Comment oh come on (Score 5, Insightful) 375
Revolutionary 3D render, more like.
Comment Re:Waldo (Score 1) 104
Virgin Galactic's suborbital vehicle does not have the capabilities required to reach low Earth orbit, and this is not going to change anytime soon. They would need to charter Falcon rockets from SpaceX or something similar.
On the other hand, it is interesting to speculate whether a true space tourism industry is possible. If prices for access to orbit were slashed tenfold, I suppose you could draw on a pool of thousands of clients.
Comment Re:What?!? (Score 2) 322
You're effectively comparing one hypothetical model against the other. The models address conditions many decades from now. You cannot possibly make a dependable judgement as to which one makes sense.
Comment Re:Bleaker than you think! (Score 1) 355
They'll either die on Mars, die taking off, or die getting there.
Those people have been swindled out of their admission fee and not one of them is getting outside the Earth's atmosphere anytime soon.
Comment Re:Dark side of the moon... (Score 1) 186
The James Web Space Telescope will also reside in the Earth-Moon L2 point, and AFAIK it will transmit data directly to Earth, so communication from/to L2 should not be an issue.
Comment Re:Only more Evidence (Score 1) 78
I guess this is the right time to forecast that, once again, quality information is going to cost money?
PhD Candidate Talks About the Physics of Space Battles 361
darthvader100 writes "Gizmodo has run an article with some predictions on what future space battles will be like. The author brings up several theories on propulsion (and orbits), weapons (explosives, kinetic and laser), and design. Sounds like the ideal shape for spaceships will be spherical, like the one in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie."
Comment Err. no. (Score 1) 479
The masters of contemporary sci-fi (Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds) are surpassed only by precious few from the celebrated "classics." Those would be Clarke and Herbert.
Submission + - 11.6" netbooks face off
Dr. Damage writes: Netbooks have grown from tiny curiosities with 7" screens into surprisingly well-rounded little computers. The latest step? 11.6" displays with 1366x768 resolution and near-full-sized keyboards, believe it or not. Two such systems are available now for under $400 at U.S. retailers: an Aspire One at Walmart and the Gateway LT3103 at Best Buy. The Gateway packs an Athlon 64 processor and Radeon graphics, amazingly enough. The Tech Report bought them both and has compared them head to head in some depth, choosing a clear winner between the two.
Submission + - Growing a flower in lunar gravity (msn.com)
smooth wombat writes: If everything goes according to plan, an experiment designed to test if plants can grow in the limited lunar gravity will hitch a ride with a competitor for the Google Lunar X Prize. The press release from Paragon Space Development Corporation outlines its partnership with Odyssey Moon to be the first to grow a plant on another world. In addition to the experiment, Paragon will be helping Odyssey with the thermal control system and lander design. To win the prize, Odyssey must land its craft on the lunar surface by the end of 2014.
More details about the experiment, and obstacles to overcome, may be found in this MSNBC article.
More details about the experiment, and obstacles to overcome, may be found in this MSNBC article.
Comment Communication over trans-stellar distances is hard (Score 1) 774
"Detection of broadband signals from Earth such as AM radio,
FM radio, and television picture and sound would be
extremely difficult even at a fraction of a light-year
distant from the Sun. For example, a TV picture having 5
MHz of bandwidth and 5 MWatts of power could not be detected
beyond the solar system even with a radio telescope with 100
times the sensitivity of the 305 meter diameter Arecibo
telescope."
SETI@home FAQ
Comment Re:Jeez Late news, TES:EMPIRE trailer is available (Score 2, Informative) 130
That's the intro cinematic for Warhammer Mark of Chaos, and apparently there are also a lot of rickrolls out there entitled Elder Scroll V trailer.
Space Shuttle Atlantis Delayed Again 174
eldavojohn writes "An electrical short cause the space shuttle Atlantis to be delayed since a lightning strike to the pad and Tropical Storm Ernesto caused delays. From the article:
'Liftoff was only hours away Wednesday morning when engineers reported a short in one of three fuel cells that supplies electricity for all the on-board systems, including the crew compartment.' It also points out that 'The faulty cell is currently operational even with the short. But after the 2003 Columbia disaster, which killed all seven astronauts, NASA says it has adopted an aggressive, safety-conscious approach to launching.' It causes one to wonder whether pre-Columbia-disaster NASA would have just replaced the fuel cell on the fly without telling anyone — and whether or not that is an ethically sound choice."
Mysterious 'Forcefield' Tested on US Tanks 603
An anonymous reader writes "Not too long ago General Dynamics announced a successful test of their new Trophy Active Defense System (ADS). The Trophy ADS generates something similar to a force field around one half of a vehicle as a direct reaction to incoming fire. From the article: 'The Threat Detection and Warning subsystem consists of several sensors, including flat-panel radars, placed at strategic locations around the protected vehicle, to provide full hemispherical coverage. Once an incoming threat is detected identified and verified, the Countermeasure Assembly is opened, the countermeasure device is positioned in the direction where it can effectively intercept the threat. Then, it is launched automatically into a ballistic trajectory to intercept the incoming threat at a relatively long distance.'"
