Bill Phil

Relativity superseded Newtonian physics in our understanding of the universe. Newtonian physics is useful and fairly accurate for certain applications, but this is not one of them. Basically, you're asking the wrong question. Being unable to go faster than light is not what relativity states, rather, it implies this, since light has the same speed in all reference frames (in vacuum....). It partially comes from observations. We get the same answer for the speed of light in a vacuum whether we're on a jet plane going mach 3 or "stationary" on the ground, or orbiting at many kilometers per second. The answer comes out the same. Since this is true, light must have the same speed. Not only that, but for Maxwell's equations to work, the speed of light must be constant. Essentially, in a region with no charge or currents (as in a vacuum), the equations reduce down to having c and some other already known fundamental constants. Essentially, if c was not a constant number, these constants wouldn't be constant either, and of course that would wreak havoc on known physics. So, since c must be a constant, then it must be the same in all reference frames, otherwise it is not constant for charges (which have different frames depending on what you're calculating). So, light speed must be a constant in all reference frames. This implies that it is impossible to go faster than light. (If there's anyone more knowledgeable on this subject on these forums, please listen to them instead)

7/10 Wait a minute... Yeah, you're good. 8/10 My name is R. Daneel Olivaw. What does the R stand for? Oh, well, you see, it stands for rob...Robert, that's right.

10/10 Even though it's so big I can't read it all.

There's a difference between demand and quantity demanded. Basically (really basic...) the demand increases when the price decreases. This may not directly apply to space travel though.

Then the other companies will respond in kind.

Well what do you expect from a luxury vehicle?

I'm more in the orbital colonies camp, but I do think Mars will be colonized eventually. But that would be after decades, if not centuries, of perfecting (mostly) closed loop life support systems. For anyone interested, you should take a look at this: http://www.nss.org/settlement/physicstoday.htm

That applies to much more than tanks. A6M Zeroes have been portrayed by T-6 Texans pretty often...

The stars and bars? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America#First_flag:_the_.22Stars_and_Bars.22_.281861.E2.80.931863.29

Which CSA flag? (There are MANY, which is strange for a nation that was around for only 4 or so years)

Then why bother with propellant at all? You could build a network of momentum exchange tethers that regain momentum using ion drives or some other mechanism, and the ship only needs propellant for course corrections and braking at the target ( provided there isn't a catching system). Build a tether network for the Earth-Moon system, use it to eject payloads to Mars and the belt, and then use the payloads to build more tethers at the target. Of course, you have to actually build it first, but we can build a bunch right in our cosmic backyard, and bootstrap our way outwards. Still really expensive, but it may be useful infrastructure for a spacefaring civilization.

Even if it's not downloaded, I think the way back machine has it...

Maybe some kind of mini-mag orion? The fuel is not made of bombs (albeit high energy). Probably something as simple as possible, though. I guess pressure fed chemical rockets... Depends on the universe. And how easy/hard it is to get a license and a spaceship, as well as how difficult it is to fly stick...

I think that it's been established that a small dose/time over a long period is not inherently equal to a larger dose/time over a smaller period, given that total radiation dose is equal.

According to the wiki, BA 330 is 13.7 meters long.

What I find funny is that the first shuttle orbiter was named after the Enterprise from Star Trek. Now we have two Star Trek series that are named after space shuttle orbiters...

Remember, it's a jobs program, so it's not likely to go anywhere soon.

Hmm... Sounds interesting. I'll see what I can do...

Man. I always wanted to get a nice work area for Legos, with all the types sorted and everything. I thought about buying up used bricks and grabbing what was good from them...

-Stargate SG1 Season 2 Episode 6 Stargate SG1 Season 2 Episode 9 -Stargate SG1 Season 2 Episode 14 -Stargate SG1 Season 2 Episode 21 Stargate SG1 is just awesome. I would post more, but I think I've already posted too many.

Apparently, no, I don't know what you meant. Remember, it's almost impossible to ascertain intent when you read something on the internet. Skirting around this communicative barrier is a skill in its own right. Again, I'd like to reiterate that this stuff is still pretty cool, albeit somewhat more science fiction than nonfiction, at least for now. The 2020s and 30s will be interesting, indeed.

It's hard to do something single-handedly, especially considering that SpaceX is estimated to have six thousand employees... And that's ignoring the NASA employees who are doing work with SpaceX. I actually know some guys at NASA who are doing work with SpaceX. This is so far from single-handed, that literally thousands of people are involved. Now, all that is not to say that this isn't cool. It's cool, alright. And if they can do it, then by all means, they should do it. It could reduce the price tag associated with launches, potentially leading to some really neat stuff. And that is awesome. But, let's not worship the man, okay? He's cool, and I respect him, but he isn't going out there and building rockets all by himself. And once other companies get in on it... well, the next decades will be quite interesting. Sure, SpaceX is on top now, but that can change easily. And, also, this isn't a new era. Yet. This is just an extension of what was already happening. Let the Space Age Proper begin!

Mascons. Mass - con. Mass concentration. Basically, what @Canopus said. The Earth technically has the same thing, but it's much more differentiated and as such the majority of the mass is concentrated in the center and spread out pretty well. Essentially, Earth's are a little bit less concentrated. For example, in the article linked above, the region around Hawaii is mentioned to have a mascon.

I kind of feel like it should be more combined arms, with tanks and aerotech fighters getting involved. Although then we're talking about a full on Battletech inspired video game, as opposed to just being a MechWarrior, the player could be a pilot or a tank driver. Would be nice, though. 150! By the name of Kerensky, that's an enormous amount! I assume there's some chassis overlap, but with different variants?

Replace "9. Full-out programming, no frills: " with OTIS and you're spot on.