i wont ask you to provide me a link that shows the ares 1 is dead, because you cant (they dont exist)

so feel free to explain why the ares 1 is dead

Originally Posted by Buk Naked

Any chance of generation power in space and transmitting to earth? For safety running fusion generation their and transmitting down, or capturing solar for instance.

fusion would be safe to run on earth.
the thing people look at for space is called space solar power
There are a few problems with it as it stands, namely the extreme expense in setting up a powerplant of solar panels (or anything else) in space, due to high cost of getting to space.
Space-based solar power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

however, it's 24/365 power and can be built big as you dont need to worry about gravity and earth stuff messing with the solar cells. make em thin, make em big.
PG&E makes deal for space solar power - Space- msnbc.com

interesting read on space solar power for earth use:
If launch costs were free, would space-based solar power be worth it?

Normal solar power runs about $0.25-50 per kwh on Earth. SBSP will generate 24 hrs per day vs 8, and will be exposed to 40% greater intensity, so should therefore cost less than $0.06-12/kwh if launch costs were free, which makes it directly competitive with conventional power sources. Of course, you won't get launch costs that low.

Utilities generally look at $5 per watt of capacity as a good deal. 1 watt generates 8760 watt hours per year or 8.76 kwh, which they can sell for about a buck per year, for a payback period of 5 years. If the SBSP installation functions for 20 years, then the full cycle return on investment is going to be 400% over 20 years or 20% annually.

A 10 MW SBSP installation would thus need to be able to be built and put in space for $50 million to reach this ROI, and could not exceed $200 million to break even.

Originally Posted by Shoddy

If these Lagrange point thingies are valuable space real estate, how do we decide which countries get to put stuff there?

They are mind bogglingly large areas. The earth itself can comfortably fit 100 billion humans. (vertical farming, molecular manufacturing, nearly free energy) Keep in mind that before we get near the 10 billion person mark we are going to be in a very different place technologically speaking.

Read here: Technological singularity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We could have a hard takeoff scenario tomorrow or it could take 30 more years, either way it's likely that in our lifetimes we will see some major technological advancement. 2000 to 2010 was insane, imagine what 2020 and 2030 will be like...

Originally Posted by Golazo

i wont ask you to provide me a link that shows the ares 1 is dead, because you cant (they dont exist)

so feel free to explain why the ares 1 is dead

obviously it hasn't been declared dead. As POR, they are still doing work on ares I and V. That won't change until the president finally announces his direction on space flight. Given the schedule slips already seen, the augustine report, and what i've heard from those that work in all areas of NASA, i'm speculating that Ares I is gone, some heavy lifter is ok (ares v classic, something else) and info on a shuttle extension and ISS are going to be declared this year

we'll wait and see

More on bigelow and his inflatible habs
Robert T Bigelow Founder and President Bigelow Aerospace | SpaceNews.com

When do you foresee operation of your first station?

The long pole in the tent has been the transportation, and still is.

2014 is the year in which all the spacecraft components would be deployed and assembled. We need seven rocket flights to succeed. 2015 is designated as when the first station operations would actually begin. But that***8217;s predicated on what is going to happen in 2010, with the Crew Transport Vehicle, the CTV. We are hoping SpaceX will have a successful lifter in Falcon 9 and is going to continue to work on getting its Dragon CTV operational.

So we***8217;re hopeful that SpaceX is going to be there supplying boosters and also hopeful that the Atlas 5 is in there. We are anticipating United Launch Alliance is going to be a major supplier of our needs.

I also have a design for a ***8220;Big Bertha***8221; spacecraft for NASA***8217;s Ares 5. We can create a module that has twice the volume of the entire international space station. One module alone could have 2,100 cubic meters of volume. We***8217;re volume productive, not mass concentrated. We produce many times the volume comparable to another volume that***8217;s a metal structure.

How are those two Genesis modules doing?

We***8217;ve learned all we need to know out of those, basically, within the first six to 12 months after launch. There are a number of systems that are not now functioning. But we really don***8217;t care. We***8217;ve gotten so much data. They***8217;ve served their purpose.

By the time you have people inhabit your first orbiting complex, how much money will you have invested?

By that time, I will have spent several hundred million dollars. So far, I***8217;ve spent about $180 million. I will have spent that much at that time because that will be prior to any kinds of government contracts and prior to any kinds of client deposits.

The spacecraft are already in production, so there***8217;s a confidence here that we believe in what we***8217;re doing. When the client comes along, we have already put our money where our mouth is.

shrug

sweet thread. would read again

would like this thread to continue to develop.
thanks for a very interesting read.

ask some questions if ya got em

Originally Posted by Ianboo

They are mind bogglingly large areas. The earth itself can comfortably fit 100 billion humans. (vertical farming, molecular manufacturing, nearly free energy) Keep in mind that before we get near the 10 billion person mark we are going to be in a very different place technologically speaking.

Read here: Technological singularity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We could have a hard takeoff scenario tomorrow or it could take 30 more years, either way it's likely that in our lifetimes we will see some major technological advancement. 2000 to 2010 was insane, imagine what 2020 and 2030 will be like...

Is there a website or anything that chronicles major technological innovations between time periods? Kinda like a timeline that you can adjust and see what cool stuff came out then? It's rather hard to think about it.

2000-2009: Oh! The Technological Places We Have Been | Weber Media Partners | Impressions Through Media
is...ok at best
try this
21st Century - Modern Inventions

There was a great (featured) article in last month's PopSci that talked about how the civilian space industry is taking some of the burden off NASA so they can focus on the important ****.

Good stuff.

indeed
if civilian space flight takes off, NASA can finally focus on beyond earth orbit
and that's where it needs to be tbh

http://www.popsci.com/technology/art...9-12/space-inc

any other thoughts or questions?

Astronaut guide, more or less

There are three types of astronauts in the U.S. space program:

Commander/pilot
Mission specialist
Payload specialist


The commander is responsible for the mission, the crew and the vehicle. The pilot assists the commander in operating the vehicle and deploying satellites. The mission specialist works with the commander and pilots in shuttle operations, performs spacewalks and conducts experiments. The payload specialist performs specialized duties as the mission requires. Payload specialists are people other than NASA personnel, and some are foreign nationals.

The basic qualifications for becoming an astronaut include:

U.S. citizenship (for pilots and mission specialists)
Bachelor's degree (engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematics) from an accredited college or university
Three years of related experience after obtaining the bachelor's degree - A master's degree equals one year of experience, and a doctorate equals three years.
Passing a NASA space physical examination - Pilots need to pass a Class I physical; mission/payload specialists must pass Class II. Both are similar to civilian and military flight examinations.
More than 1,000 hours experience as pilot-in-command of a jet aircraft (pilots only)
Height of 64 to 76 inches (162.5 cm to 193 cm) for pilots, 58.5 to 76 inches (148.5 cm to 193 cm) for mission/payload specialists
To apply for an astronaut position, you fill out the appropriate forms and submit them to NASA, which accepts applications continuously. You can download the forms here. NASA then screens the applications, and you may be asked to go for a weeklong session where you will participate in personal interviews, medical tests and orientations. Your screening performance will be evaluated, and if you are lucky, you may be accepted as an astronaut candidate. NASA announces candidates every two years, selecting about a hundred men and women out of thousands of applicants.

If you are selected, you will report to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for training and evaluations, which last two years. During the training period, you will take classes in basic science (math, astronomy, physics, geology, meteorology, oceanography), technology (navigation, orbital mechanics, materials processing), and space shuttle systems. You will also be trained in land and sea survival techniques, SCUBA, microgravity, high- and low-pressure environments, and space suits. You must pass a swimming test (swim three lengths of a 25-meter pool in flight suit and tennis shoes, and tread water for 10 minutes). If you are a pilot, you will train in NASA's T-38 jet aircraft and shuttle training aircraft at least 15 hours each month. Mission specialists fly four hours each month.

At the end of the two-year training period, you may be selected to become an astronaut. As an astronaut, you will continue classroom training on the various aspects of space shuttle operations that you started as an astronaut candidate. You will begin training on each individual system in the shuttle with the help of an instructor. After that, you will train in simulators for pre-launch, launch, orbit, entry and landing. Depending upon whether you are a pilot or mission specialist, you will learn how to use the shuttle's robotic arm to manipulate cargo. You will continue generic training until you are selected for a flight.

Once you are selected for a flight, you will receive specific training for the mission at least 10 months prior to the flight. This includes training in flight simulators, full-scale mockups of the shuttle and space station, and underwater training for spacewalks. The simulations will prepare you for every type of emergency or contingency imaginable.

After your training, you will prepare for your flight with training in the shuttle itself (pilots), meetings and more simulations. After your flight, you will have several days of medical tests and discussions; these are called debriefings.

Astronauts are expected to stay with NASA for at least five years after their selection. They are federal civil service employees (GS-11 to GS-14 grade) with equivalent pay based on experience. They are eligible for vacation, medical and life insurance, and retirement benefits.

dicks

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8467472.stm

they want to develop a laser more or less, rather than a microwave beam, to put power back to earth
more weaponized, doesn't work in poor weather, probably a worse idea than the beam idea

soooo
ya

i went on a college field trip to goddard in maryland, **** was amazing.

the flexible path, and ideas on what could transpire:
Taking aim on Phobos ***8211; NASA outline Flexible Path precursor to man on Mars | NASASpaceFlight.com

flyby of venus by crew (closest humans have been to sun, ever), flyby of mars, landing on phobos for a bit, flyby of a few NEOs. That's all in one mission
construction of space telescopes in GEO, rather than on earth (if we develop this capability...orbital manufcaturing, then we can build truly awesome things for space travel)
other stuff

just something for me to gloat on about, but impossible to back up with an article...

the rocket i've been talking up here and elsewhere (Jupiter rocket, from the DIRECT team) or some extremely close variation of it, most likely will be the way forward at NASA.
The lead people on the team had a meeting with nasa peoples and those in washington, and they like to tease us. The main guy said earlier today they had a 9.5 on a 1-10 scale of good news (10 being the rocket is selected). A few minutes ago, he said he heard some 9.9 news.
4 years of work, and a ****ty fall that all but exluded the Jupiter rocket. People despaired and wailed.
Looks like NASA will choose the rocket that is sustainable, modable, and based on existing and extremely near term technology.

i'd like to think my letters to congress and senate helped
but it probably didnt
yay!

u = nerd