Caltrops - Motherfucking News





	[quote name="laudablepuss"][quote name="Entropy Stew"][quote name="laudablepuss"][quote name="Motherhead"][quote name="CrackerBarrel"]After 20 or more years it should be a given that much of that risk be removed. Yet how can this be if we are still flying the same vehicle 20 years later? Which is more useful from a scientific standpoint, a manned mission to Mars or a workable and safe space station?[/quote] Agreed and I also believe the STS/Shuttle in it's current incarnation was never meant to serve 20 years. I am more pissed that <a href="http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/x33_cancel_010301.html">This program was shit-canned</a>. The <a href="http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/x33.htm">X-33</a> should have replaced the shuttle years ago.[/quote] The X-33 was abandoned because it didn't fucking work. Currently, the X-33 would have to weigh 10% of what it would when fueled and loaded with cargo for it to reach escape velocity. That's a pretty tall order. The aero-spike rocket looks good and has considerable promise, though. And with the new funding and directive from the President, I'm sure they'll take another look at both the X-33 and other possible replacements. What's the news on the X-38, by the way? Some random musings: How long do you think before we have lasers powerful enough to launch something into orbit? That'd be the best, since the engine is left on the ground. Potentially very cheap and eminently re-usable. Thank God the Russians are helping us with the station. Some people had questioned involving those guys with their fairly low-tech space program and others had called it "rocket scientist welfare" (to keep them working for us instead of helping the Chinese or North Koreans or whoever build better rockets). And it looked pretty sad when the station fell behind because the Russians kept having delays with their end of things. Turns out it was a pretty good idea afterall.[/quote] Tether a thin ribbon of carbon nanotubes to the earth and launch the other end into space - centripetal force will hold it up there. We just have to find out how to make them long enough. -/ES/-[/quote] I'm sorry, I was <i>extremely</i> skeptical of this space elevator concept beating the laser-boosted vehicle to fruition. But <a href="http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/31/028221">either these guys are ridiculously optimistic in their estimates</a> or you are absolutely correct. Now that I look more closely, they haven't made the necessary breakthrough yet and need 10 billion more dollars. So maybe they are just a tad bit optimistic after all. Anyway, laser-boosted "rockets" have set a new altititude record of, ahem <font size=1><a href="http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/laser_craft_001103-1.html">233 feet.</a></font> Still, with both the government and private sector researching this, I'm hopeful that progress will be relatively rapid.[/quote]