Bill Phil

Huh? There's a lot more in this forum than KSP discussion. You could talk about science in the science labs science and space flight subforum. You could just talk about general stuff in the lounge. The forum games could be a source of entertainment. Of course, it's your choice, but I do recommend staying in this community, which is quite a cordial one, considering that it is on the internet.

You know what I mean. /badreference In all seriousness, I don't know. But google is your friend here, as I'm sure it depends on the species.

I would assume you have to slow down from Earth's rotation. Essentially an extra 460 meters per second from the Equator. Not much less from Guiana, I would think. Although, don't listen to me, I'm just guessing. There are no payloads, yes. But BO isn't just doing orbit, they're also doing sub-orbital tourism, or at least desire to do so. Although New Glenn may be used to send payloads to high energy orbits more than it is used to LEO. We should wait and see how things play out.

Well the same could be asked if any rocket. The only way to find out for certain is to try. And already having the know-how of landing stages could contribute to how viable it is economically.

Well they've already developed the landing technology, it needs to be scaled up. That is difficult, though....

I'm sad that I've had it since 2012 but I've only managed 300 or so hours... Although it hasn't really been very stable on my machine(s) until recently.

Energy density, mostly. Also, issues with lasers in atmosphere and a host of other things. Lasers are inefficient, producing lots of heat. But they also need lots of energy to do damage, as the energy is not kinetic but radiation, essentially heat. Thermal damage on orders similar to kinetic damage must be very high intensity and high energy, otherwise it would be less than a sunburn. Low energy would require more time to inflict damage, not very practical. So the intensity and energy must be huge, meaning small spot size (maintaining that over significant distances may prove an issue) but huge amounts of power. Assuming the energy must be similar to a bullet, around 2000 joules (slightly less, but I like round numbers), we can calculate the power required for stopping the bullet, which imparts damage to the target. If we need to deliver similar amounts of energy, but in just 1 thousandth of a second, then we need 2 megawatts of power, ignoring losses. And the size of the laser/cost and other things depend on the power more so than applied energy. Of course, conventional firearms produce similar amounts of power to accelerate the projectile, but they have the advantage of fast chemical reactions. Of course, technology will improve with time, and laser weapons are being deployed on ships, albeit not as primary weapons and with short ranges.

You could use a pinhole as a lens, either with your fingers or by using some paper or something.

Just pronounce it better. Say it like "oo-ran-us," after all there isn't a "y"... or just spell it Ouranos. Or just call it "the Greek one."

Not really. The S-II was huge. That makes it easy to track. Which makes it easy to avoid.

Yep. The S-II that inserted Skylab into orbit stayed in orbit until, due to atmospheric drag, it reentered the atmosphere.

I don't think we'll get FTL any time soon... And even if we did, there's a lot to do in this solar system.

That only determines planets in the Solar System. It doesn't have any sway (as of now) on extrasolar bodies. That's from your link. Notice how it says "in the Solar System," which implies that the following only applies for objects in our solar system.

Fly by wire could lead to similar issues... And plenty of aircraft have that.

Not so much gardening, but I had to lay down grass on a big dirt patch in my back yard. Also, I recall there being another thread... not sure, though.

Nice. Stars can be tiny, but they can also be ginormous...

Certainly. Of course, you could just put everything above the belts and use chemical tugs for that leg of the journey... although that does add complexity.

Does that make the P-51 a Boeing plane as well? I don't think that's how it works... Rockwell International sold what was once North American Aviation to Boeing in 1996, according to Wikipedia.... By that time the last orbiter was finished and flying for years.

Because then you suffer similar limitations as Nuclear Thermal. Exhaust velocity depends on temperature, and temperature is limited by materials. The real advantage is that you could potentially get high isp and decent thrust, not too high since we don't want our spaceship to evaporate. Another advantage is high power densities without nuclear technology, which is more of a political issue. In any case you'll need beefy radiators.

Huh... Star Wars Empire at War Stargate mod. Surprisingly fun... Besides that, FTL. Would Doom count? I mean, it does take place on Phobos and Deimos...

Uh, Rockwell International built the space shuttle orbiters...

Only if it's soil.

Why is the F-302 not on this list? Now that is the question...

I was there during the Meme Wars...

Did you check the description?