on the big picture. I just spent some time on the big picture in the markets. After all the hullabaloo about the debt ceiling, the Dow is back where is was before. Maybe bond yields moved down and gold moved up a bit. But stocks have gone sideways.
That makes sense. Nothing happened, except the government just gave itself another license to steal. Those who are getting ripped off are bond holders, but they are masochistic, just can't get enough punishment. Those staying above the water are holding gold.
The license to steal is inflation, which is where we are headed. How do I know? Paul Krugman said it, so that makes it as good as gold. The people who are getting fleeced still believe that we have a deflation scenario ahead of us. That would be true, if the government was honest. But it ain't. Paul Krugman can keep the wool pulled over enough eyes so that the nobodies won't understand what's going on. You know who the nobodies are: the ones with the sloping foreheads who reside in everywhere but where the sophisticated ones reside.
I am in a cynical mood. But that is getting normal for me these days. This blog is supposed to be about solutions, but there are a whole bunch of people out there who seemed to be dedicated to the proposition that no solutions are to be entertained at any time. Problems are more useful. Play up the problems, but, by no means do they intend to actually do anything about them. If they did, they just might be out of a job. And we can't have that, now can we?
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City
That's it for today. Another day of summer in the city. Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.
Space News: Tourist Trip to Moon on Energia's Agenda [Kyiv Post]
Airbus A350 and carbon fiber
The Airbus A350 is a family of long-range, wide-body jet airliners under development by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer. [emphasis added] Wikipedia
Very interesting. This isn't consistent with what I was thinking earlier today about using inflatable wings- but it may be a better idea. Let's say you fashion a wing that doubles as a fuel tank. The entire structure could be a flying gas can, but that is already what it is.
Come to think of it, you need someplace to hold the motors in place, but how did the Airbus manage that? The Airbus design suggests that it could be done.
In case you are wondering, this post is about making a flying rocket. It would launch vertical and land horizontal. You could stack a second stage plus cargo on top of it.
Better Paths to a New Frontier
D Minus Zero
A detailed post, the outline:
A detailed post, the outline:
- Whats Next?
- Let us start with the current plan
- The reality
- Gutting Commercial
- In Summary
- The Better Paths...
- Jeff Greason: A Settlement Strategy for NASA [comment: I've posted on this]
- The importance of a strategy [ note: Greason's video ]
- The ultimate goal for NASA
- The strategy to achieve that goal
- Robert Zubrin, and Mars Direct [ comment : is that a strategy or tactics? ]
- Misconceptions of traveling to Mars, and Why Mars is Important
- How Mars Direct Works
- Gerard K. O'Neill: The High Frontier [ comment: recently posted on his book]
- My thoughts on the plans.
Wizbang: California’s “Amazon Tax” fails – unexpectedly!
According to this piece at Big Government.com, more than 70 businesses with affiliate relationships to online retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com have closed their California businesses and relocated elsewhere.
Well, it affected the Space Show. Before the law was passed, you could order books and help support the show. But that has gone away, thanks to this law.
The real idea behind higher taxes is equality, not economic growth. Therefore, higher revenue is not necessarily the objective. This is the fine point that keeps getting overlooked.
It gets presented as an increase of revenue, but that is not the actual result. The actual result is less revenues, but this is seen as a good thing by these folks because "the rich" folks actually make too much money, according to their egalitarian point of view. And we can't have anybody being unequal, unless it is rich liberals. For them to be rich is okay, not okay for the rest of the sloping forehead crowd.
Making the Falcon 9 reusuable, part 4
Considering the significance of such a feat, it would be well worth the time devoted to it in order to come up with a solution.
For me, this kind of thing is interesting, even if it never gets implemented. I like to muse over it anyway. My attitude is: what the heck? So, here I am again with another idea. I am going to make a series out of this, since this is the third post like this. The last one is here. The first was here.
The first stage appears to be too heavy to support with inflatable wings. But wait. The wings' primary function is not to support the weight of the vehicle, its primary function is to be an airfoil. So, I would look for ways to reduce mass by using inflatable parts, and use light weight metal, such as titanium as a means of supporting the weight. If enough mass can be saved this way, then enough mass could be employed in order to support the whole structure as a flying machine.
Where can you find mass savings? To answer that question, I am reminded of construction techniques used in building skyscrapers. This was turned into something of an art, which was to use the least amount of mass that would enable the skyscraper to stand. This is what you need for the rocket stack, only the minimum mass necessary for it to support the weight of the stack. If that turns out to be less than what is actually being employed, then it may be a potential place to look for savings by using inflatables for an aerodynamic function.
By following JP Aerospace, I heard about some very lightweight materials that may do the job of providing some smooth surfaces which will reduce aerodynamic drag. These could be placed over the structural skeleton which supports the rocket stack. Also for wings that would bring the rocket back to the launch site.
Perhaps enough weight savings could be found this way and that would make the rocket flyable.
Update:
Here is a fourth post here.
For me, this kind of thing is interesting, even if it never gets implemented. I like to muse over it anyway. My attitude is: what the heck? So, here I am again with another idea. I am going to make a series out of this, since this is the third post like this. The last one is here. The first was here.
The first stage appears to be too heavy to support with inflatable wings. But wait. The wings' primary function is not to support the weight of the vehicle, its primary function is to be an airfoil. So, I would look for ways to reduce mass by using inflatable parts, and use light weight metal, such as titanium as a means of supporting the weight. If enough mass can be saved this way, then enough mass could be employed in order to support the whole structure as a flying machine.
Where can you find mass savings? To answer that question, I am reminded of construction techniques used in building skyscrapers. This was turned into something of an art, which was to use the least amount of mass that would enable the skyscraper to stand. This is what you need for the rocket stack, only the minimum mass necessary for it to support the weight of the stack. If that turns out to be less than what is actually being employed, then it may be a potential place to look for savings by using inflatables for an aerodynamic function.
By following JP Aerospace, I heard about some very lightweight materials that may do the job of providing some smooth surfaces which will reduce aerodynamic drag. These could be placed over the structural skeleton which supports the rocket stack. Also for wings that would bring the rocket back to the launch site.
Perhaps enough weight savings could be found this way and that would make the rocket flyable.
Update:
Here is a fourth post here.
Cold Fusion Now: Roy Virgilio on Piantelli, plus the 2008 Piantelli hypothesis
by Ivy Matt
Selected quotes:
Selected quotes:
- Piantelli and Focardi share the same basic knowledge of the hydrogen-nickel technology, but at the time Focardi left Piantelli to follow after Rossi, his knowledge was not as extensive or as up-to-date as Piantelli’s.
- The Piantelli hypothesis is highly reminiscent of the known nuclear processes of electron capture and muon-catalyzed fusion.
- The H− ion consists of a proton with two electrons. [ comment: very curious phenomenon]
- According to Piantelli’s hypothesis, under the right conditions a H− ion can replace an electron of a transition metal atom, just as a muon replaces an electron in muon-catalyzed fusion. Due to its relatively large mass, the H− ion continually falls to lower electron levels, causing the emission of X-rays and Auger electrons. As it has a net negative charge, there is no Coulomb repulsion to hinder its progress toward the transition metal nucleus. At the lowest level the H− ion is close enough to be captured by the nucleus. After capturing the H− ion, the unstable nucleus releases energy and eventually expels the anion in the form of a proton. [ emphasis added, comment: Seems plausible, but I have not heard of a hydrogen atom with two electrons, this seems odd. Here is hydride (H- ion) entry in Wikipedia]
10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
Of the 10 listed here is the one that caught my attention:
The UK has used "quantitative easing" in order to support their economy. Sound familiar?
Paul Krugman advocates inflation like this while at the same time denying that it will have ill effects, or that it is even happening.
UK consumer price inflation (CPI) rose to 4.4% in July, up from 4.2% the previous month. The Bank of England said inflation could run as high as 5% this year, but has kept its interest rate low in the wake of slowing economic recovery. Check out 10 hyperinflation horror stories of the 20th century >
The UK has used "quantitative easing" in order to support their economy. Sound familiar?
Paul Krugman advocates inflation like this while at the same time denying that it will have ill effects, or that it is even happening.
We are the Borg
Good morning.
The first thing out the gate, I start looking for news on the web. The usual stuff. Then I came across this new technology that is like a wearable computer interface. The Borg of Star Trek fame came to mind.
Could it be that this kind of stuff is going a little too far? Do we really want to interface with a machine that could conceivably start controlling us in some way?
Some ethical questions, that's all.
The first thing out the gate, I start looking for news on the web. The usual stuff. Then I came across this new technology that is like a wearable computer interface. The Borg of Star Trek fame came to mind.
Could it be that this kind of stuff is going a little too far? Do we really want to interface with a machine that could conceivably start controlling us in some way?
Some ethical questions, that's all.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Real Thing
1974 Coke Commercial
Why 1974? Why not?
That's all for today. Thanks for coming by, and have a great evening.
SpaceX update
Preparing for ISS
The Falcon 9 rocket that will carry Dragon to orbit stands ve... on Twitpic
- NASA has given us a Nov. 30, 2011 launch date
- When the astronauts stationed on the ISS open the hatch and enter the Dragon spacecraft for the first time, it will mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.
- This week, we successfully completed a wet dress rehearsal (WDR)
- long term goal of Falcon 9 going from hangar to liftoff in under an hour
- Significant additional tooling and automation with be added to the factory, as we build towards the capability of producing a Falcon 9 first stage or Falcon Heavy side booster every week and an upper stage every two weeks.
The Falcon 9 rocket that will carry Dragon to orbit stands ve... on Twitpic
Buffett: Tax me please!
Funny how this gets treated as a serious proposition. You know that Buffett really doesn't mean it. If he did, he'd pay his secretary more, then she wouldn't have to pay so much in taxes.
Buffet reminds me of this Looney Tunes cartoon
Actually, any Democrat who says this should be taxed at confiscatory rates. I'm sure you'd see Buffett or any Democrat work overtime and try to avoid the tax. Trust me, that's exactly what would happen.
Buffet reminds me of this Looney Tunes cartoon
Actually, any Democrat who says this should be taxed at confiscatory rates. I'm sure you'd see Buffett or any Democrat work overtime and try to avoid the tax. Trust me, that's exactly what would happen.
HotAirPundit: Rush Media Montage: Obama vs. Bush Record Low Appr...
HotAirPundit: Rush Media Montage: Obama vs. Bush Record Low Appr...: "Rush Limbaugh plays a clip from CNN's American Morning about Obama's new record low approval rating from today. He then plays one from the a..."
Yeah, I know.
Lunch time, how bout some pasta rosa?
Here's how to make some, if you have the time.
How To Make Pasta Rosa from Jeremy Campbell on UnleashVideo
How To Make Pasta Rosa from Jeremy Campbell on UnleashVideo
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW: The effect of big media: A real conversation
ATOMIC POWER REVIEW: The effect of big media: A real conversation: "I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine that interestingly turned nuclear. She's married, mother of one beautiful nine month old..."Recently, John Kerry, the Senator from Massachussetts, said that the Tea Party ought to be censored. Actually, if the news media got censored a bit, it would be a better idea. That's because they have too much power to influence attitudes in a way that is completely counter productive, such as this. But that's what guys like Kerry live off of.
Jodie Foster Helps Revive SETI Search for Aliens
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Senior Writer
Actually, this is not high priority with me, but it is with others. For instance, I don't get the connection with improving life on this planet even if we did find evidence of intelligent life out there. But I am not against it. It just isn't a priority with me.
Here is Jodie Foster's page on Setistars.
By the way, I noticed that Rhett and Link's video fits in nicely with this theme:
Actually, this is not high priority with me, but it is with others. For instance, I don't get the connection with improving life on this planet even if we did find evidence of intelligent life out there. But I am not against it. It just isn't a priority with me.
Here is Jodie Foster's page on Setistars.
By the way, I noticed that Rhett and Link's video fits in nicely with this theme:
Production of steam comparison with E-cat (video)
He makes a claim at the end of this video that makes the E-cat look like a fake.
Recovering the first stage of the Falcon 9
The obvious way would be to bring it back like the SRB's of the Shuttle. But can we improve upon that?
As I wrote before, it would be a great advantage if you could fly your way back to the launch site. But this requires a lot of extra hardware and it wouldn't seem practical.
What reminded me of the Flying Falcon was a mention on Twitter about the X-3 Stileto. It is really not all that worth mentioning. But it did jog my brain a little, because the thing looks like a rocket with wings.
In a flash, I got this idea about what you might be able to do with the first stage of the Falcon. I got a little inspiration from airships.
While following JP Aerospace, I noted that he has worked on making rigid structures made mostly of compressed air. Such a scheme has also been employed on airplanes. An airplane with all of it structural components made up of inflatable parts has been flown before.
So, why not make the necessary wings out of inflatable parts? They would be inflated when needed. The control surfaces could be mated with it, so you would have an integrated wing structure. The structure would be folded back against the rocket casing before launch, and when it came time to come back down, it would swing out and inflate. The rocket would then become a glider, and come back to base.
Or, if power is needed, a little fuel could be retained and the rocket would power up to provide some thrust.
As I wrote before, it would be a great advantage if you could fly your way back to the launch site. But this requires a lot of extra hardware and it wouldn't seem practical.
What reminded me of the Flying Falcon was a mention on Twitter about the X-3 Stileto. It is really not all that worth mentioning. But it did jog my brain a little, because the thing looks like a rocket with wings.
In a flash, I got this idea about what you might be able to do with the first stage of the Falcon. I got a little inspiration from airships.
While following JP Aerospace, I noted that he has worked on making rigid structures made mostly of compressed air. Such a scheme has also been employed on airplanes. An airplane with all of it structural components made up of inflatable parts has been flown before.
So, why not make the necessary wings out of inflatable parts? They would be inflated when needed. The control surfaces could be mated with it, so you would have an integrated wing structure. The structure would be folded back against the rocket casing before launch, and when it came time to come back down, it would swing out and inflate. The rocket would then become a glider, and come back to base.
Or, if power is needed, a little fuel could be retained and the rocket would power up to provide some thrust.
8 grams of thorium could replace gasoline in cars
Didn't I cover this already? Yes, I did.
On thing I liked was this pic:
This shows how little Thorium we are talking about, which will be equivalent of 7500 gallons of gasoline. Impressive, yes?
Another thing that got my attention was this:
On thing I liked was this pic:
Another thing that got my attention was this:
The issues to overcome are the radioactivity and the mining of thorium to make this engine possible.No. Thorium is plentiful. Mining it is no problem at all. Radioactivity is mild, as you can hold it in your hand, with no ill effects.
10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
Here is one of the ten
Google is like The Brain, as in the cartoon Pinky and The Brain
. The Brain wants to take over the world, you see.
In M&A news, a bombshell from Google, which has agreed to buy handset maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash.
Google is like The Brain, as in the cartoon Pinky and The Brain
. The Brain wants to take over the world, you see.I am going to write more about SpaceX
Why? Because of all the people out there, I think that Elon Musk seems to have gotten it right.
He is dedicated to the proposition of making access to space affordable. I would compare him to Henry Ford. There are those who compare him to Steve Jobs, but I think Ford is a better comparison. Steve Jobs may have brought computers to more people, but his computers weren't the ones that got mass marketed on a grand scale. It was the IBM PC, and the subsequent PC clones that really did that.
Ford made the automobile affordable with the Model T. It may well be possible that, if he didn't do this, the automobile would still be a mere curiosity. They'd still be around, but they'd be too expensive for most people to own. Many people in the world still don't have an auto. It took someone like Henry Ford to bring the auto to the masses with an affordable car. The same kind of thing will have to happen with space. I think that Musk on the right track of doing that.
One thing that will be necessary for space affordability will be the re-usability issue. Musk is addressing that, and ultimately will be successful. I think that the problem is solvable. It may not be an easy problem, but it is a solvable one. Once that problem is solved, the main affordable issue will have been addressed.
This was attempted with the Shuttle, but it was a mixed success. The orbiter could be reused as well as the solid rocket boosters, but the external tank got discarded. The second problem was turnaround time. It simply took too long to get the Shuttle ready for the next flight. Other problems were safety issues, with the loss of two shuttles.
The bigger challenge with the Falcon could be in getting a really fast turnaround time. Simply recovering the spent stages isn't enough if it takes a long time to refurbish them for the next launch.
He is dedicated to the proposition of making access to space affordable. I would compare him to Henry Ford. There are those who compare him to Steve Jobs, but I think Ford is a better comparison. Steve Jobs may have brought computers to more people, but his computers weren't the ones that got mass marketed on a grand scale. It was the IBM PC, and the subsequent PC clones that really did that.
Ford made the automobile affordable with the Model T. It may well be possible that, if he didn't do this, the automobile would still be a mere curiosity. They'd still be around, but they'd be too expensive for most people to own. Many people in the world still don't have an auto. It took someone like Henry Ford to bring the auto to the masses with an affordable car. The same kind of thing will have to happen with space. I think that Musk on the right track of doing that.
One thing that will be necessary for space affordability will be the re-usability issue. Musk is addressing that, and ultimately will be successful. I think that the problem is solvable. It may not be an easy problem, but it is a solvable one. Once that problem is solved, the main affordable issue will have been addressed.
This was attempted with the Shuttle, but it was a mixed success. The orbiter could be reused as well as the solid rocket boosters, but the external tank got discarded. The second problem was turnaround time. It simply took too long to get the Shuttle ready for the next flight. Other problems were safety issues, with the loss of two shuttles.
The bigger challenge with the Falcon could be in getting a really fast turnaround time. Simply recovering the spent stages isn't enough if it takes a long time to refurbish them for the next launch.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Instant Karma ( All shine on ) - John Lennon
I don't subscribe to this view, but it is a nice song anyhow. Thanks for coming by, and have a great evening.
Krugman's War of the Worlds Economic Plan
You have got to see this to believe it
Yeah, the old broken window economic argument works politically. But people are worse off for it.
Breed: Back from newspace 2011.
Something in this post caught my eye:
Ok, the thing is this: if SpaceX can produce a rocket 10 times cheaper, then why can't the rest of the government be trimmed down? And the trimming down would not be a net negative, but a net positive, with better performance. Hmmm?
The NASA cost model says Falcon 9 should cost 4B to develop, it cost 390M.
Ok, the thing is this: if SpaceX can produce a rocket 10 times cheaper, then why can't the rest of the government be trimmed down? And the trimming down would not be a net negative, but a net positive, with better performance. Hmmm?
Making the second stage reusable
A speculative post from a rank amateur.
Elon Musk wants to make all of his rockets reusable. But, as he said recently, it is really hard. If I may make a suggestion. Look at this picture of the Falcon 9 as it is being assembled for launch. Note the red ellipse that I've put into the picture.
Here's the idea. Put another one of these empty spaces between the Dragon and the second stage. After orbit is achieved, maneuver the second stage 180 degrees and slide it inside the empty space in a type of docking maneuver.
The empty space with be a heat shield that can withstand reentry. It will probably need to be tapered somewhat as well. The parachute will be facing in the proper direction, because it will be between the Dragon and the second stage before the maneuver.
After the maneuver, it will be facing "up"- towards space, and the nozzle will be facing "down"- towards Earth, with the heat shield protecting the engine. The engine assembly will be the heaviest part, so it probably keep a proper orientation as it reenters the atmosphere. Then you can deploy the chute and land gently in the ocean for retrieval.
If desired, the empty space can hold cargo, which go along with the Dragon. That will require a separate docking maneuver with the Dragon, which will pull the cargo out, while leaving an empty space for the above maneuver for the second stage.
Update:
Why will this work? All the techniques and so forth are proven. It is just a matter of putting it together and trying. Here are the reasons based upon what I've observed about the Falcon 9
And there you are. I think it is a rather elegant and simple solution. I bet that you that this may well be the way it is done before it all said and done.
Elon Musk wants to make all of his rockets reusable. But, as he said recently, it is really hard. If I may make a suggestion. Look at this picture of the Falcon 9 as it is being assembled for launch. Note the red ellipse that I've put into the picture.
 |
| Red ellipse marks where second stage fits on top of first stage. Note the empty space where the nozzle fits. |
The empty space with be a heat shield that can withstand reentry. It will probably need to be tapered somewhat as well. The parachute will be facing in the proper direction, because it will be between the Dragon and the second stage before the maneuver.
After the maneuver, it will be facing "up"- towards space, and the nozzle will be facing "down"- towards Earth, with the heat shield protecting the engine. The engine assembly will be the heaviest part, so it probably keep a proper orientation as it reenters the atmosphere. Then you can deploy the chute and land gently in the ocean for retrieval.
If desired, the empty space can hold cargo, which go along with the Dragon. That will require a separate docking maneuver with the Dragon, which will pull the cargo out, while leaving an empty space for the above maneuver for the second stage.
Update:
Why will this work? All the techniques and so forth are proven. It is just a matter of putting it together and trying. Here are the reasons based upon what I've observed about the Falcon 9
- The second stage achieves stable orbit. That's because it is used for the circularization burn that is necessary for every launch.
- A heat shield for rentry would not weigh that much.
- It could be fabricated out of a strong weight carrying metal such as titanium. That is so it can hold the weight of the Dragon.
- The docking maneuver takes place in a stable orbit and has been practiced for decades now. This should pose no technical difficulty at all.
- After the shield is in place, the rest is also old hat. It would be very similar to recovering the Dragon itself.
And there you are. I think it is a rather elegant and simple solution. I bet that you that this may well be the way it is done before it all said and done.
Aviation Week: SpaceX Plans To Be Top World Rocket Maker
By Guy Norris
Looks like SpaceX is just getting warmed up. It looks like they will be the number one rocket company in the near future, alright.
- passing the 1,500-employee mark for the first time at the start of August
- The launch manifest lists 40 sold flights, including 33 Falcon 9s, plus five options.
- The first Falcon Heavy flight is targeted for 2013.
- Development of the more powerful, 140,000-lb.-thrust Merlin 1D, which will equip the Falcon 9 from the seventh flight onward, is now underway.
- the company last year showed a concept for a 150,000-lb.-thrust liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine with an Isp of 470 sec.
Looks like SpaceX is just getting warmed up. It looks like they will be the number one rocket company in the near future, alright.
Watts Up With That: Further on Thorium
Guest post by David Archibald
We "bothered" with the uranium because it was a lot easier to make bombs that way, as opposed to thorium.
Once the thorium reactor is adopted as the nuclear process of choice, we will be wondering why we bothered with anything else.
We "bothered" with the uranium because it was a lot easier to make bombs that way, as opposed to thorium.
SpaceX videos
I spent some time looking over the SpaceX website, which is a bit of an education. It shows how the rocket is put together and the various tests made prior to launch.
These were obtained from SpaceX website:
First Flight of the Dragon Spacecraft - Highlights
Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV)
Multiple Draco Test Firings
Dragon Spacecraft Separation Test
Falcon 9 Flight 1 Static Firing, Close
Falcon 9 Flight 1 Static Firing, Wide
Falcon 9 Flight 1 vertical
Falcon 9 Flight 1 rollout
Update:
Got this one via Twitter link. It is a test drop of the Dragon capsule from 14,000 feet. It was a test of the parachute deployment and recovery of the capsule from the ocean.
These were obtained from SpaceX website:
First Flight of the Dragon Spacecraft - Highlights
Commercial Crew Development (CCDEV)
Multiple Draco Test Firings
Dragon Spacecraft Separation Test
Falcon 9 Flight 1 Static Firing, Close
Falcon 9 Flight 1 Static Firing, Wide
Falcon 9 Flight 1 vertical
 |
| Falcon 9 flight hardware undergoing final integration in the hangar at SpaceX's Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. Components include: Dragon spacecraft qualification unit (l), second stage with Merlin Vacuum engine (ctr), first stage with nine Merlin 1C engines (r). Credit: SpaceX |
Falcon 9 Flight 1 rollout
Update:
Got this one via Twitter link. It is a test drop of the Dragon capsule from 14,000 feet. It was a test of the parachute deployment and recovery of the capsule from the ocean.
Conway: Abandoning the gold standard was a seminal moment, and one we're now all paying for
Roll out the bunting. Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the modern global economy.
- Let's start with first principles: for as long as anyone can remember, politicians have sought to spend more than they can afford.
- diminishing faith in the ability of fiat currencies to maintain their value.
- Unfortunately, currency debasement is a competitive sort of thing, as countries vie to reduce the value of their money (and hence their debt). [ what Krugman advocates ]
U.S. Researcher Preparing Prototype Cars Powered by Heavy-Metal Thorium
by Keith Nuthall
I got this off the Free Republic site right here.
The comments there are mostly negative. Let's see, Democrats environmentalists groups would be opposed because of the radioactivity. These guys on this website are supposed to be conservatives, so that's two major groups that seem to be against it. Never mind that it may work. Everybody is determined to prevent any solution to our problems, it seems. No wonder we get a credit downgrade.
- A 250 MW unit weighing about 500 lbs. (227 kg) would be small and light enough to drop under the hood of a car, he says.
- Natural thorium has little radioactivity, Stevens says. What isotopes there are could be blocked by aluminum foil, so the power unit’s 3-in. (7.6-cm) thick stainless-steel box should do the trick.
- After World War II, a strategic decision was undertaken by industrialized nations to pursue uranium-driven energy instead, because its by-product – plutonium – could be weaponized. By contrast, it is almost impossible to make a bomb out of thorium.
- And amid widespread concerns about terrorism, would governments allow scores of nuclear sources to roam the freeways? Processed thorium can produce uranium 233 as a byproduct. Would governments allow charging an electric vehicle using radioactive material in private garages? “Nobody will allow that to happen,” Hashemi-Nezhad says. Hedrick thinks such concerns are overblown, stressing thorium’s by-products are very hard to turn into weapons-grade material, requiring an immense amount of work and energy.
I got this off the Free Republic site right here.
The comments there are mostly negative. Let's see, Democrats environmentalists groups would be opposed because of the radioactivity. These guys on this website are supposed to be conservatives, so that's two major groups that seem to be against it. Never mind that it may work. Everybody is determined to prevent any solution to our problems, it seems. No wonder we get a credit downgrade.
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