Work for Senior Citizens on Mars Maybe

Rod
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NASA reviews manned space

NASA reviews manned space flight

NASA's Summary Report

I like the committee's recommendations including extending the life if the ISS beyond 2015 we built the thing lets do some science. I also like the flexible path. With budget constraints I don't see any landings in the near future

There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot. - Aldo Leopold

tullio
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I am looking forward to see

I am looking forward to see the new Hubble images after the upgrade. They should be terrific. Hats off to NASA for all Hubble repair missions, after the initial disaster. They should have made the Ronchi test on the main mirror, it just requires a candle and a knife. Too simple in this era of computers.
Tullio

Mike Hewson
Mike Hewson
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RE: NASA reviews manned

Message 94685 in response to message 94683

Quote:

NASA reviews manned space flight

NASA's Summary Report

I like the committee's recommendations including extending the life if the ISS beyond 2015 we built the thing lets do some science. I also like the flexible path. With budget constraints I don't see any landings in the near future


It'd certainly be insane to trash the ISS so soon. If we can't keep groups of people alive & well while doing something useful for extended periods in low Earth orbit, then that surely prejudices any longer flight plans.

I think nuclear material & methods need revisiting. To move in space you need energy and mass to react against. The energy density of nuclear fuel is unrivalled, and you also have a ready made thermodynamic cold load ( the vacuum ) to do other useful work. For 'heat engines' you need a hot spot and a cold spot. The efficiency is better the wider the difference in temperatures, so the low ambient of space is good. And you'll never heat it up by our activity - the ultimate cold bath. The Voyager craft are still doing exactly that on decades old Plutonium.

Various ion drives have already operated well, that way you throw a small amount of matter really fast. Alot of donkey work could be done by such unmanned machines to haul material up and down the gravity wells, laying provisions/facilities at the better Lagrange points, say. Such unoccupied 'camps' could station keep for years with simple methods like ion drives, conducting tethers and light sails. Get the human occupied craft to raid the caches enroute later on. It takes planning and patience which may exceed our tolerances though.

The chemical rockets, throttle-able or otherwise, are still required of course. Their energy density ( available Joules per kg of fuel ) is lower than nuclear, but the specific impulse ( available thrust force per kg of fuel ) is much higher. It would be great if we could make rocket fuel on the Moon, that is : where is the water?

Cheers, Mike.

I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...

... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal

Bill592
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RE: I am looking forward to

Message 94686 in response to message 94684

Quote:
I am looking forward to see the new Hubble images after the upgrade. They should be terrific......
Tullio

Howdy Tullio,

I read something quite awhile ago about Apollo astronauts getting hit by Cosmic Ray Bursts.
( I think that is what they called them )

One crewman reported that the whole ‘inside of his head’ or vision with his eyes shut ‘ lit up’ like
a fireworks display at one point.

There was speculation in the article that these bursts would be very dangerous on a long trip ( to Mars) etc.

I haven’t read anything about ISS crewmen being affected by these.

Best Regards,

Bill

Mike Hewson
Mike Hewson
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RE: I read something quite

Message 94687 in response to message 94686

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I read something quite ....... being affected by these.


ISS is inside the Earth's magnetosphere - so most nasty rays from the Sun at least ( high energy protons generally ) spiral into the poles. Thus Aurora. But once you cross the ( Van Allen ) belts you're on your own. That's about a half a dozen Earth radii away, thus well within the Moon's orbit.

Cheers, Mike.

I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...

... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal

Bill592
Bill592
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RE: ISS is inside the

Message 94688 in response to message 94687

Quote:

ISS is inside the Earth's magnetosphere -
Cheers, Mike.

Thanks Mike.

Quote:
Hmmmm ....... "I vunder vere Günter vent?" :-)

You mean Gundolf ? He is still posting out here so, I don’t think they
have abducted him and, forced him to go just yet :-)

Unless__ they have given him internet access while on the journey.

( just kidding Gundolf :-)

Best Regards,

Bill

Mike Hewson
Mike Hewson
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RE: Hmmmm ....... "I vunder

Message 94689 in response to message 94688

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Hmmmm ....... "I vunder vere Günter vent?" :-)


It's an Apollo 7 gag. Gunter Wendt was the white room chief ( where you get into the capsule before launch ). Apollo 7 was the first flight after the Grissom/Chaffee/White fire. The astronauts, Wally Schirra especially, threw their weight around and demanded many changes. Gunter was their personal choice because of his Gemini program work - they trusted him as he was a very exacting man. Safety obsessed. So before launch, after they are belted in, hatch closed and counting down, there is no one else on the pad - one of them said the above line with a German accent. It broke the ice well.

A particular issue with that launch was the design of the couches. There was a significant chance with a land impact ( upon takeoff abort say ) of spinal damage from the collapse of the couch frame. Destructive testing had shown that amply. Wally Schirra insisted upon the insertion of a mission rule to not launch in certain wind conditions ( onshore and too fast ). The winds were exceeded on the day. Nonetheless Schirra was asked to OK launch anyway, despite that it would break that exact mission rule. The flight controllers were under considerable pressure to launch as the Apollo program had been delayed some 18 months by that stage. TV cameras were rolling etc.

So this is the sort of thing Wally Schirra was crappy with NASA management on. He had announced retirement from the program before that mission in any case. Brave man. He OK'ed the launch. We have of course since discovered issues with NASA ( upper ) management in a far worse vein.

Cheers, Mike.

( edit ) The other line I especially like is, I think, attributed to Neil Armstrong but never quite officially confirmed. When asked about what he thought about the flight's safety he replied something like : "How would you feel sitting atop 20000 parts, each of which was supplied by the lowest bidder? ". [ This morphed into a similiar line by Steve Buscemi in the movie Armaggedon ]

I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...

... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal

Bill592
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RE: Brave man. He OK'ed

Message 94690 in response to message 94689

Quote:

Brave man. He OK'ed the launch. We have of course since discovered issues with NASA ( upper ) management in a far worse vein.

Cheers, Mike.

( edit ) The other line I especially like is, I think, attributed to Neil Armstrong but never quite officially confirmed. When asked about what he thought about the flight's safety he replied something like : "How would you feel sitting atop 20000 parts, each of which was supplied by the lowest bidder? ". [ This morphed into a similiar line by Steve Buscemi in the movie Armaggedon ]

Hi Mike,

That was interesting in one of your posts from awhile ago about how Richard Feynman
investigated the Challenger disaster and, quickly cut through the NASA BS and discovered the faulty O Rings.

Best Regards,

Bill

PS: I remember that day like it was yesterday.

Mike Hewson
Mike Hewson
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RE: That was interesting in

Message 94691 in response to message 94690

Quote:

That was interesting in one of your posts from awhile ago about how Richard Feynman
investigated the Challenger disaster and, quickly cut through the NASA BS and discovered the faulty O Rings.

Best Regards,

Bill

PS: I remember that day like it was yesterday.


Yeah, same here. He's sorely missed.

If I remember rightly 'ribbon cable' and similiar groupings of wiring & insulation was pretty well invented as a response to the investigation of the Apollo 1 fire. Instead of the tangle of wires any old way .....

Cheers, Mike.

I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...

... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal

Rod
Rod
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RE: It'd certainly be

Message 94692 in response to message 94685

Quote:

It'd certainly be insane to trash the ISS so soon. If we can't keep groups of people alive & well while doing something useful for extended periods in low Earth orbit, then that surely prejudices any longer flight plans.

And you would probably kiss any future international corporation good bye on future projects if NASA De- Orbits the station in 2015. I believe international corporation is the only way to go on these mega space projects. A lot of countries have fair space exploration budgets and would like to contribute, but they would want a return on their investment.

There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot. - Aldo Leopold

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