In Massachusetts, tickets cannot be automatically issued by use of red light cameras (a cop has to issue the ticket), which means all of the cameras on light posts, installed at fair expense, are pretty much meaningless. Speeding cameras probably fall under the same law.
Not that we don't need to enforce traffic light and speeding violations, but automatic ticket issuing systems don't stop the truly dangerous drivers as they are not an immediate deterrent. And automatic tickets piss off the people who get caught in the edge cases (run the yellow a little too late). A cop can focus efforts to pull over the truly reckless drivers and can adjudicate the minor violations in a balanced manner.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.
If God actually came down to Earth and showed Himself, maybe that would be evidence?
This is precisely what SpaceX is working on doing with the Dragon series spacecraft, a combination of drag and propulsive landing, no parachutes, depending on the nature of the atmosphere and local gravity
If the body has no atmosphere (i.e. the moon), it would do a purely propulsive retro-fire and landing.
On a body with a thick atmosphere (i. e. Earth), drag on the heat shield would do most of the deceleration, with a final propulsive touchdown.
Mars is a middle case, there is some atmosphere but not nearly enough to do the job. It basically has to do a propulsive descent, but the trick is the rocket is thrusting against the oncoming atmosphere, so the aerodynamics are very complicated. Recent attempts to soft land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket have produced some very useful experience in this flight regime.
Alas, the A10 suffers one irredeemable fault - its only function is to support the Army.
Not quite, but close. Combat rescue aka "Sandy ops" - keeping bad guys away from downed airmen to effect a rescue.
But if we're not fighting against an enemy with an air force or SAM capability, this likely isn't needed
Showing people in government how to program is probably not a bad idea. Maybe they can sort out the spaghetti coded laws that we have and actually get things to run correctly.
Nah, they'll just say "It's not a bug, it's a FEATURE!".
Cost to get the material for the 3D-printer is going to be the same.
True, but if you can recycle the materials, you actually get to reutilize materials over and over again vs. launching a new batch from the ground. Part breaks? Toss it in the hopper and print a new one.
Also note that, for very long term exploration, the use of local materials is also being studied. Think concrete on other planets, that sort of thing.
I can't imagine digging a hole and filling it back in would cost more than all of the engineering, permits, environmental concerns, etc of building a permanent coastal docking facility and the long term savings from not having to worry about mooring, storms, water levels & maintenance should be significant.
Not so, sadly. What you propose would cost upwards of 100s of millions of dollars, would probably be more of a permitting and environmental nightmare, and it isn't physically feasible in a lot of places (places where it is feasible already are dock yards, like Brooklyn NYC).
And then there is the experience of stepping onto a floating vessel, even at dock. It is a museum, and so a big part of the draw is the experience. It is an amazing thing to see the Massachusetts, a big hulking piece of steel, floating.
$10,000-$20,000, same as the first one. It currently costs about $10,000 per pound to get anything to low Earth orbit.. Doesn't matter if it is a wrench or a can of ham salad or toilet paper - $10,000 per lb. You have to put the thing on a pricey rocket to get it to orbit. If you go to Mars, things get even more expensive.
This work that they are doing on the "Irrelevant Space Stopgap" is the stuff that they need to figure out before we can get to Mars or beyond. We have to sort out parts and tools and make sure that the astronauts can get their hands on what they need to get the job done and go to these places. Yes, it's a lot of seemingly basic and mundane crap, but it needs to be done and it is being done on the ISS today. There isn't a Tractor Supply on Phobos (not to my knowledge, anyway).
"I am, therefore I am." -- Akira