skinny

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• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  Technically, yes. One could shoot the Station towards the moon. Given enough, sustained thrust from a dedicated propulsion module, the Station could be pushed, just at the right moment when the moon is coming up on it's orbit around the...

• Commented on Back To The Moon - Minus The Great Big Rocket

  YES! The Moon is accessible with our current technology. Mars is a pipe dream for the next generation to work on. Delta IV Heavy with a J2X upper stage. This is where NASA should be able to put some seed...

• Commented on Stratolaunch Systems Unveiled

  Glad to see all this innovative thinking and new concepts for space flight. I can see Scaled taking a big step and "scaling" the Space Ship 2 into this monster. That is a cool plane no matter what. The rocket...

• Commented on MSL Is On Its Way To Mars

  Atlas V with (4)solid boosters does jump off the pad. RD-180, is the most powerful rocket engine in the world....

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  Got it. Humans are responsible for increased CO2. So, what do we do? Start killing folks when they hit 70 and stop reproducing like rabbits? What would you say is the sustainable limit of humans on Earth? Half a trillion...

• Commented on Apollo 18: NASA PAO Will Be Busy

  Okay... I just threw in a Troll Flag. Let's go to the video tape for referee review... Yeah, like you could launch a rocket in secret. Please amuse me, tell me how you think it was done....

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  Hello Steve, We agree on most of your retort to my post. I did qualify my post by self-addressing myself as a cranky old man and I stand by that. =) My point was that when we purchase products made...

• Commented on James Hansen Arrested For Yelling

  I consider myself fairly liberal socially, but I must agree with the conservatives who fight the environmental activist on global warming. Yes, there are signs the temperatures are rising. But, to blame it all on human activity is a bit...

• Commented on ULA Rocks Juno Launch

  Hello hikingmike, I believe the camera is mounted on the "cable passthrough_ (my term, not ULA's). If you think about it, the booster (1st Stage) tank is full of propellant/oxidizer. There has to be a way to get the electrical...

• Commented on Constellation Program Officially Comes to an End

  Hello aerowerks, Have you read the biographies of some of the Augustine Commission members you are putting down and claiming you can do their jobs in a second? I just read two of them whose names I remembered off the...

• Commented on Is James Cameron Heading for the Moon?

  OK. Who is going to buy that 2nd seat to make the mission possible? Here some celebrities who could afford it. Tom Hanks John Travolta Tom Cruise Bono Paul McCartney Leonardo DiCaprio Harrison Ford Kevin Costner Madonna Lady Gaga Oprah...

• Commented on Delta 2 Resurgence

  No, what I wrote is correct. The very last group of Delta II, 2nd stage tanks have been made in Italy by Alenia. People I know were involved with the transition of production from California to Italy. This happened a...

• Commented on Delta 2 Resurgence

  Skinny, a question: you listed “hypergolic second stage” as a negative. Why? It’s still reliable and simple, and a lot of “new” designs still use it, both turbopump and pressure-fed systems. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. ---------- As...

• Commented on Delta 2 Resurgence

  The five unsold Delta IIs are it. ULA is right in marketing these and possibly get a deal where a single customer (NASA/DoD) buys all five. However, forget about restarting the line. Not gonna happen. Technology is too old... hypergolic...

• Commented on Jay Barbree is Stuck In The Past

  Raj wrote: NASA human space flight was doing great through the period during which Shuttle was designed and for several years after. Most of the people of those times had the experience of Apollo, and they were applied in the...

• Commented on Jay Barbree is Stuck In The Past

  You wrote Particularly, when these young hopeful companies add the human element - the brightest handpicked talents from the US Astronaut Corps and International partners. Nope. The first astronauts will be employees of the companies. NASA Astronauts will continue riding...

• Commented on Jay Barbree is Stuck In The Past

  What is keeping ATK from picking up the tab and put all that man-rated, safety proven, tax payer built, hardware. If it was almost ready to go, you could certainly continue on your own dime. This was *seed money*, a...

• Commented on Parochial Congress? Never.

  Bernardo, Yes, yes and yes. I thought it was obvious I was criticizing Ares-1, Constellation and the new Senate Launch System. Never have liked any of them... for the reasons in my post. From the get-go... when I heard Mike...

• Commented on Parochial Congress? Never.

  We have no payload to fly on the Senate Launch System (SLS) The rockets we have will do the job for a while. The purpose of the Senate Launch System is to keep ATK, Lockheed Martin and Boeing employed. To...

• Commented on Stunning Ground-based 3-D Photos of ISS and Discovery - But Not on NASA.gov

  Wow. It is very weird but crossing the eyes works! I see three images, and if I focus on the center one, I can see the station in 3D!!! However, it does make me a bit dizzy to look at...

• Commented on Is Robonaut Going to Get a Japanese Tweetbot Girlfriend In Space?

  She's pretty....

• Commented on Media Reaction to NASA FY 2012 Budget

  I completely agree with "Moon first". Humans on Mars are a fantastic dream for the next century. Visiting an asteroid is one of the silliest ideas I have heard in a while. What the heck for? Sadly, Congress is run...

• Commented on Falcon 9 Launched - Dragon Lands

  Looked to me like a second stage fuel (or oxidizer?) vent line. Once the vehicle flies up, the hose disconnects and evidently, still had fuel inside. Once the hot plume from the engines got it hot enough, it flashed. If...

• Commented on Charlie Bolden's World Tour

  Tell us again, what are Charlie's engineering or science qualifications to be the big taco at NASA? ... Aside from once having been a Shuttle passenger, Dude, Bolden was a Marine fighter pilot (A-6, I believe). He was also Shuttle...

• Commented on ATK's SRBs: No Longer Need?

  You wrote: SRBs are cheaper, more powerful and more efficient than liquid fuel. It only makes sense to use the right technology for the right purpose of the mission. I say: I have no data to back my opinion but...

• Commented on More Reaction

  It's a lot easier to "man-rate" the capsule for the ride down (only). You only need to have a good parachute, de-orbit engine and a cushioned lander, ah and heat shield too... To ride the rocket up, you must have...

• Commented on Stephen Colbert, Astronaut Wannabe

  100% agree with your: " I think the real potential for commercial spaceflight is not tourism, although tourism for the rich could kick-start the industry. Microgravity research and the potential for developing new commercial products is where the real potential...

• Commented on VSS Enterprise Flies Over Mojave

  Well, let's not forget this venture is likely to be PROFITABLE. 200K from 6 passengers + 1.2 Million revenue per flight. Does anyone know or can guess what Virgin Galatic's operating and overhead costs will be per flight? Unlike NASA's...

• Commented on Hacking The Past; Teaching The Future

  I stand corrected! I googled it, and indeed, the first version of Titan was RP-1/LOX. Learn something everyday... =)...

• Commented on Hacking The Past; Teaching The Future

  Titan was a hypergolic propellants rocket. Hydrazine fuel with Nitrogen Tetroxide oxydizer....