Viewing profile — el_zorro

The corrosion from the salt water would completely ruin the engines, obviating any benefits from returning the first stage.

The utility here is not really landing on other planets, but instead the order of magnitude decrease in launch costs if they don't have to build a new first stage for every launch.…

It has to do with the payload mass. If it's too massive, it won't have enough fuel to return to the launch site, so they do a landing at sea.

I'm wondering if there's been something lost in translation there, though. The word, in Western understanding, means holy war, but a more apt translation is "struggle", in the same…

I just completed a degree in physics from his university, actually. I can think of a few reasons: 1. He wanted to be 100% sure about the data and not rush it, especially if it coul…

I'm mostly just curious about who would enforce the ban. Is there really any enforcement agency that will police the others, when they all benefit from surveillance? I just don't t…

Mars would almost certainly require a small rocket to get to orbit, but it would be trivially sized compared to what we need on Earth. Even something as small as the Atlas rockets …

I don't think it is so much an issue of ability so much as desire. Most of the tech has been dreamed up for decades, but it needs funding and a green light (particularly the nuclea…

I'm going to ignore so many things in this post and just point out that there is not enough material in the asteroid belt to create another planet. All said, the asteroid belt is a…

I think you fundamentally misunderstand the statistics and distances involved here. Millions of civilizations? Only if you take the most optimistic of all statistical stretches. I …

The diameter actually does have an effect on where geostationary orbit is: it changes how fast the surface is spinning, and hence the orbital speed needed for a stationary orbit. M…

I think it's more about the literal action of building on sand. It erodes quickly and hence requires upkeep (dredging from where it flows to, and restocking where it flows from). S…

Right now, SpaceX can (and does) have access to that limited market by selling off payload on current launches. It's cheaper to just bootstrap on to an existing flight than dedicat…

I'm very skeptical of the market they're targeting. SpaceX used to cover that same payload capacity with the Falcon 1 [0] rocket, but discontinued it since no one bought any. Maybe…

I'm really curious how you think this will solve anything. Children of wealthy parents don't have to inherit anything to have advantages that most poor children could only dream of…

True, but rarely do mathematical proofs translate into physical proofs.

The problem is that, in practice, there is no way to guarantee that you have actually eliminated every possibility. There are ways to constrain the answer within physics, but that …

I am sorry you were downvoted (particularly because you were called a shill for daring to voice your reasonable opinion). There is a doom-and-gloom mentality on this site; people s…

The quote at the end of the article really struck me: "We are as gods, and might as well get good at it." I think that this is something that everyone involved with technology and …

The other important thing to do is to consider what would happen in the aftermath. Who wants to deal with that mess? Unification will be expensive and will take decades. Reintegrat…

I had at first put the 12kg max from the first figure, but on re-read I saw the water vapor pressure could have a balloon go as heavy as 35kg. It would makes sense that helium (or …

Yes - so long as the payload was very light. We're talking maybe 35kg here[0]. [0] http://eoss.org/eoss043/EOSS43summary.pdf

You are very right - I forgot to mention those. They tend to be a lot more feasible than fixed-wing aircraft, and their ability to land and take samples makes them even more useful…

Orbit isn't about going up - it's about going sideways so fast that the planet curves away just as fast as you fall towards it. While you can use the atmosphere to lift yourself up…