Comment: Re:Maybe it was just my youth but... (Score 4, Insightful) 130
Comment: Re:Well That Escalated Quickly (Score 1) 727
Comment: Re:That's not a drone (Score 1) 339
By decent EE I mean someone like this - DIY http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1337608
I am guessing this cost well less than $4K - though depends on what the guy's time is worth. So if by "big budget" you mean more than a few hundred bucks then yes.
Comment: Re:That's not a drone (Score 1) 339
RC plane's rarely get more than a 1000' feet away as they become very hard to control.
Totally depends on noise in the spectrum where you are flying - I had a cheap Futaba 72 MHZ system and flew my 6' sailplane up to about 1500' once - control was not my issue it was being able to see my plane and get it out of the thermal.
Comment: Re:That's not a drone (Score 1) 339
Comment: Re:That's not a drone (Score 2) 339
Comment: Re:The cynic in me... (Score 1) 339
You have to wonder how someone in an airliner going 200+ mph could even see something that small going ~0 mph, much less be able to describe it in such detail...
On final approach an airliner is more in the 120 to 150 MPH range, and a good pilot is looking hard for other aircraft near the airport - so if you do see something you look pretty hard right at it. And in this case it is not like there is much else at that point to grab your attention - the pilot is still 3 miles out so he can let his attention off the runway for the few seconds it would take to focus on the other aircraft.
Estimating the distance between the aircraft and size of the aircraft is a bit more up in the air.
Comment: Re:LOL (Score 1) 204
Comment: Mods please (Score 1) 443
Comment: Re:Upside Down World (Score 1) 443
Driving drunk is ALWAYS wrong.
Closed course with instructor - can be very instructive to the student hitting pylons he missed 30 minutes earlier.
Comment: Re:Article very lacking on how and why. (Score 3, Informative) 227
The disclosure notice said 38 Studios employed 379 full-time workers as of March 15, with 288 of them in Providence and the rest at its other studio in Maryland. The company also reported 34 full-time contractors and eight interns. The company listed 18 job openings on its website as of Monday evening.
Almost 400 people - I guess average salary must have been in the $30-$40K range.
Comment: Re:Can't keep this up (Score 2) 137
the only thing they could have done better is control their staff. i'm sure there's group emails going round there to that effect now.
the problem is, when they have a big robot looking for life on Mars, everyone's going to assume that when they call a press conference, they'll announce that they've found life on Mars.
Grotzinger is not NASA staff - he is a Caltech professor. And Curiosity is equipped to look for organic chemistry, not current life.
Comment: Re:Can't keep this up (Score 1) 137
And NASA guy *did* say it was going to be the one for the history books. People hear than and don't assume he means "History Of Martian Soil Chemistry, Volume 3".
Not NASA guy. Caltech professor, lead investigator, not a NASA spokesman!
Comment: Re:Can't keep this up (Score 3, Insightful) 137
NASA can't keep up being the "boy who cried wolf." People will just stop listening if every little thing is "breakthrough" and something "earth-shattering!" My goodness.
You know that Grotzinger probably does not even work for NASA right? He is a Caltech professor, likely that Caltech pays his salary. He is not a NASA employee or spokesman.
You really have not gotten your facts straight, but do not fret you might have an excellent career as a science reporter