Extremely funny, but I bet, that small modification might happen that won't increase the weight issue too much. Lot's of nifty ideas floating around here.

He made a very good point, it's all about perspective.

With that said, does it not sound like India reading a page from the book "stranger in a strange land"

space shuttle was an amazing sound. I have no clue what the sound of a saturn V would sound like. but i bet I would like it

A) Thanks for the photo. That explained a ton.
B) In vessel design, some basic ratio's are used, and stability is important. The dimensions just don't add up to be any good if it's a barge, the roll and pitch just seem way out of line for such a box type shape. Pontoons on the otherhand, they overcome ( better word is reduce ) multiple stability problem.

so maybe it's a pontoon type platform, all I got is an overhead shot ( which I thank you for )

>>
Why do you consider the ration 'bad'? IMHO the ratio does not matter at all, the barge only needs to be big enough to provide the landing space and what ever else they need on it.

Vessel stability on all 3 axis, I would guess that something like this needs a really good stable landing platform. It's not easy to keep a platform at the required location. I am going to take a guess that they tested everything to the extreem and this is what they came up with.

but the most likely size should have been near 1000 x 170, which now writing it, is super huge, just having a hard time picturing 170 feet in width. and the dimentions ... here is a container ship that would be near the dimentions and I can see clearer now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

that landing platform would cost a fortune.

>>You do realize that planes fly all the time in the dark and in fog, right?
Yes, I do and that's with humans at the stick, but the plane can land itself. on a stable platform ( runway ) that has know variables, big space, a performance design that have been tested and tested and updated almost to the point that it's automated, but at the end, a pilot is still required just in case. Landing and takeoffs are still the highest risk points of a flight.

But this landing, this is a tiny little speck, and it hit the mark! it's really a super amazing thing.

Now I'll give you a perspective that might help you understanding my views
you are looking at current technology, seeing the future and mixing in rose colored glasses ... It's not an insult, we expected wireless Dick Tracy watch's but they did not happen till the late 90's. I, myself bitch and complain about nanobot's not being injected into the human blood stream to remove bad blood cells ( I really expected that to happen by 2000, and I am still waiting ) and there is a ton more.

this happens to everyone, we mix the future with the current. It's not a bad thing at all, it just shows us what we desire as humans and what we can succeed at. Without this expectation, we would not be able to grow, Knowing that you expect it and if it had failed, someone out thier would be trying to solve it. It's in our nature ( or at least I think it is )

300 x 170 is a real bad ratio, it's going to be a sloppy ride. A good stable ratio is in the 30 x 5 x 3 ( L x W X H ). I got to assume he knows something or the barge design is amazingly special
dry bulk cargo barges are about 195' x 35' ( which is near the 6 x 1 ratio ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

thank you

What is special about landing in the dark... hmmm.
a) Depth perception in darkness changes (given they could use some sort of sonar type bounce to get a distance reading)
b) Blindness of the camera's when the thrusters are activated.
c) Landing on the water, barges move up and down, that's really impressive, it's only so stable. This is nothing like a carrier landing in any way.

Well anyway, I am amazed and cheering for them!!!

Well, I think it's a milestone. Just getting it to land on the platform, in the dark, without any human help. That speaks a lot of the hard work that people invested. So it gets some damage, big deal.
I am glad that it was not a total success, otherwise people might get into lazy thinking and not look for bugs. I believe (not sure, cannot cite sources on this), but some airplane was not tested enough because everything happened perfect on testing, it was placed into production (1950's). Over the course of a year or 2, the planes were having issues and a few crashed. And they had to stop production. Some sort of fault in the structure.

So, in summary, He's done it!!! now to get all the bugs worked out.

Stranger in a Strange land as a movie... I would see it, and I think it could fit into a 90's time idea or maybe push it to 2025ish as the starting point.

Saw the movie also, left unsatisfied at the end too.
But I will say this, you need to be intelligent for this movie. The movie is like a very good bottle of wine, it weaves something and you can almost grab it.
The people I was with, well they were rating it about 65 out of 100, I was near 85 out of 100. It's a thinking persons movie.

I would also advise seeing the movie "the drop" again a thinking persons movie. Very nicely crafted.

A townhouse is usually 2 floors, shared side wall
A Villia is usually 1 floor, shared side wall
A Condo is usually 1 floor, multiple shared walls, and ownership is your box in the air and your percentage of common area's
a Co-op is usually 1 floor, multiple shared walls and ownership in a corporation where you are buying airspace and land as a stock ( think of a box in the air that is numbered to a specific share )

Townhouses and Villias can be owned as Freehold ( that means shared wall liability and roof, dirt under is yours, nothing else ) so paint it green for all you care
Or as homeowner association or as a condo association. These are the basic way's

Disclosure: I am a realtor, mostly on the sell side 96% of the time, not representing the buyer. 4% representing the buyer. So I will speak from the selling side. And a big Doctor Who fan from the 80's
HOA's, condo's, and Co-op's are a form of corporations (non-profit) that run the land you are on and issue a set of rules you need to abide by.

When you buy into any of the above, you are required to abide by those rules. When I do a transaction I am required to present to you the rules of the association, sometimes in excess of 200 pages. And you have 3 days to execute a confirmation that you read these rules, otherwise I will put it back on the market. It's a take or leave situation, I think most people don't read the rules.

Most of the rules are common sense, for example, allocation of parking, pet policy's, exterior paint colors, lawn height (which in a condo is the association responsibility not the condo owner usually), cannot hang wet towels on the balcony rail to dry and a ton more. Some of the more interesting rules are
A) How bad of criminal are you... ( Violent crime of murder not permitted, but a Bernie Maddof welcome)
B) You cannot buy the property on credit, must be a cash transaction close
C) Limit on how many occupants in the unit

A common rule I tell people when they are presented with my property is, you are buying conformity, a lifestyle and sometimes peace of mind.

One of the huge problems in HOA's is the Flagpole issue, ex-military wants one on the front lawn of their house, most, if not all HOA's did not permit this, but every year we see it as a lawsuit http://blog.chron.com/advocate... ( that's a Texas one)
It got so carried away here in Florida that the state had to chime in http://www.hoaleader.com/publi... ( summary is, you can within reason)

When the 9 /11 happened, people hung American flags on the railing, well after 3 months some condo association and HOA's were tired of this, asked the residences to remove them, Boy did that start a huge problem, it's considered un-American, while the truth is, following rules is a rather American thing, otherwise why would we need so many lawyers to interpret these rules.

So I don't understand what the big fuss is all about, the guy has a big blue box ( which I would love to own), it's rather different than what is normally seen, people complained, put it in the yard, end of problem. Or if the guy was smart, he should have asked his association about how to hold a wedding at his home, and they would have let him slide properly with all the form executed to do it. ( You need parking permits for gated communities when you hold huge parties, advise the association and they will set up a little shuttle cart for the bride and groom if needed, provide parking assistance ( by sending a note to the neighbors, see whom wants to offer up some driveway space, provides the cleaning service for all the exterior the next morning... )

yes that's a constraint, but all you need to do is look for a suitable plant for that environment