Thorcon, the Most Advanced Nuclear Reactor on the Planet

 

Looks like they've got the ok to build one that will be in service in 4 years. Unless I'm misunderstanding something...

It will be located in Indonesia.

An idea gleaned from observation of Blue Origin v SpaceX lunar landers

Update: Jul 1st- --to Jun 30th post--

Dragon XL contract with NASA delayed

There's a contract out there, or there was, that consisted of using the Dragon capsule to supply the future Gateway outpost for the Artemis program. It looks like it could be used for other things, and SpaceX was interested as well as NASA. However, as of this writing, it looks like it is in limbo. This link is to a news item that is two years old. The current status is unknown as of this writing.

As written in this thread, it would seem to be useful to take a smaller ship back from the surface, if the only need is to get the crew back onboard the Gateway. So, here's a use for the Dragon XL besides to supply the Gateway. It could also supply the lunar surface as well. Trouble is, the current configuration only allows for maybe 11k to 12k pounds. You'll need that much or more to get to the surface.

However, if the Dragon XL is stowed onboard the Starship, it could deliver a return module so that the crew can get back home. The return module would be the Dragon XL itself. Moreover, it might be integrated into the Starship lunar lander so that it goes down to the surface, and can return with just the Dragon XL with crew onboard.

The main idea here is to maximize on their capabilities. The Dragon XL is all that would be needed to get back to the Gateway, so why use the entire ship? A Starship lunar lander can deliver cargo, so why not make the Dragon XL capable of doing that too? If the entire Starship isn't coming back, there could be more cargo sent to the lunar surface. Besides, the Starship might even be retrievable in its own right, as mentioned in the earlier part of the thread. In short, use the Starship for big cargo, and the Dragon XL for smaller stuff.

It would also make the spacecraft reusable so that this aspect of the program can be maximized as well. The Dragon XL program mentioned in the link is only good for one mission, and the idea is to dispose of it along with the station's trash. This could be a better solution, in my opinion.

June 30th post continues below:

Update of post of 6-29-23:

It looks like the plan is to use the lunar water sources in order to make fuel for the spacecraft. Perhaps it would be better if the water sources were not used that way.

Actually, it may be best to refuel the lander from orbit. It could use the hydrogen-oxygen mix, or it could use another mix, which would be the same kind of fuel that the Apollo landers used. Such a mix as that would be simpler and safer. If the rocket fails, then it cannot get off the moon.

Consequently, it may be better to use a SpaceX derived vehicle from the Starship, as mentioned earlier on this blog. SuperDracos were studied as a fuel for a Mars lander during the Red Dragon proposal. Why not revive that, and use a variant of a Dragon for landing on the moon?

NASA may not go for that though. SpaceX may not go for it either. But the current deals have got a few flaws that need to be worked out. A hydrogen fueled lander is too complex. The Starship is too big. Lunar water is too scarce to be used for fuel. A permanent base will need plenty of water, so why not use the lunar water to sustain life on the moon, as opposed to making fuel with it?

the original post follows:

This video gave me an idea. It so happens that the proposed lunar lander from Blue Origin is about 1/3 the size of the lunar lander from SpaceX. Both have contracts with NASA to land on the moon. It's clear than NASA wants a continuing presence on the moon, so there has to be a way to get back and forth. This idea might be an alternative way of doing that.

In that vein, the Blue Origin can make sense. However, it cannot take as much cargo back and forth. The SpaceX lander can take much more. The SpaceX system can carry the Blue Origin lander in a modified Starship lander. That's the idea. It could be feasible to put fairing around the Blue Origin lander, and take off from the Earth on the Starship rocket system. The top part of the system would have the lander, and the bottom part could be used to land cargo or crew ( but not simulataneously on one rocket). Starship isn't planning to land the vehicle on Earth again, so it doesn't have to be aerodynamic once it leaves the atmosphere.

The problem with using the Starship for lunar missions is its immense size. Such size requires much more fuel. A small lander would need much less fuel to land on the lunar surface and to return back to orbit. The reason for this is the much reduced mass.

I'm seeing a mass of 45 tons for the Blue Origin ship. That would have to be the wet mass. Just a ballpark guess on the dry mass would be about 1/3 of that, which would be about 15 tons. In contrast, the Apollo lunar lander came in at about 5 tons dry mass. It would be a more capable lander.

How would it work? Since it would separate from the Starship, then you'd only have to get it to the Gateway. From there, separate the two, and the Blue Origin ship would descend to the surface, and after finishing its mission, return to the Gateway. The Starship would remain at the Gateway. Perhaps it could be refueled and sent back to Earth orbit for another lunar mission. It could be used for transporting cargo for the Gateway and to the lunar surface.

Starship is uniquely positioned to deliver a lot of cargo, so it could resupply both ships with fuel and supplies. This would make it a fully reusable platform for a permanent presense on the moon, and the Gateway too.

Here's the video where I got the idea...

Trump Tape On Invading Iran Not Grounds For Indictment

Trump Tape On Invading Iran Not Grounds For Indictment

Comment:

Considering the source, the indictment can be considered political in nature.  In other words, it is a partisan sham.   Ann Coulter types should know better by now.

Paul Ryan types are the problem with the GOP

Updated later on this day:

Keep up, Andy https://t.co/bF11h1pRLd pic.twitter.com/achaD3elvk

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 29, 2023

the original post follows...

Ryan has become unpopular amongst the GOP base, or so we hear. Note the doubt about every assertion. Does anybody tell the truth anymore? I believe that there are enough GOP base voters who would never support a GOPe candidate again. I won't. They run against the base, so why do they claim to care about winning? Even when they win, they won't do what they say they'll do. You don't willfully undermine your leading candidate.

Ryan is reported to have said that Trump could win. Trump DID win in 2016, and almost certainly did again in 2020, but Ryan's faction won't allow any HONEST accounting occur with respect to that outcome.

Ryan is shown here saying that the GOP hasn't won anything since 2016. The GOP DID win the House in 2020, and might have won the Senate in a difficult environment in 2020, except for what McConnell did. But Ryan gets it wrong, and then places the blame elsewhere for the real problem, when it is people like HIM who cause these problems.

Another case in point is Ann Coulter. It seems that the documents indictment is falling apart, but she jumped on to the pile to accuse Trump. Stuff like that is what kills the GOP's chances. The base knows it, and won't support anyone they try to substitute for Trump. That includes DeSantis. It is clear that DeSantis is one of them too. Otherwise, he wouldn't run against Trump.

The GOP could have squashed the phony Russian collusion scam, but the GOPe let the Democrats run amok. They're doing it again, and that is what their narrative is about. Ryan and company wants to scare the GOP base into voting for them, but aren't they the ones that the GOP base is always disappointed in? A vote for any of them is a guaranteed loser. Trump may lose alright, but it is rather steeper hill to climb when these guys keep undermining their presumed raison d'être. The GOP should unite around the winner, but didn't in 2016. Trump won anyway. Maybe the base doesn't NEED THEM.

It may be necessary to dump the GOPe, and that might be a loser strategy. For it is clear that they won't mend their ways. There's no way the base will vote for the GOPe, so it doesn't matter who the GOP nominates when there is a faction within it that keeps undermining it. There's nothing to vote for until these guys are gone. Motivation by fear, and non-performance is an illusion of choice. The GOPe offers the base NOTHING. For a Supreme Court seat in the past year, a GOPe type ran against the base and lost. They're not about winning. The MAGA base doesn't need them.

I'm including this video even though I cannot hear it well. I hear it well enough to support the points made here, so that's why I'm embedding it.

So here it is...

Starship Update, 6-28-23

The concrete pour for the pile cap has been completed ( I think). Next on that project is the installation of the steel plates. Stage zero is moving along nicely.

A successful static fire was completed yesterday. The upper stage is ready for the next launch, barring the unforeseen.

There will be a change in the staging process. Once the booster has done its job, the engines of the Starship will fire up before the separation. This is called "hot staging". Musk believes this will improve the probability of success. Also, it could boost the payload by an estimated 10 percent.

Continuing work on the new Megabay. SpaceX is also doing a major upgrade to its manufacturing plant. A large factory is being constructed on site. (note: this wasn't discussed in this video).

Some of the update videos can be annoying, but this one seems well done.

here's the update...

Parallel society

 

Quote:

"At the risk of offending my audience I will suggest: if you don’t see that precisely this is happening on an unprecedented scale globally, you have not been paying close attention. If you still remain skeptical, consider Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski’s brilliant formulation to describe the totalitarian method of imposing unity on an entire population: perfect integration through perfect fragmentation."---- a piece about a parallel society

Note: Bongino has discussed something quite similar on his podcasts.  It's about what to do about the coming totalitarian state.

Comment:

Everyone could do what they can. Perhaps my way is not your way. And vice versa. I am more inclined to deal with things a bit more overtly than to sneak around. Perhaps that makes me more of a target. I mean, if you want to do a Samizdat, then you don't go on a blog that everyone can see.

So far there has been no pressure. Or if there has been, it would have to be characterized as very subtle. What would I do if the pressure increased? I hope to continue regardless, but such may not be possible.

As mentioned, everyone can do what they can. I've tried to warn against this stuff for years now, but hardly anyone pays attention. At this point, the regime's greatest victory has been to keep itself viable politically. I honestly don't know how Brandon stays afloat. People's minds must have been converted to jello.

It looks like an election cannot resolve this problem. Pressures are going to go up. Not a happy looking situation.

Doesn't add up, or does it?

 

The Rasmussen Poll says Brandon is at 45% approval, yet the direction of the country is in the twenties. How can this be? With the direction of country number like that, Brandon should be in big trouble, but he's not really. But then again, how can you trust the polls? Not even Rasmussen seems believable.

Therein lies the problem. There's a breakdown in trust these days. Doesn't matter who says what, so-called "right" or left wing source, there's going to be doubt about the accuracy of it. But when you get a number like that in the Rasmussen direction of country poll, there's no doubt that something has got to be wrong.

The media won't cover the bribery scandals. But they'll cover what the media likes to say is a Trump scandal. I would submit that there hasn't BEEN any Trump scandals. All of the complaints against Trump have been manufactured out of thin air. But everybody in the media, including Bongino today, is talking about Trump, not Brandon. That would appear to be the point.

But not everybody is being quiet. Questions are being asked. Yet, there's the poll numbers, and they don't make sense. Bongino seems to think Brandon's in trouble. But there are polls that say that Brandon is ahead of Trump. Of course, how do you believe the polls? Unfortunately, the real polls on election day aren't particularly reliable anymore either.

The leadership in all areas suffer from a credibility gap, but is there any real attempt to do anything about it? Why should anybody? There's no accountability, and as long as that continues, nobody is going to be believed with respect to anything.

It can't continue. When push comes to shove, old Aesop's fable will come to the fore. That fable is about force having the better of the argument. Whoever carries the most weight around will be the one who settles matters. Is there really any change in the works, or is nothing really going to happen that will change the generally disliked situation?

It's anybody's guess at this point, but the betting man would probably bet that nothing will change. There has to be a general agreement on what the truth is. But one side is seems to think the truth is whatever one wishes it to be. Or how is it that one can be born one sex, and decide that to conform reality to their own whims by "changing" sex?

Is truth whatever one wants it to be? If so, it could explain the disorder. For even if everyone believed that it is possible to change one's sex, the general application of this practice could only lead to chaos and disaster. There could be no standards in such an environment.

The left believes that they can impose their will on the rest. Indeed, their will, according to them, counts for more than anything else. But what does the so-called "right" say in response? Anything?

Bongino show, 6-27-23

Bongino show, 6-27-23

Key points:

2:35, discussion of the audio recordings of Trump

15:00 to 20:00 "nobody knows what the document is"; media lawfare machine...

break, then @ 22:00 resumes... media lawfare discussion more in depth; connection with Brandon's current bribery problems, about 28:00 ,"someone's lying"; 30:00 mark, Jussie Smollett moment with the AG Garland

33:40 mark: They are going to interfere in another election, 43 minute mark: censor RFK? Because he's a problem for them? culture war is going badly for libs, he says... Bongino doesn't need to show this stupid woke shit @ 47:27; okay stopping here... to comment:

If you have to say that crazy shit is crazy, maybe you've already lost. This stuff was considered crazy when I was young. Okay? We've sunk so low that we've got to point it out???? Good God. Anyway, here's the video. If you need an explanation, you're lost!

Breaking a window, pushing and shoving on Jan. 6 (video)

 

Breaking Window on Jan. 6... Quickly Blames Peaceful Protester

It isn't so much what happens, but how it is perceived...

I edited the title of this Rumble video. Then I will comment upon it.

First of all, I've always believed it to be an inside job. The riot may well have been provoked intentionally, so it could be used for politics. I think there's evidence here that supports such an interpretation, but it can also be interpreted differently. There is likely to always be disagreement over what it all means.

It is clear though, that the flag bearing person was trying to PREVENT anyone from going through the broken window. The person depicted as a Fed then pushed him away. I don't think that this was a justifiable act, when the flag bearing person wasn't part of the riot, but actually trying to prevent illegal entry into the building. An aggressive move, such as pushing, was more in keeping with trouble making.

There needs to be a complete release of the tapes. Also, an honest investigation of what really happened. The January 6th Select Committee was not an honest investigation.

More idiocy from the left

Biden said to have promised to end fossil fuels

There is a movement afoot to attempt to declare a national climate emergency. Well, it's plenty hot here in Texas right now, but I wouldn't characterize it as an emergency. Not hardly. Certainly not a reason to impose some sort of draconian regulatory scheme. You know, like a "pandemic emergency"? Remember that one?

There's a technology that may be available soon that COULD end fossil fuels. Or, if not ending it, reduce its usage drastically. That would be nuclear energy. Nuclear energy could replace it, but it isn't "green". That would mean fission energy as not being "green". One should ask if that is true or not. But first, what exactly is "green"?

If being "green" means perfect, then we may as well close shop for good. Perfection doesn't exist. But if Focus Fusion's people are right, aneutronic fusion could come mighty close. Let's stop and ask a "what if" question. That is, what if aneutronic fusion doesn't quite live up to its billing? It's not supposed to produce neutrons, so it should be completely safe and "clean". Would the greenies object? What if aneutronic fusion produced just a little radiation?

Examine the premises. The argument that the greens put forth asserts that all radiation is bad. Make no mistake, radiation can be bad, but it is the dose that matters. As for everything that has radiation being bad, then everything alive is bad, for everything alive has carbon-14, which is radioactive. Carbon-14 is used for carbon-dating ancient things once alive. Carbon-14 is produced naturally by cosmic rays. Might as well ban cosmic rays, huh?

Not all radiation is bad. There are useful things, like Proton Therapy, which treats cancer. Radiation is not always bad. Indeed, it can be a very good thing. Without Proton Therapy, I'd be dead right now.  That's pretty good for me, but there are those who would not be so sure...

If you believe the left all the time, we'd be in a big mess. In fact, they are getting so bad, I'd venture that nobody should listen to them AT ALL, unless they can produce irrefutable proof of everything they say. Until that happens, they should be ignored.

So Congress wants to stop Brandon from issuing another one of his idiotic decrees. The best way to deal with his "emergencies" is to ignore them. Make a big point out of it. They try to jam something in your face, then send it right back into their face. That would work a lot faster, and who knows, it may teach them a badly needed lesson.

Bongino show, 6-26-23

Key parts of video:

intro-3:15 to 10:15 discusses Bongino rule, and a personal example recently involving fake news

10:15--- discussion of Bongino rule and the "Russian coup attempt" and "lying for a living"

around 21 minute mark, discussion of "gate keepers"; @ 24 min, discussion of so-called pride shows that expose kids to filthiness

27:40 mark: election 2024 news; media may be turning on Brandon; "blood in the water" said again

Comment upon the most recent 27:40 mark: The Media is crap. They know Brandon is corrupt, and they are protecting him. Biden corruption is the "worst kept secret in DC." No way the Media doesn't know this too. Also, Bongino said he held back on the Trump collusion story at first. NOT ME. I knew it was crap from the beginning.

40 minute mark: New York Post: 2020 Trump election "loss" was an inside job; 42 minute mark: Why people don't know this stuff ( Comment: No excuses. It's too easy to find information these days, so I don't agree.)

44 minute mark: "Crazy pills banana alert!"; (comment: that cracks me up) By the way, good analysis, don't miss this part...

48 minute mark: Hunter Biden phone story

Last story of the day at 51 plus minute, and I'll stop.  Media is strangely silent on "White Supremacy" story that doesn't mesh with their narratives.

Man Made Global Warming Science

Update of post made on Jul 28, 2015

Take a look at this pic with caption, please...

Did you notice that the pressure at that depth of the ocean will cause the air inside the submersible to rise to the level of the surface of the sun? At that temperature, everything will turn to plasma... In other words, it would be DISINTEGRATED. I'm doubtful that this would occur, however. There isn't energy energy in the system to maintain that temperature for long.

According to the caption, it would only take on 30 milliseconds.

Anyway, what causes the temperature of the air to get so high? Our old gas law, that's what. Upon compression of a gas, the temperature must rise ( all other variables equal).

Things would happen plenty fast. If the temperature gets really hot, it also gets plenty cool fast... That's because there isn't much energy in that much mass. But it is surrounded by LOTS of mass. It's also COLD down there.

They got squished pretty bad. But in the terms of milliseconds, things got really hot really fast. Chances are, those people didn't feel a thing.

Why use this for global warming science? Cuz there's no such thing as global warming science... There's the gas law, and the gas law doesn't support the claims being made.

the original post follows....

Ain't.  Here's yet another reason why:

Consider the Ideal Gas Law.  pv= nRT, where p is pressure, v is volume, n is number of molecules expressed in the number known as "moles", R is the gas constant, and T is for temperature.  A little observation of the math is in order.  First of all, keeping all things equal, the equation can be reduced to v equals temperature.  In other words, if you vary temperature, you vary volume, again, all things being equal.

What does that mean?  That means gases can't retain heat all that well. They'll lose it by definition as soon as they are heated up.  How?  By increasing volume.  This is how your engine can work in your internal combustion engine.  The combustion gases are very hot, but they expand rapidly and cool down very quickly.  By the time it leaves the exhaust, it has become relatively cool.  The expansion of the gases pushes down the pistons that move the crankshaft and then the wheels of your car.  As Rush Limbaugh would say, it is a beautiful thing.

Taking the thought a bit further--- the central claim of the man made global warming "scientists" is that gases can retain heat, which is clearly false here.  Gases do not retain heat unless their volume is kept constant.  There has to be a force that holds volume constant.  In the atmosphere, that is gravity.  But gravity doesn't change, nor does the number of atoms change.  Without introducing a lot of new gases to the atmosphere, there is no chance that the heat can be retained.  It is dissipated as the natural consequence of the gas laws.

That's why it's not science.  It is humbug.

Comer Says Hunter Biden Legal Team Intimidating Witnesses

Comer Says Hunter Biden Legal Team Intimidating Witnesses: ‘They Fear For Their Lives’

Comer said this on a "Just the News" podcast linked in the article. There are multiple instances of complaints. It isn't an isolated claim.

Here's a quote from the article:

“We’ve got witnesses that are scared to death to come forward. They fear for their lives. I mean, you’ve got the banks that have worked with us, they’re being squeezed by attorneys, by high-ranking officials in the Democrat Party for having the nerve to work with us to comply with our subpoenas,” he added.

It's a growing scandal. Can they escape this one?

Question posed --- How did USA have 200 times the death rate of Nigeria?

 

This was seen ( but not watched yet) on Rumble...

It is an RFK, Jr. conversation that was on Rumble, and mentioned on The Liberty Daily. I decided to embed the video, and watch it later. At the moment, I don't know what's on the video, except what the headlines say.

But is it true that the USA had 200 times the death rate of Nigeria? Funny how that question doesn't get asked often enough. Back at the time, if memory serves, the use of Ivermectin in Tropical regions for river blindness was mentioned. Is it mere coincidence that these regions had no "pandemic" of any consequence?

The use of Ivermectin against COVID was being suppressed. I always thought that to be scandalous.

Keep in mind that the COVID jabs were EMERGENCY authorizations... There can be no such emergency if an effective treatment exists... Sounds like there could have been a criminal conspiracy to push an untested "vaccine".

By the way, the law defines a "vaccine". If memory serves, I noted that the "vaccine" did not meet the criteria for being called a "vaccine".



Here's the video...

Did the Biden regime milk a tragedy for political reasons?

JD Rucker---Biden regime knew missing submersible imploded, but milked story for scandal cover-up

If this ever gains traction, Biden could be toast. It reminds me of an 80's flick, "The Search For Red October". There is supposedly a "secret" about the ability to hear things under the sea. But the movie depicts this ability as something they've had for decades. In other words, it's no secret that the US Navy can probably hear something like this.

Of course, that's if you believe that the movie was realistic at all. But it is definitely plausible. The ability of submarines to keep quiet is definitely sought after. That strongly implies the ability to track sounds under the waves. I've heard that whales could be heard from a long way off. Sounds may travel a long way underwater.

There is a report that there's "blood in the water". Not to be confused with the submersible. It's about the regime.

The odds of Biden surviving his term have always been low. While this is almost certainly true, given the nature of things in DC these days, the guy might survive even this.

a scene from aforementioned flick...

Garbage as a resource

 

Spirit- Fresh Garbage



Comment:

The idea for this song is that garbage is bad. But what if could be converted into a resource? All matter is basically indestructible. The idea that matter can be turned into garbage is itself incorrect, and is garbage itself.

All matter if its in its pure form, consists of the 92 natural elements... from Hydrogen to Uranium. There are some man-made elements, but those are highly radioactive, and do not last for very long. Plutonium is one, but it does seem to last... In either case, radioactivity isn't necessarily bad either. If it weren't for "radioactivity", I'd be dead from cancer.

The reason that the radioactivity helped with the cancer is this: the treatment with protons disabled the dna of the cancer cells, and prevented them from dividing. If the cell cannot divide, it will eventually die and be replaced by healthy scar tissue. As the cells die off, the cancer is in remission. Such is my case today, more than six years after the end of treatment.

The same applies to all matter. By disrupting the ion bond between elements, you can "purify" them. There are ways of doing this, and some have been attempted. If a material is heated enough, it will break the bonds and become a plasma. A plasma is an nucleus of an atom that has no electrons surrounding it. It is the electrons that give an element its chemical nature. If the plasma is thus separated before being recombined, the result will be a purified element.

The principle is the same as the one employed in oil refineries. In a refinery, the crude oil is refined by heating it up, and allowing it to condense back into purified compounds. That's because each compound has it's own characteristics, and will condense at a certain predictable temperature. You can also distill water through boiling it, and then collecting condensed water.

Therefore, if a superabundant energy source can be found, which would be very cheap and plentiful, then it would make sense to clean up waste materials in such a fashion. The waste materials could be made useful again, and would not have to be mined from the earth. One energy source could be FUSION. Focus Fusion claims to be able to produce energy at less than a penny per kilowatt hour. If they're right, then it may make sense to purify waste through the use of cheap and abundant energy.

Then your Fresh Garbage can become a resource than can save the land from being used for mining. Focus Fusion is still on Wefunder, and they are still in a fund raiser, if you are interested.