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?