Again, this was the strategy: offer a plan that does nothing to alter our dangerous debt course while pretending the opposite.
Actions, not words.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Highlighting the missing ingredient
I have posted somewhere that the only missing ingredient to a mars colonization mission is the lander. One great thing about the Inspiration Mars mission is that it will highlight this missing ingredient. It's a difficult challenge, but SpaceX has taken the lead with it's Mars One lander designed to land 2.5 mt on mars with up to four crew.
Since we're talking about the Inspiration Mars mission and landers, here's a thought... Include an addition Mars One Lander to provide redundancy and land those supplies on mars during the flyby? Or would that be too much of a temptation?
Update: Feasibility Analysis. Comparing it with my ref mission:
Since we're talking about the Inspiration Mars mission and landers, here's a thought... Include an addition Mars One Lander to provide redundancy and land those supplies on mars during the flyby? Or would that be too much of a temptation?
Update: Feasibility Analysis. Comparing it with my ref mission:
- 12 m3 of private space for each (and 400+ m3 of common space which includes space suit storage.) vs. Less than 7 m3 shared by two (but without bulky space suits and storage for same.)
- 2.5 mt per person (includes self, food and supplies for after landing) for 240+ days vs just food 2.7 mt hydrated (682 kg per person, freeze dried) for 501 days.
- Never comes close to venus orbit vs. does.
Moving the goal posts...
A lot of people will say this can't be done and the crew will die. Of course, if they do, this does not prove their assertion. Others will go straight to the second of Clarke's law. It can be done but it's not worth doing. Then, once we have colonists on mars with a thriving community they will move on to the third step...
"We knew it all along."
The challenge of this mission is funding. It appears, and Tito agrees, there is no likelihood of profit. The good news is there is plenty of profit for colonization if they embrace it.
If they do, the solar system will be filled in little time and history will record this as the actual beginning of the SPACE AGE.
If they do, the solar system will be filled in little time and history will record this as the actual beginning of the SPACE AGE.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
That's why
“They don’t need permission from anybody for an interplanetary trip.”Let that sink in with people that have made themselves slaves to the nanny states.
Inspiration Mars need not confine itself to their 2018 deadline.So if they can't raise all the funds by then, it isn't over.
The National Geographic Society is in talks with Tito's Inspiration Mars Foundation about a potential partnership...Sounds about right. Keeping focused.
3000 square meters
That's how much solar panels Mars One proposes to supply four colonists with their needs. At 10% efficiency (50 Watts per square meter) that would be a total of 150 kw. That's not a lot and certainly not enough for industry.
My fictional account provides 20 year life thorium reactors (about 200 kg. ea.) fitted into each of seven landers. The reactors aren't fictional. This would provide 1750 kw. plus whatever solar panels are also brought. Still not really enough for industry.
But they can start industry by concentrating that power. They do that by using their solar power to produce methane. Methane engines can then produce all the power they need for industrial processes when they need it.
How to make a home nuclear reactor.
My fictional account provides 20 year life thorium reactors (about 200 kg. ea.) fitted into each of seven landers. The reactors aren't fictional. This would provide 1750 kw. plus whatever solar panels are also brought. Still not really enough for industry.
But they can start industry by concentrating that power. They do that by using their solar power to produce methane. Methane engines can then produce all the power they need for industrial processes when they need it.
How to make a home nuclear reactor.
Inspiration mars
Will make it's announcement today. From it's website...
Inspiration mars will generate knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration. It will encourage and embolden all Americans to believe again in doing the hard things that make our nation great, while inspiring the next generation of explorers to pursue their destiny through STEM education. Now is the time!Tito's, entire net worth [$200m] is about what this project will cost. Wow. Update: Tito promises to fund the first two years of the project.
Five years! The American frontier spirit is not dead. Does it require a life coach?
Does it surprise me that the motivators are all girls? Nope. How do you think the west was really won?
Inside the mind of a space tycoon.
A NASA lunar staging location for mars?
Update: from Rand.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
My puppy
Now 14 months old, born Dec. 23, 2011. I just discovered I have a superstition.
I wanted to include a picture, but I can't. It seems that many times in the past, when I've taken a picture of a puppy I've grown attached to, it has died shortly after. I didn't know I had this superstition until now. I'm not that kind of guy, but there it is. I just can't do it. But I can talk about him.
At 7000 ft. elevation it is below freezing at night this time of year. My puppy Max (Maximus Pooponus) has a five gallon water bucket that gets a few inches of ice on it over night. Max just licks a hole in that to get to the water which provides me a handhold to pull the icecap (near a gallon) out of his bucket (adding water before and after.) I worry about it being too cold for him, but he dispels that worry every day when I see him, happy to see me. That is a great feeling.
When he was real little I used to keep him in my RV. He destroyed that RV when he was nothing in size compared to today. Chewed everything, including all the wiring under the dash. I had a bed sitting on a box spring in the back that he used to sleep under. One morning I came and thought I'd found him dead. He had chewed on the netting under the box spring and wrapped it around his neck hanging himself by it. I crawled half under that bed to see what I could do. He wasn't moving or making a sound and I was sure he was dead. I couldn't tear the netting so I had to untwist him and he didn't move at all. Finally I got him out from under the bed. He was alive. Then he got big enough to chew the curtains. It was time to move him to the yard.
He loved it. The first thing he did was start chewing the wood that supported the A/C unit in one window. Had to fix that. I buy him toys but he ignores those. His favorite thing is to chase the plastic water bottles after I empty them into his five gallon water bucket. He particularly likes the one gallon ice tea containers with their thick plastic and handle. We've had family dogs when I was a kid, but he's my first puppy. I'll be 54 the end of next month. But I do not confuse him with being a person. Still, he makes me happy. Not much does.
Sorry, but you get no picture. I'm very disappointed in myself about that.
I wanted to include a picture, but I can't. It seems that many times in the past, when I've taken a picture of a puppy I've grown attached to, it has died shortly after. I didn't know I had this superstition until now. I'm not that kind of guy, but there it is. I just can't do it. But I can talk about him.
At 7000 ft. elevation it is below freezing at night this time of year. My puppy Max (Maximus Pooponus) has a five gallon water bucket that gets a few inches of ice on it over night. Max just licks a hole in that to get to the water which provides me a handhold to pull the icecap (near a gallon) out of his bucket (adding water before and after.) I worry about it being too cold for him, but he dispels that worry every day when I see him, happy to see me. That is a great feeling.
When he was real little I used to keep him in my RV. He destroyed that RV when he was nothing in size compared to today. Chewed everything, including all the wiring under the dash. I had a bed sitting on a box spring in the back that he used to sleep under. One morning I came and thought I'd found him dead. He had chewed on the netting under the box spring and wrapped it around his neck hanging himself by it. I crawled half under that bed to see what I could do. He wasn't moving or making a sound and I was sure he was dead. I couldn't tear the netting so I had to untwist him and he didn't move at all. Finally I got him out from under the bed. He was alive. Then he got big enough to chew the curtains. It was time to move him to the yard.
He loved it. The first thing he did was start chewing the wood that supported the A/C unit in one window. Had to fix that. I buy him toys but he ignores those. His favorite thing is to chase the plastic water bottles after I empty them into his five gallon water bucket. He particularly likes the one gallon ice tea containers with their thick plastic and handle. We've had family dogs when I was a kid, but he's my first puppy. I'll be 54 the end of next month. But I do not confuse him with being a person. Still, he makes me happy. Not much does.
Sorry, but you get no picture. I'm very disappointed in myself about that.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thomas Sowell makes another great point
Private insurance companies that sell annuities are forced by law to set aside enough assets to cover the cost of the annuities they have promised to pay. But nobody can force the government to do that — and most governments do not.Why can't we force the government to do that? Don't they work for us?
We may not have time to recover from our short-sighted policies.
Let's hope these words never become prophetic.
Time marches on
I was just looking at the Mars Society's FAQ which says...
Estimates of the cost of a human Mars exploration program: $450 billion [for the Space Exploration Initiative] to $30 billion [for Mars Direct.] Mars Direct achieves its low cost in two ways: by using only existing technologies, adapted for the specifics of a Mars mission, and by generating rocket fuel for the return mission.
Zubrin fudged existing tech. with the assumption of heavy lift, but we all have to fudge a bit since existing tech. isn't quite there yet. My reference mission knocks us down from $30b to under $5b. First, as Buzz says, the Pilgrims didn't turn around at Plymouth rock so that saves half the launches. Second, by choosing technology with a better certainty of its costs. The SLS has wasted a lot of money and will continue to until its eventual termination. SpaceX already has bigger rockets on the drawing board but will only make them when they make economic sense. Until then, the Falcon Heavy should define the limits for our mission hardware giving us a known mass for a known cost (within about 20%.)
Now instead of rocket fuel for a return trip, we are creating engine fuel from solar panels. This fuel is used for creating energy for industrial processes instead of wasting it on return trips.
$100m per colonist is a state change from too expensive to self financing. Self financing because it requires nothing more than impulse buying that has already been demonstrated by the American public. They already spend $25 on worthless mars deeds. $100 an acre for the real deal is not even a hurdle. The only hurdle is some entity with the resources to see the light.
Time continues to pass. Still we wait.
Estimates of the cost of a human Mars exploration program: $450 billion [for the Space Exploration Initiative] to $30 billion [for Mars Direct.] Mars Direct achieves its low cost in two ways: by using only existing technologies, adapted for the specifics of a Mars mission, and by generating rocket fuel for the return mission.
Zubrin fudged existing tech. with the assumption of heavy lift, but we all have to fudge a bit since existing tech. isn't quite there yet. My reference mission knocks us down from $30b to under $5b. First, as Buzz says, the Pilgrims didn't turn around at Plymouth rock so that saves half the launches. Second, by choosing technology with a better certainty of its costs. The SLS has wasted a lot of money and will continue to until its eventual termination. SpaceX already has bigger rockets on the drawing board but will only make them when they make economic sense. Until then, the Falcon Heavy should define the limits for our mission hardware giving us a known mass for a known cost (within about 20%.)
Now instead of rocket fuel for a return trip, we are creating engine fuel from solar panels. This fuel is used for creating energy for industrial processes instead of wasting it on return trips.
- Zubrin's cost is $7.5b per tourist (they aren't staying.) Four at a time.
- Mars One's cost is $1.5b per colonist. Four at a time.
- Mine are $100m per colonist. Forty-eight at a time (to really get things started.)
$100m per colonist is a state change from too expensive to self financing. Self financing because it requires nothing more than impulse buying that has already been demonstrated by the American public. They already spend $25 on worthless mars deeds. $100 an acre for the real deal is not even a hurdle. The only hurdle is some entity with the resources to see the light.
Time continues to pass. Still we wait.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
15 barriers to space settlement
The N.S.S. has a document titled 15 barriers to space settlement. They are not.
1) Government involvement is not required or desired.
2) Incentives for private capital investment exist, but require a non slave mentality.
3) Affordability is a function not just of cost but of return. It's affordable now.
4) Lack of sovereignty is a good thing. Free you mind.
5) Self insure from a country that allows it.
6) Launch from a country that isn't a nanny state.
7) The public will become interested when they have a reason to be interested.
8) Common heritage of mankind is marxist bullshit, to be completely ignored.
9) Informed consent is all you need.
10) Not required. 2 mt of supplies per person will get you to mars.
11) See item one.
12) SpaceX has demonstrated engine out performance. Otherwise see item nine.
13) Colonist are beyond jurisdiction. See item four.
14) Non Sequitur, other than as a justification for a humanity backup.
15) Colonists will demonstrate ISRU immediately after landing.
None of these barriers actually is. The biggest barrier is the psychological slave mentality. Fortunately, not everybody has that slave mentality.
Update:
5) Liability costs make things more difficult but is not a show stopper.
6) Why create a problem when we don't know it will exist?
1) Government involvement is not required or desired.
2) Incentives for private capital investment exist, but require a non slave mentality.
3) Affordability is a function not just of cost but of return. It's affordable now.
4) Lack of sovereignty is a good thing. Free you mind.
5) Self insure from a country that allows it.
6) Launch from a country that isn't a nanny state.
7) The public will become interested when they have a reason to be interested.
8) Common heritage of mankind is marxist bullshit, to be completely ignored.
9) Informed consent is all you need.
10) Not required. 2 mt of supplies per person will get you to mars.
11) See item one.
12) SpaceX has demonstrated engine out performance. Otherwise see item nine.
13) Colonist are beyond jurisdiction. See item four.
14) Non Sequitur, other than as a justification for a humanity backup.
15) Colonists will demonstrate ISRU immediately after landing.
None of these barriers actually is. The biggest barrier is the psychological slave mentality. Fortunately, not everybody has that slave mentality.
Update:
5) Liability costs make things more difficult but is not a show stopper.
6) Why create a problem when we don't know it will exist?
They boo'd this?
“How is it any of your business what I choose to put in my body if I’m not affecting anyone else?” one student asked.
“First of all, for alleged individualists, you’re very mob-like,” Coulter snarked. “Second of all, it is my business because we are living in a welfare state … Right now, I have to pay for, it turns out, coming down the pike, your health care. I have to pay for your unemployment when you can’t hold a job. I have to pay for your food, for your housing. Yeah, it’s my business!”
Yes, If others didn't have to pay for it, it would not be their business. But if they are forced to pay for it, it is their business. This is not complicated.
The other part is the assumption that it doesn't affect other people. When my alcoholic siblings call my mother at 3 am to resolve a domestic problem... it affects her.
When someone incapacitates themselves and gets behind the wheel of a car... it affects people.
“First of all, for alleged individualists, you’re very mob-like,” Coulter snarked. “Second of all, it is my business because we are living in a welfare state … Right now, I have to pay for, it turns out, coming down the pike, your health care. I have to pay for your unemployment when you can’t hold a job. I have to pay for your food, for your housing. Yeah, it’s my business!”
Yes, If others didn't have to pay for it, it would not be their business. But if they are forced to pay for it, it is their business. This is not complicated.
The other part is the assumption that it doesn't affect other people. When my alcoholic siblings call my mother at 3 am to resolve a domestic problem... it affects her.
When someone incapacitates themselves and gets behind the wheel of a car... it affects people.
Pass it to know what's in it.
You must cover all children to the age of 26, but spouses, not so much.
Enumeration of rights
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Our founders knew that "inasmuch as it would be impossible to list all rights it would be dangerous to list some because there would be those who would seize on the absence of the omitted rights to assert that government was unrestrained as to those."
They were prophets.
Our founders knew that "inasmuch as it would be impossible to list all rights it would be dangerous to list some because there would be those who would seize on the absence of the omitted rights to assert that government was unrestrained as to those."
“the right of the people to keep and bear arms is not infringed by laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons.”
In other news, the right of the people to eat is not infringed by laws prohibiting the carrying of food.
Restraining government was central to our founders
Restraining government was central to our founders
Saturday, February 23, 2013
2018: mars flyby for two
Michael O nails it...
The leap in knowledge of space travel in general would be worth it, to say nothing of the sweeping riddance of any doubts that it could be done. You “touch” Mars in this fashion, and you’d have a “double dare” for someone to land, and land to stay.
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