Space Thread!

[silasraven]

Very cool vid, Ryan!
I went into immediate nerd mode and estimated their acceleration relative to the station at two milligee (two cm/s²). I then found a link that stated that the actual acceleration was 1.6 milligee ... close enough! ~grin~
I looked up the station's mass, 450 tonnes, and finally figured that the rocket was producing 71000 newtons (about 15900 pounds) of thrust. It fired for about 114 seconds, imparting a delta vee of 1.8 meters per second to the entire structure.
The rocket was most likely the orbital maneuvering unit aboard a Progress module, essentially a stripped Soyuz used as a supply mule. Figuring an Isp (specific impulse, a measure of how efficiently a rocket uses its fuel) of 310 seconds, typical for hypergolics in a vacuum, the Progress consumed about 2.6 tonnes of propellant for this boost.
I wonder if they performed an antipodal circularization burn ...
cn

dude that was intriguing. they were having way to much fun with that.

[Doer]

Toy mfrs? Not following. I reserve "technology" for that which has been proven at a working scale. There were some folks who were working on a laser-pumped air rocket, for example. They built a small model that could go a few hundred feet. But since they never progressed to something beyond a <cough!> toy, I don't call that tech, but a principle demo.
We had a nuclear-thermal rocket demonstrator in the 60s, but never took it to the point where there was a field-ready unit. So ... no tech, quoth the 'neer. cn

Right, toy tech. Still fun. I'm talking about the very idea of the thing.
You could lay is flat and measure the forces as you turn steel shot
around magnetically. That hasn't been done, so not even a toy.
I assume you like toys. I do.

[RyanTheRhino]

dude that was intriguing. they were having way to much fun with that.

I half believe they take xanax up there to keep from going insane from the extreme boredom .

The Asian guy is the best lol. whooooooooooooo

[Doer]

My very first Si-Fi. 8 years old, now allowed an extra privilege in the libary.
A new section, I can go in there!

Had never heard the term "science fiction." Hold on, what's this?
_Have Space Suit, will Travel_

I'm already humming, "...reads the card of a man, .........Paladin."
Heinlein? <shrug> It's not even cowboy. This kid won a Space Suit!

[Capt. Stickyfingers]

I've been fascinated by outer space ever since the first time I saw the HBO movie intro when I was a kid.

[Doer]

Wow, that brings me back. The music!

[AMileHigh]

Check out "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions" from the Discovery channel. Its streamable on netflix. Pretty astonishing stuff.

It was called the space race for a reason. The drive behind most of it was a race with the ruskies. And back in those days this country had a real sense of unity and was willing to put forth the funding. Well minus Vietnam but you get the point. And everyone sits around and bickers over the budget trying to get the biggest portion for themselves. Not to mention all the problems we have here that we need to deal with i.e. our huge debt and things like our fucked up school system. Shits just too expensive. NASA is developing cheaper single rocket capsules akin to the Gemini rockets, but no matter how you look at it thats a big step down.

Private companies like Virgin Galactic are trying to pick up the slack, and while those are very cool ideas, they just dont have the funding or manpower that the government can throw at the problem. Not to mention they are just non-orbital thrill rides. The private sector will take a long time to catch up, if it ever does.

Today there is a sense of complacency with regard to space flight. Most of us grew up with The shuttle and unless something goes wrong its almost routine. Which is insane considering the extreme danger involved. Hell by the time Apollo got to 14,15,ect they werent even getting televised. We had won the "race" and our short attention spans were back on earth along with our wallets.

Technology isnt the problem here. Cheap techonlogy is. Our smart phones have many times the computing power anything had 15 years ago much less back in the late 60's early 70's when we put men on the moon. What we need is a reason to get back up there. A reason beyond exploration and the fact that its pretty amazing. Maybe if we fuck up our planet enough we will have to leave earth again. Or stumble upon world peace, but honestly which is more likely to happen first?

[AMileHigh]

wow that was quite the rant... For all the nostalgic nerds who read this thread i also recommend taking a tour at kennedy space center in FL. Its fucking sweet, there is a whole Saturn V rocket on its side in one of the buildings.

[researchkitty]

Check out "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions" from the Discovery channel. Its streamable on netflix. Pretty astonishing stuff.

It was called the space race for a reason. The drive behind most of it was a race with the ruskies. And back in those days this country had a real sense of unity and was willing to put forth the funding. Well minus Vietnam but you get the point. And everyone sits around and bickers over the budget trying to get the biggest portion for themselves. Not to mention all the problems we have here that we need to deal with i.e. our huge debt and things like our fucked up school system. Shits just too expensive. NASA is developing cheaper single rocket capsules akin to the Gemini rockets, but no matter how you look at it thats a big step down.

Private companies like Virgin Galactic are trying to pick up the slack, and while those are very cool ideas, they just dont have the funding or manpower that the government can throw at the problem. Not to mention they are just non-orbital thrill rides. The private sector will take a long time to catch up, if it ever does.

Today there is a sense of complacency with regard to space flight. Most of us grew up with The shuttle and unless something goes wrong its almost routine. Which is insane considering the extreme danger involved. Hell by the time Apollo got to 14,15,ect they werent even getting televised. We had won the "race" and our short attention spans were back on earth along with our wallets.

Technology isnt the problem here. Cheap techonlogy is. Our smart phones have many times the computing power anything had 15 years ago much less back in the late 60's early 70's when we put men on the moon. What we need is a reason to get back up there. A reason beyond exploration and the fact that its pretty amazing. Maybe if we fuck up our planet enough we will have to leave earth again. Or stumble upon world peace, but honestly which is more likely to happen first?

Welcome to RIU Very well put.............

We need to focus on getting payloads into space, when we do that we can figure out the people part. Mostly because right now if we send a bunch of people out there, they dont have anything but an empty rock or empty planet and no tools or supplies (aka, their payload!) and have to return home to Earth instead..........

[Doer]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ...Another early sci-fi favorite.

Out of atomosphere is not only harsh, it is harshly mutagenic, too, it seems! You can't even be dirt side anywhere. Have to have dirt shelter. Oh, it can and will be done, I believe. We just about know how.
The idea of remote return fuel production plants hasn't been tried, even on a tiny scale, yet.

The Red Mars series about terraforming opened my eyes. People and politics.

They had a space elevator beanstalk more than once....well, I won't spoil the story.