As a reminder, I am pushing that too. You know, if I were to refer you, I can get some dough for this blog. The problem with that plan is, somebody will get the bright idea to go around me and get the credit for the referral themselves. Yeah, I know.
I checked out the TV offerings by watching somebody's TV while he was out working. It was OK with him, and I needed the info to report here. He has the basic package.
Actually, there is some interesting stuff there, but the usual entertainment stuff is lacking. That will cost more, of course.
I think my setup is more economical in the long run, but they made me pay for the equipment up front. That means if I quit the service, the equipment is still mine. Not like I can do anything with it, though. One way or another, they are going to hit you up for some bucks.
Apparently, Uverse is a better deal for long time cable and satellite subscribers, from what I've heard. They only care about getting new subscribers, so if you've been with your service for awhile, you are probably paying too much. That seems to be a familiar pattern.
So, there you are. There may be an advantage for you to switch. If you wanna, let me refer you. Pretty please.
Al Fin: "Cowboy Commentary", aka "Eat your veggies" The Flag banner is posted in order to defy those who would make patriotic symbols illegal or disreputable.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Birtherism and Trump
I've spent some time just now reading up on this; here's the Wikipedia entry on Barak Obama and his mother. This isn't the first time that I've mentioned this on this blog, by the way. To me, if his mother is an American, and I see no evidence anywhere that says she isn't, that should end the discussion.
Donald Trump is riding this, that what makes this important. Frankly, Trump's credentials as conservative can be questioned, so this looks suspicious.
Anyway, the story of Obama seems to show that he didn't even leave the US until his mother married Lolo Soetoro in 1965, according to the Wikepedia entry. By that time, young Barak was out of his diapers having spent all that time in the USA, in Hawaii. Hawaii became a state in 1959, before Obama was born. Evidently, Obama's mother didn't meet Soetoro until Barak was over a year old. That's because Soetoro wasn't even in Hawaii yet, until 1962.
That pretty much ends it for me. I don't get it, but some think the definition of "natural born" is more extensive than what is covered here. To me, the framers of the Constitution could not have foreseen the possibility of doing genetic testing. Besides, conditions were far different back then. A black child, regardless of who his parents were, could have no chance of becoming President of the United States. Therefore, if his mother is American, which is definitely the case, that ends the matter. He is American. Therefore, he can be President. The rest is a waste of time and effort.
The real problem here is Trump. If there are too many who are foolish enough to consider him seriously for President all because of this, they may as well kiss their "principles" goodbye. If we can be overthrown by those who should be guarding the real principles involved, we are in for a world of hurt. Trump should can it, and those who follow him for this reason are, frankly, gravely mistaken. The damage done by this, if it continues, will be far greater than anything the Obama may or may not do.
I am not supporter of Obama. I have the creds to point to. See my book reviews on Amazon. I argued against his election. I argue even more again this. Defeat Obama on something real. This business has no reality behind it.
Donald Trump is riding this, that what makes this important. Frankly, Trump's credentials as conservative can be questioned, so this looks suspicious.
Anyway, the story of Obama seems to show that he didn't even leave the US until his mother married Lolo Soetoro in 1965, according to the Wikepedia entry. By that time, young Barak was out of his diapers having spent all that time in the USA, in Hawaii. Hawaii became a state in 1959, before Obama was born. Evidently, Obama's mother didn't meet Soetoro until Barak was over a year old. That's because Soetoro wasn't even in Hawaii yet, until 1962.
That pretty much ends it for me. I don't get it, but some think the definition of "natural born" is more extensive than what is covered here. To me, the framers of the Constitution could not have foreseen the possibility of doing genetic testing. Besides, conditions were far different back then. A black child, regardless of who his parents were, could have no chance of becoming President of the United States. Therefore, if his mother is American, which is definitely the case, that ends the matter. He is American. Therefore, he can be President. The rest is a waste of time and effort.
The real problem here is Trump. If there are too many who are foolish enough to consider him seriously for President all because of this, they may as well kiss their "principles" goodbye. If we can be overthrown by those who should be guarding the real principles involved, we are in for a world of hurt. Trump should can it, and those who follow him for this reason are, frankly, gravely mistaken. The damage done by this, if it continues, will be far greater than anything the Obama may or may not do.
I am not supporter of Obama. I have the creds to point to. See my book reviews on Amazon. I argued against his election. I argue even more again this. Defeat Obama on something real. This business has no reality behind it.
Mistakes
That last one about Easter was a big one. I thought for sure that I checked that out first. It just goes to show you that not that many people are coming here. Nobody is reading it, or if they are, nobody is saying anything. That's how a big mistake can get by unremarked.
I guess anybody who did see it most likely thought I would correct it eventually, but it took several days to do it. It really is embarrassing, but on the other hand, nobody is seeing this anyway. Or are they?
I think I checked this on the web before I posted, but maybe I just got some bad information. I don't go to church often, or, otherwise, I could have checked it out with someone there who would have known.
I take mistakes seriously. I like to keep things accurate. It bothers me to have one this glaringly bad.
Update: ( a few moments later)
Rather than to set up an entirely new post, I will use this opportunity to discuss the email question I sent to the Space Show yesterday. It is somewhat related to this idea behind this post. The question is, was this what you would call a "dumb question"? I want to explore that and keep coming back here throughout the day in order to attempt to answer that question to my satisfaction. Stay tuned.
Update: 9:16 am
Just read this interesting post on Wikipedia about Aerojet. This was where Robert Truax worked when he was working on the Sea Dragon project.
Aerojet is still in business. As a matter of fact, here is how the Wikipedia entry ends
I don't know what this means, in terms of actual proposals. I can try to find out, but I don't know what I might find. I will keep looking and report back here. Keep tuned.
Update: 9:36 am
Aerojet is owned by GenCorp, which was formerly known as General Tire. I used to be in the tire business myself. Interesting to see how the old names are up to these days. The Wikipedia says 3000 employees and revenues for 2009 just short of 800 million dollars. They are big, but there are those who are bigger.
Here's a link to their corporate news page.
Since Sea Dragon was an old concept from many years ago, it may seem unrealistic for them to be interested in dusting off the old idea and taking another shot at getting a contract based upon this proposal. However, it really does seem the address the launch cost issue in a dramatic way.
It may not get costs down to that which may have been claimed for it, but the idea that it could lower costs is credible to me because of the possibility of economy of scale. It would take the mastery of a lot of "if" questions, such as "if" you can find a market for this much lift, "if" such as system can actually fly, "if" you can get insurance for the launch ( brought up on the Space Show), "if" Congress can be persuaded to go this direction. The biggest "if" question is "if" Congress has the capacity to do this, which would be radically new.
Stay tuned, I'm not done with this yet.
Update:
GenCorp is a sponsor of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, described here in this news release in 2010. It doesn't have anything to do with Sea Dragon, so far as I know. Frankly, I doubt if Sea Dragon is being considered at all. Could any interest ever be generated in dusting off the old idea? Or is it forever relegated to the dustbin of history?
If I brought it up, and if it is dismissed so easily, then I did make a mistake. But am I the one who making the biggest mistake? If you have something that can work, why not try to make it work? It is old technology, but the need is real, and the need is now. It is a simple idea, so it fits the KISS principle. It has economies of scale, in terms of its size, but also its replication, and thus frequency of launch. This is more potential than fact, but if you just got stuff up there in great quantities, uses could be found for it. Such as propellant and life support for deep space missions.
I think that does it for this post.
I guess anybody who did see it most likely thought I would correct it eventually, but it took several days to do it. It really is embarrassing, but on the other hand, nobody is seeing this anyway. Or are they?
I think I checked this on the web before I posted, but maybe I just got some bad information. I don't go to church often, or, otherwise, I could have checked it out with someone there who would have known.
I take mistakes seriously. I like to keep things accurate. It bothers me to have one this glaringly bad.
Update: ( a few moments later)
Rather than to set up an entirely new post, I will use this opportunity to discuss the email question I sent to the Space Show yesterday. It is somewhat related to this idea behind this post. The question is, was this what you would call a "dumb question"? I want to explore that and keep coming back here throughout the day in order to attempt to answer that question to my satisfaction. Stay tuned.
Update: 9:16 am
Just read this interesting post on Wikipedia about Aerojet. This was where Robert Truax worked when he was working on the Sea Dragon project.
Aerojet is still in business. As a matter of fact, here is how the Wikipedia entry ends
In November 2010, Aerojet was selected by NASA for consideration for potential contract awards for heavy lift launch vehicle system concepts, and propulsion technologies
I don't know what this means, in terms of actual proposals. I can try to find out, but I don't know what I might find. I will keep looking and report back here. Keep tuned.
Update: 9:36 am
Aerojet is owned by GenCorp, which was formerly known as General Tire. I used to be in the tire business myself. Interesting to see how the old names are up to these days. The Wikipedia says 3000 employees and revenues for 2009 just short of 800 million dollars. They are big, but there are those who are bigger.
Here's a link to their corporate news page.
Since Sea Dragon was an old concept from many years ago, it may seem unrealistic for them to be interested in dusting off the old idea and taking another shot at getting a contract based upon this proposal. However, it really does seem the address the launch cost issue in a dramatic way.
It may not get costs down to that which may have been claimed for it, but the idea that it could lower costs is credible to me because of the possibility of economy of scale. It would take the mastery of a lot of "if" questions, such as "if" you can find a market for this much lift, "if" such as system can actually fly, "if" you can get insurance for the launch ( brought up on the Space Show), "if" Congress can be persuaded to go this direction. The biggest "if" question is "if" Congress has the capacity to do this, which would be radically new.
Stay tuned, I'm not done with this yet.
Update:
GenCorp is a sponsor of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, described here in this news release in 2010. It doesn't have anything to do with Sea Dragon, so far as I know. Frankly, I doubt if Sea Dragon is being considered at all. Could any interest ever be generated in dusting off the old idea? Or is it forever relegated to the dustbin of history?
If I brought it up, and if it is dismissed so easily, then I did make a mistake. But am I the one who making the biggest mistake? If you have something that can work, why not try to make it work? It is old technology, but the need is real, and the need is now. It is a simple idea, so it fits the KISS principle. It has economies of scale, in terms of its size, but also its replication, and thus frequency of launch. This is more potential than fact, but if you just got stuff up there in great quantities, uses could be found for it. Such as propellant and life support for deep space missions.
I think that does it for this post.
Daily Plan, 4/18/11
Ideas that I want to look at. A prospect for selling a house. Prospects for selling cars. Possibly selling my own truck.
This may sound extreme, but these are potential solutions for real problems, so they may actually be necessary.
I want to use this site for these ideas.
Update:
I have a few ideas that are in the hopper, but nothing doing yet. I'll go back to posting shortly.
This may sound extreme, but these are potential solutions for real problems, so they may actually be necessary.
I want to use this site for these ideas.
Update:
I have a few ideas that are in the hopper, but nothing doing yet. I'll go back to posting shortly.
The Morning Summary, April 18, 2011
The statistics:
Time approx 5:00 am
Sitemeter; Sun morning 4473; v. Mon am 4489; 16 up 2 from Sat
Blogger: Sun 49, up 15 from Sat (34); overnight is 23 so far, compared with 13 this time yesterday
Nothing to report on bids, nor sales, still zero on revenues, not a click on Amazon, same as Sunday, which was not Easter, in which I stand corrected. I need to proofread and double check things more closely.
Sorry. There were errors in yesterday's report. Looks like it may be confusing to the reader. Sorry, I'll keep improving things till I get it right.
YouTube page: 826 v 823 channel views previously, 478 v. 466 upload views previously. Channel views improve by 3, upload views improve by 12. Looks like some of my other videos have been getting a look.
I can add the Facebook page, but the numbers are not consistent. I'll do this: I'll report what it says on the top three posts. I copy 25 impressions for the top, followed by 36 by number 2, and 36 again for number 3. There are still 7 likes for the People for Space Colonization page.
No more reporting on these stats. This took over 20 minutes. Frankly, just to round up that info takes valuable time.
The deadline has passed without making a single sale or even getting an inquiry. Sobering to say the least. It is rather grim to continue in the face of this apparent indifference, but let me recount a few things. I got my email question answered on The Space Show. It wasn't exactly a sparkling beginning, but it was a beginning. You have to start somewhere. I've been doing some stuff which I don't usually do, which isn't much, but it is something. Like talking to people. One conversation I had was with my brother in law, who is housebound because of his health is not what it once was. He is going to the doctor on Tuesday. Things like this tend to remind you that your concerns are not the center of the universe. Everybody has their own battle to fight. Also, the numbers are getting better in some ways. Not across the board, but it is slowly improving.
The thing to keep in mind though, is that the starting line hasn't been passed yet on the money side of this. It is still at the 1 dollar level on Amazon, and I can't collect it.
Okay, this is enough. KISS principle, remember?
Time approx 5:00 am
Sitemeter; Sun morning 4473; v. Mon am 4489; 16 up 2 from Sat
Blogger: Sun 49, up 15 from Sat (34); overnight is 23 so far, compared with 13 this time yesterday
Nothing to report on bids, nor sales, still zero on revenues, not a click on Amazon, same as Sunday, which was not Easter, in which I stand corrected. I need to proofread and double check things more closely.
Sorry. There were errors in yesterday's report. Looks like it may be confusing to the reader. Sorry, I'll keep improving things till I get it right.
YouTube page: 826 v 823 channel views previously, 478 v. 466 upload views previously. Channel views improve by 3, upload views improve by 12. Looks like some of my other videos have been getting a look.
I can add the Facebook page, but the numbers are not consistent. I'll do this: I'll report what it says on the top three posts. I copy 25 impressions for the top, followed by 36 by number 2, and 36 again for number 3. There are still 7 likes for the People for Space Colonization page.
No more reporting on these stats. This took over 20 minutes. Frankly, just to round up that info takes valuable time.
The deadline has passed without making a single sale or even getting an inquiry. Sobering to say the least. It is rather grim to continue in the face of this apparent indifference, but let me recount a few things. I got my email question answered on The Space Show. It wasn't exactly a sparkling beginning, but it was a beginning. You have to start somewhere. I've been doing some stuff which I don't usually do, which isn't much, but it is something. Like talking to people. One conversation I had was with my brother in law, who is housebound because of his health is not what it once was. He is going to the doctor on Tuesday. Things like this tend to remind you that your concerns are not the center of the universe. Everybody has their own battle to fight. Also, the numbers are getting better in some ways. Not across the board, but it is slowly improving.
The thing to keep in mind though, is that the starting line hasn't been passed yet on the money side of this. It is still at the 1 dollar level on Amazon, and I can't collect it.
Okay, this is enough. KISS principle, remember?
Sunday, April 17, 2011
The Space Show, Apr 17, 2011
Starts in 30 minutes. I'll liveblog it, as long as I can get the thing to work. It doesn't want to work on this netbook, so I'll have to use the desktop.
While we are waiting, I want to write about MagicJack
. I just bought one for myself from BestBuy. But you know, I could have gotten one from Amazon. I've bought plenty of stuff from Amazon. It works for me. As for MagicJack, it installs on your USB port, and the rest is very simple. It will load onto your computer and finishes the installation automatically. You will need to answer a few questions before you are completely ready. It cost only 39.99 at BestBuy, but at Amazon, it may be cheaper. The cost includes the first year of phone service, and it costs 19.99 each year thereafter.
It works just like a regular phone, just plug your phone right in and start using it (after installing it, of course). I've used Skype, but this isn't Skype. It can load automatically when you start your computer, so when you have your computer on, there's little need to use any software.
You will need broadband of course. It works off the internet connection. I've already used it to make several calls. The quality is good, and the price is right. If you have a need for this item, go have a look.
It's almost 2 pm, which should be about time to start. I am not getting any sound out of it. It is starting now, and I have audio. It seems to have low quality sound.
Chat line open. No shows tomorrow and Tuesday.
Two guest today. Dr Alan Stern. Introduction. Wayne Hale is second guest.
Starts with Alan: Human spaceflight, comm crew, ccdev, and others.
Wayne: Says a very exciting time.
Start with question Dr. Space: Why Human Spaceflight- says Salon.com.
Stern: Hard to make case in tight fiscal times. Excited about commercialized, to make money. Opportunity to improve lives. Move human spaceflight out of government and into government. But role for government, through history, and place to go there in space.
Dr. Space: What are steps needed?
Stern: Very close already. Within next few years, many vehicles will fly. But capital intensive industry. Need seed money from government.
Dr. Space: Too much risk on private?
Stern: Business risk is true in any start up. Lots of companies will fall by wayside, others will make it.
Todd in San Diego: Will Congress stifle this industry?
Stern: Amused that opposition is Republicans. Role reversal in Washington. Over regulation: need safe system, like FAA for aircraft. A transition time, but hopefully Congress will support.
??? : human rating question
Stern: Standards debate on human rating. Have a way to go before regs are ready. Good systems out there.
Integrated system needed. Safety systems needed. Possible that a good vehicle could become human rated.
Dr. Space: why escape or abort systems needed?
Stern: Soyuz and Shenzou have them. Shuttle does not. Lost Challenger crew. Would have liked 2nd Shuttle system that would have had it.
Hale: Soyuz had to be used to save a crew.
Dr. S: commented that this is a given; Is funding secure for human spaceflight?
Hale: No idea what Congress will do. Have to wait and see. High probabilty it will be supported. Huge pressure on all sort of things.
Dr. S: Why so much attention to small budget item.
Hale: Common misperception that NASA spends a lot of money.
Harold in Chicago: Heavy lift question. Is it important now and future?
Stern: Not necessity at this time. Better with medium lift. Refueling depots.
Dr. Will Nasa required to build heavy lift.
Stern: risk that no vehicle will be built at all.
Hale: agrees. Try to build in next gen vehicle, then gets squashed. Need to get price down.
A fleet for small rockets better.
But depots have their problems too. Only be able to launch at restrictive times. 85% of what you need to get up there is propellant. But not a panacea. Is an option.
Dr. Mentions his shows about depots.
Paul in Phoenix: Congress micromanages everything. How do you stop this?
Ans Congress will do this regardless. Needs to be meeting of minds. Poltics hard to control.
Stern: Lack of trust between branches. Let technical people handle things. Politicians are too local oriented.
Announcement: not paying attention
Evan: roles changing in future and how
Ans: question goes to design of spaceship, but if it is automated, don't need it as much
Hale: open a lot of avenues, when multiple lines, firms will develop like big airlines
Dr: Mergers?
Ans: Don't know.
John Hunt: 2 stage rocket in 50 ton class.
Ans: re-usability only good with high flight rate.
Waste needs to be cut.
Comment: questions are too complex to keep up with.
Break
Return:
Helen in LVegas: Last ditch efforts for Shuttle?
Ans: Extremely expensive proposition. Tank force, srb dispersed. Need to get them back. Cost is expensive to get back up again.
Dr: community being hurt by uncertainty, any opinions on that?
Ans: large workforce dispersed. Deep and wide in skills. 10, 000 people to operate shuttle. Now working for commercial. Leaner, fewer jobs available. Could be a lot of new jobs available in new environment. Optimistic.
Hale: The Navy produce new engines for missiles every year. Navy costs have gone up. Unanticipated consequences. Will hard to find jobs that people are used to. If new commercial space takes off, it will help. Thousands of jobs in other sectors may be available though.
Dr. ISS got life extension. Useful to be more supportive.
Hale: ISS as destination attractive place to test technologies.
Stern: Open ISS to researchers. Suborbital is like minor leagues. ISS could help with this.
Becky in Tuscon: Don't forget other countries wrt to ISS.
ans: good point. Not hard to negotiate, who gets how much.
Dr: will Chinese ever be part of this?
Ans: troubled relations.
Dr: followup John Atlanta on 50 ton rocket: ack prob, engines proposition highly technical stuff
Ans: can't make it reusable from the start.
discussion of shuttle problems and why it cost so much
Congressional micromanagement discussion: mixed bag. Not everyone qualified.
Politics plays a role in this. Not engineering decisions, but implications.
Depots discussion: can't put Moonbase with current launch costs.
Private sector and public sector roles.
I emailed the Sea Dragon question. It was called "dreamy". Neither guest was familiar with the concept. Dr. Space doubted there was a market for such a heavy lift capability.
No shortage of ideas. I skipped over a part of this show because it seemed to get lost in details. I guess I am not too patient with that.
Update:
More on Sea Dragon here. The Sea Horse rocket tests. Excalibur design in the nineties.
Comment: If you want to lower launch costs, this is it. Otherwise, you will have to wait until some new technology gets invented. The idea of fuel depots has its own set of issues. This concept is akin to a 18 wheeler that gets a lot of stuff up there at once. Everybody wants a Cadillac to do a 18 wheeler job. This is no Caddy, but an 18 wheeler that will get the goods up there.
Update:
Mon 7:15 am
Just checked Thespaceshow's blog for any mention of my question. Not there, so I am going to download the mp3 file and look for it. I found it at approximately 1 hour, 13 minutes, and a few seconds into the show. It is near the end. The time may not be perfect, so if it isn't exactly there, you can be sure that it is there. You may have to hunt for it. It is at the end of the show because the discussion ended about the question and he said that there were 5 minutes left.
While we are waiting, I want to write about MagicJack
. I just bought one for myself from BestBuy. But you know, I could have gotten one from Amazon. I've bought plenty of stuff from Amazon. It works for me. As for MagicJack, it installs on your USB port, and the rest is very simple. It will load onto your computer and finishes the installation automatically. You will need to answer a few questions before you are completely ready. It cost only 39.99 at BestBuy, but at Amazon, it may be cheaper. The cost includes the first year of phone service, and it costs 19.99 each year thereafter.It works just like a regular phone, just plug your phone right in and start using it (after installing it, of course). I've used Skype, but this isn't Skype. It can load automatically when you start your computer, so when you have your computer on, there's little need to use any software.
You will need broadband of course. It works off the internet connection. I've already used it to make several calls. The quality is good, and the price is right. If you have a need for this item, go have a look.
It's almost 2 pm, which should be about time to start. I am not getting any sound out of it. It is starting now, and I have audio. It seems to have low quality sound.
Chat line open. No shows tomorrow and Tuesday.
Two guest today. Dr Alan Stern. Introduction. Wayne Hale is second guest.
Starts with Alan: Human spaceflight, comm crew, ccdev, and others.
Wayne: Says a very exciting time.
Start with question Dr. Space: Why Human Spaceflight- says Salon.com.
Stern: Hard to make case in tight fiscal times. Excited about commercialized, to make money. Opportunity to improve lives. Move human spaceflight out of government and into government. But role for government, through history, and place to go there in space.
Dr. Space: What are steps needed?
Stern: Very close already. Within next few years, many vehicles will fly. But capital intensive industry. Need seed money from government.
Dr. Space: Too much risk on private?
Stern: Business risk is true in any start up. Lots of companies will fall by wayside, others will make it.
Todd in San Diego: Will Congress stifle this industry?
Stern: Amused that opposition is Republicans. Role reversal in Washington. Over regulation: need safe system, like FAA for aircraft. A transition time, but hopefully Congress will support.
??? : human rating question
Stern: Standards debate on human rating. Have a way to go before regs are ready. Good systems out there.
Integrated system needed. Safety systems needed. Possible that a good vehicle could become human rated.
Dr. Space: why escape or abort systems needed?
Stern: Soyuz and Shenzou have them. Shuttle does not. Lost Challenger crew. Would have liked 2nd Shuttle system that would have had it.
Hale: Soyuz had to be used to save a crew.
Dr. S: commented that this is a given; Is funding secure for human spaceflight?
Hale: No idea what Congress will do. Have to wait and see. High probabilty it will be supported. Huge pressure on all sort of things.
Dr. S: Why so much attention to small budget item.
Hale: Common misperception that NASA spends a lot of money.
Harold in Chicago: Heavy lift question. Is it important now and future?
Stern: Not necessity at this time. Better with medium lift. Refueling depots.
Dr. Will Nasa required to build heavy lift.
Stern: risk that no vehicle will be built at all.
Hale: agrees. Try to build in next gen vehicle, then gets squashed. Need to get price down.
A fleet for small rockets better.
But depots have their problems too. Only be able to launch at restrictive times. 85% of what you need to get up there is propellant. But not a panacea. Is an option.
Dr. Mentions his shows about depots.
Paul in Phoenix: Congress micromanages everything. How do you stop this?
Ans Congress will do this regardless. Needs to be meeting of minds. Poltics hard to control.
Stern: Lack of trust between branches. Let technical people handle things. Politicians are too local oriented.
Announcement: not paying attention
Evan: roles changing in future and how
Ans: question goes to design of spaceship, but if it is automated, don't need it as much
Hale: open a lot of avenues, when multiple lines, firms will develop like big airlines
Dr: Mergers?
Ans: Don't know.
John Hunt: 2 stage rocket in 50 ton class.
Ans: re-usability only good with high flight rate.
Waste needs to be cut.
Comment: questions are too complex to keep up with.
Break
Return:
Helen in LVegas: Last ditch efforts for Shuttle?
Ans: Extremely expensive proposition. Tank force, srb dispersed. Need to get them back. Cost is expensive to get back up again.
Dr: community being hurt by uncertainty, any opinions on that?
Ans: large workforce dispersed. Deep and wide in skills. 10, 000 people to operate shuttle. Now working for commercial. Leaner, fewer jobs available. Could be a lot of new jobs available in new environment. Optimistic.
Hale: The Navy produce new engines for missiles every year. Navy costs have gone up. Unanticipated consequences. Will hard to find jobs that people are used to. If new commercial space takes off, it will help. Thousands of jobs in other sectors may be available though.
Dr. ISS got life extension. Useful to be more supportive.
Hale: ISS as destination attractive place to test technologies.
Stern: Open ISS to researchers. Suborbital is like minor leagues. ISS could help with this.
Becky in Tuscon: Don't forget other countries wrt to ISS.
ans: good point. Not hard to negotiate, who gets how much.
Dr: will Chinese ever be part of this?
Ans: troubled relations.
Dr: followup John Atlanta on 50 ton rocket: ack prob, engines proposition highly technical stuff
Ans: can't make it reusable from the start.
discussion of shuttle problems and why it cost so much
Congressional micromanagement discussion: mixed bag. Not everyone qualified.
Politics plays a role in this. Not engineering decisions, but implications.
Depots discussion: can't put Moonbase with current launch costs.
Private sector and public sector roles.
I emailed the Sea Dragon question. It was called "dreamy". Neither guest was familiar with the concept. Dr. Space doubted there was a market for such a heavy lift capability.
No shortage of ideas. I skipped over a part of this show because it seemed to get lost in details. I guess I am not too patient with that.
Update:
More on Sea Dragon here. The Sea Horse rocket tests. Excalibur design in the nineties.
Comment: If you want to lower launch costs, this is it. Otherwise, you will have to wait until some new technology gets invented. The idea of fuel depots has its own set of issues. This concept is akin to a 18 wheeler that gets a lot of stuff up there at once. Everybody wants a Cadillac to do a 18 wheeler job. This is no Caddy, but an 18 wheeler that will get the goods up there.
Update:
Mon 7:15 am
Just checked Thespaceshow's blog for any mention of my question. Not there, so I am going to download the mp3 file and look for it. I found it at approximately 1 hour, 13 minutes, and a few seconds into the show. It is near the end. The time may not be perfect, so if it isn't exactly there, you can be sure that it is there. You may have to hunt for it. It is at the end of the show because the discussion ended about the question and he said that there were 5 minutes left.
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