JoeCooper

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• Commented on Visiting Plymouth Rock Via Dual Orions

  "so much better... not" That's so 1991. Did you come through a time warp? You should know computers and robots have made some advancements in the past 19 years....

• Commented on Rocket Motors to Nowhere?

  NASA is doing what they're supposed to here and they can't be faulted for that. But there is still a very real possibility that this money is being spent for no real end. This reflects a problem in Washington; that...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  Washington doesn't seem to take it seriously at all; the cycle of stupid here could be broken by either Congress or the Executive but it doesn't happen. Sometimes there are attempts from the Executive, like VSE and "ObamaSpace", to fix...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  I apologize if I sounded like I was picking your ideas apart with the comment that we don't need humans. I felt like I was just throwing an idea out. It doesn't really matter right now and of course I...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  You basically said that if such things were possible, they would already be done. But there are multiple glaring issues with that. First, we couldn't do the same kind of robots back then as today. The only point I'm trying...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  I just want to add one more thing. I'm not at all hostile against humans in space and the reason the ideas about Moon mining excite me is that the infrastructure necessary to mine the Moon would basically open up...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  "The requirements for humans is not that bad" I'm sure you know better than me - which is why I'm asking - but what about the load it puts on infrastructure? You can't use these solar-electric tugs to shuffle humans...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  For what it's worth, programs like SpaceX's key advantage seems to be that they know what they're going for, both in the long and near term, and can make decisions according to their specs. The whole scheme Musk has reminds...

• Commented on Learning From The Past

  People are fishing for something for the manned spaceflight program to do, but any use of humans radically inflates the cost here. I can invision a chain here with teleoperated robotics, refuellable lunar landers\launchers, ion tugs and an unmanned shuttle....

• Commented on Apollo's Urban Legends

  The Dream Chaser was awarded a CCDev grant. If the Congress funds CCDev than they've got a little bump....

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  I guess you could argue that micromanaging is an affront to separation of powers, but going to the court is superfluous; the administration doesn't have to sign the law. This is where Obama comes in. He can refuse to sign...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  "There is a pattern around here in a lot of the comments..." Reminds me of these guys. Note the title bar, then the comments. I couldn't not take a screenshot. Crickey....

• Commented on Apollo's Urban Legends

  There are some really cool things on the NASA website. Once when I was reading about how jet engines work, a long time ago, I wound up on a NASA page with a simulator. You could change the turbine stages...

• Commented on Apollo's Urban Legends

  I don't think anyone quite gets it here. There was negative pressure on NASA's budget even during Apollo, hence its cancellation in 1968. You cannot argue with a sane mind that NASA was doing a poor job advertising or getting...

• Commented on Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster?

  OK. Now say Salesman A hasn't sold you a car since 1981. You've made down payments on several, but the money mysteriously vanished and you never got a car. Or do you mean "Salesman A" is Boeing & Lockheed and...

• Commented on Dazed and Confused on "The Hill"

  Even if SpaceX was nothing but 20-30 somethings, so what? Whatever they actually consist of seems to work pretty well; they've built and launched two rockets to orbit. It has been 29 years since NASA did that with the Shuttle...

• Commented on Orion Starts Test Phase

  I don't see how you can have a reasonable discussion about without deciding what you're actually doing there. If you just want a few research expeditions, Apollo to Mars is perfectly rational. It is not "sustainable" but you don't need...

• Commented on Center Director Avatar Droid Attends Reception

  You're right, it does look that way like its all just a mess. I don't see why people should even be arguing about many of these things. I feel a bit touchy about the robotics only people - like you,...

• Commented on Center Director Avatar Droid Attends Reception

  Be serious. He could fix one, for roughly two hundred times the cost of just sending another rover. Also: you're recommending spending ginormous amounts of money on something because its flashy to get attention? That's basically a tacit admission that...

• Commented on Center Director Avatar Droid Attends Reception

  That's actually not the correct story about the flat Earth... But whatever, I see your point. Still, the option does exist now and we shouldn't hesitate to milk it for all its worth. Furthermore, we actually do have a more...

• Commented on Center Director Avatar Droid Attends Reception

  Ahh yes, I know that story. He turned down Da Vinci's intercontinental predator drone in favor of going himself. Every historian knows that! Its a perfect analogy and not at all the ravings of a madman....

• Commented on Send More Money - Or Cut Something Out

  This has got me thinking. Having a ballistic capsule for reentry in event of a bad burn is a fantastic idea of course. Having reusable systems that stay in space is also great, and these capsules do have downsides when...

• Commented on Send More Money - Or Cut Something Out

  FWIW, DARPA's demonstrated autonomous on-orbit propellant transfer. http://www.darpa.mil/orbitalexpress/ They even have a video of the satellite doing an inspection of the other satellite on orbit. Then it changes the batteries and tops off the fuel tanks. This would certainly jive...

• Commented on SpaceX Gives a Preview of Falcon X and XX

  Well you sure can't argue with the Dead Sea Scrolls. Shall we start printing "God Hates SRMs" t-shirts?...

• Commented on Where Do We Go From Here?

  "A human module could be a sometimes payload of that space plane. Orion-developed internals could be the guts of that module" What about crew escape? Didn't we decide to cancel the shuttle in part due to lack of escape options?...

• Commented on NAC Is Dissatisfied With NASA on Commercial Plans (or lack thereof)

  The airlines themselves don't fly into combat zones, but modified airliners do, carrying fuel, radars and in one cancelled case a laser. I don't think you can make the argument that they have different specifications unless you can actually show...

• Commented on Where Do We Go From Here?

  We've fallen back a bit, having gone from having a shuttle to having to buy Soyuz seats. So right now the Moon isn't an issue, we're fighting over how to get the basics in order. But then what? Optimistically, in...

• Commented on NAC Is Dissatisfied With NASA on Commercial Plans (or lack thereof)

  Why do you still say such a ridiculous thing? The US military uses airlines. All the time. When shuffling troops they give 'em a plane ticket. Every time I go through ATL or any other major airport its full of...

• Commented on NAC Is Dissatisfied With NASA on Commercial Plans (or lack thereof)

  "Why is it NASA's responsibility to provide the commercial guys with analyses on "non-NASA human spaceflight markets"? Don't the commercial guys have the resources, or the desire, to perform their own market analysis?" Because Washington is making a decision based...

• Commented on NASA-Funded Apologist Blames Media for Kepler's Botched PR

  Well certainly Kepler can find the planet - that's the point, or else they'd be done now having proved the statistical probability of said planet existing (whether or not you actually care to find it). Its just that follow-ups need...