dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
EDG said:
...And as of last night's Colbert Report, Colbert is the #1 write in. *sigh*
NASA Wants Help In Naming A Space Station Node
- Thread starter Jeff Hopper
- Start date
...And as of last night's Colbert Report, Colbert is the #1 write in. *sigh*
dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
No. But I'm willing to bet that it'll be named Colbert. It'll help raise interest among the legions of Colbert loyalists. NASA already sent his DNA into space because there are so many of them. There's a bridge in Eastern Europe named after him because so many Colbert fans voted in online polls and wrote his name in. Wikipedia shuts down sections of their website every night after his broadcasts to keep his fans from making changes to the wacky things he's says. i.e. One time he declared that Elephants are no longer on the endangered species list. Within minutes Wikipedia reflected that. The "Colbert Bump" in sales, interest and/or donations is pretty well documented at this point.BP said:
Colbert is Gen X/Gen Y's Oprah. He says buy a certain book; they get bought. He endorces a candidate; they win. He gives a painting to the smithsonian; people go to see the painting.
lastbesthope
Mongoose
EDG said:
No it isn't, though the yellow construction Furies we see later have arms.
What NASA were interested in was the thruster/wing configuration of the Fury, allowing full and proper 6 DoF control of the body with ease, upright pilot position allowing ease of use, standing up to g-force and good view.
Plus it looks cool, and as any pilot will tell you, things that look cool fly better :lol:
LBH
. Though I'm not sure those are listed in order of popularity anyway (they don't have number next to them).
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
BenGunn said:
I did but a lot of stuff has been developed for the manned program as well. Nowhere near all of it but it is there. And some of the research that has been carried out has been done with manned programs.
BenGunn said:
There is some no not as much as there could be but it is there.
Ok, not the place for this so this is the last I have to say about it.
This is funny, but mostly sad.
The goals of manned space exploration have been the major (non-military) driving forces behind the space programs - which has fortunately resulted in many tech advances, including the continuing unmanned studies of our solar system (and beyond).
Weapons delivery tech is not NASA (history does not end in the 60's). Granted the military (due to funding and national safety) has driven many things - including the shuttle program (which I don't like, but that's another issue). But, this is mostly surviellance - deployment and maintenance of very expensive U.S. investments.
And to say that MANNED spaceflight hasn't resulted in much tech or research is doneright silly - there has been a great deal of research done and it has resulted in a good bit of spin-off technology (not to say this was the best investment in resources). Have a look at NASA Tech Briefs.. and for a simplistic view see here. (I was looking for the NASA Spin-offs mag, but that might have been an internal only thing from a long time ago)
As for more jobs - NASA employs a lot of Americans directly and indirectly. (Most NASA 'employees' are not on the federal books as they are paid via a third party even though they work at NASA facilities).
For our space bucks we get pure research, spin-off technologies, jobs for skilled and educated people actually producing things (other than commercials), a applied research infrastucture, direct support of the sciences in major academic institutions - and these are American Jobs and largely stay American bucks!
As for international cooperation - yes each entity builds its own modules , though there is still a tremendous amount of engineering interaction (power systems for one, plus life support and interconnects). Accommodating the space shuttle is not a major design requirement - the 'designed' lifetime of the ISS is ~2015, but the shuttles are scheduled for retirement next year (not that both aren't likely to change). The Russian space vehicles provide the majority of flights, though the Space Shuttles' (Canadian built) Remote Manipulator Arm was an invaluable tool till other arms where installed, not to mention the benefits of the cargo hold with its large bay doors (a U.S. military requirement that had side benifits).
Is the space program expensive - especially the manned part - Yes! Is it wastefull - most definitely. Is manned verus unmanned space 'exploration' wastefull - Certainly! But if you look into the facts - most of the 'waste' is due to politics - and largely that is a matter of jobs for constituents and lining pockets of big business. And lets face it most of our elected 'representatives' aren't qualified to balance a checkbook - much less understand the benifits of unmanned versus manned space exploration.
BTW: I personnally don't stay abreast much about the space shuttle, ISS (just tell me when it's gonna come burning down), or other manned lunar or mars mission chatter - I'm much more interested in scientific unmanned missions - which is easier since my father fabs and installs parts on a fair number of the NASA and ESA missions
The goals of manned space exploration have been the major (non-military) driving forces behind the space programs - which has fortunately resulted in many tech advances, including the continuing unmanned studies of our solar system (and beyond).
Weapons delivery tech is not NASA (history does not end in the 60's). Granted the military (due to funding and national safety) has driven many things - including the shuttle program (which I don't like, but that's another issue). But, this is mostly surviellance - deployment and maintenance of very expensive U.S. investments.
And to say that MANNED spaceflight hasn't resulted in much tech or research is doneright silly - there has been a great deal of research done and it has resulted in a good bit of spin-off technology (not to say this was the best investment in resources). Have a look at NASA Tech Briefs.. and for a simplistic view see here. (I was looking for the NASA Spin-offs mag, but that might have been an internal only thing from a long time ago)
As for more jobs - NASA employs a lot of Americans directly and indirectly. (Most NASA 'employees' are not on the federal books as they are paid via a third party even though they work at NASA facilities).
For our space bucks we get pure research, spin-off technologies, jobs for skilled and educated people actually producing things (other than commercials), a applied research infrastucture, direct support of the sciences in major academic institutions - and these are American Jobs and largely stay American bucks!
As for international cooperation - yes each entity builds its own modules , though there is still a tremendous amount of engineering interaction (power systems for one, plus life support and interconnects). Accommodating the space shuttle is not a major design requirement - the 'designed' lifetime of the ISS is ~2015, but the shuttles are scheduled for retirement next year (not that both aren't likely to change). The Russian space vehicles provide the majority of flights, though the Space Shuttles' (Canadian built) Remote Manipulator Arm was an invaluable tool till other arms where installed, not to mention the benefits of the cargo hold with its large bay doors (a U.S. military requirement that had side benifits).
Is the space program expensive - especially the manned part - Yes! Is it wastefull - most definitely. Is manned verus unmanned space 'exploration' wastefull - Certainly! But if you look into the facts - most of the 'waste' is due to politics - and largely that is a matter of jobs for constituents and lining pockets of big business. And lets face it most of our elected 'representatives' aren't qualified to balance a checkbook - much less understand the benifits of unmanned versus manned space exploration.
BTW: I personnally don't stay abreast much about the space shuttle, ISS (just tell me when it's gonna come burning down), or other manned lunar or mars mission chatter - I'm much more interested in scientific unmanned missions - which is easier since my father fabs and installs parts on a fair number of the NASA and ESA missions
BenGunn said:
Nobody claimed he was a saint. But whether you like it or not that man was directly responsible for what made the US a technological superpower in the 60s and 70s. Without him, the US may not even have a presence in space at all.
But then again, maybe this isn't appropriate discussion for a gaming board.
dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
EDG said:
I'd agree it is not, but I'm about to join in so I don't really have any room to say anything.
BenGunn said:
Like it or not, the major superpowers do some pretty nasty things and benefit from it. If it wasn't for Nazi research, we wouldn't have some important medical knowledge that we do have today. The Soviets had their own german missile guy in charge of research into their own space program. Thanks to manned space exploration, we know that how gravity effects the cardiovascular system (in microgravity, the heart doesn't need to work as hard and shrinks by 10%) ways that polar magnatism helps us live healthier (polar magnatism keeps out the majority of solar radiation, otherwise bacteria would mutate at a rate 10X what it does on earth) and a whole host of other things as well.
Someday, man is going to go into space: to find resources, to escape the ecological disasters we committed on this world, to escape religious or political persecution, or as the ultimate answer to life long imprisonment without taking a life. Whatever the reason, we'll get there. Wouldn't it be nice to know more about what we're going to need to know before that happens?
dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
BenGunn said:
The world is flat. Earth is the center of universe. Ships would fly apart if the sound barrier is broken. Atoms don't exist. There are only 4 elements: earth, fire, wind, and water. If man flies high up towards the heavens, there are poisonous gases that will kill us. 64k RAM is more than the average person requires.
Just chock up FTL travel is impossible to be with all the other barriers once believed to be true. Might not be in my life time, but it will happen.
