SOXBLOX

That's all we get to see? Just an oddly-proportioned American flag, and the end of a tank of some sort? Great PR game, Bezos. Absolutely delightful.

Haven't seen it cause I don't have Netflix, but he did a video about his involvement just a couple weeks ago. His name is in the end credits, under "scientific advisors".

Well, that's interesting...

From Atomic Rockets. But I guess if your "delivery system" was of the proper scale, it could be super-effective. And it won't cause much or any material damage, leaving the enemy's industry intact, ready for you the victor to sweep in.

The most complex rocket engine ever, and they want to build one a day? I love these guys!

I'm laughing so hard because just days ago someone told me we should stop wasting so much money on useless things like NASA. I'mma go tell 'em this... Then why did you bring....y'know what, never mind.

That's a broad statement... My side: SpaceX competed for and fairly won a contract which enabled them to move on. SpaceX is not a " NASA Corp."; it is not beholden to NASA except for its contract obligations. And, as tater says, they're not in this market for profit. Out of curiosity, what part of this do you not agree with? Is that legit!?!? LOL! I had no idea! Obviously tons of money to be gotten here, folks! Tens of billions of dollars of handouts, for everyone with a sketch of a rocket!

@tater's Pauli quote pretty much sums it up. Maybe it works this way in Russia, but not here.

You certainly could, provided it contains iron. It's just that processing it is insanely difficult with little reward, compared to extraction from ore. Heh. Ninja'd by @JoeSchmuckatelli.

Their point is that we don't have to do it the same way on Mars as we do it on Earth. In the thread I made on using silane as rocket fuel, on of the papers proposed chemical processes for extracting iron, titanium, and magnesium from various types of regolith, either by reduction with hydrogen and oxygen, or carbon compounds, or hydrochloric acid (which would be a functional catalyst, since it would be recovered). The point is, it's absolutely possible.

Good grief! I am surprised. Well, then, never mind the writer thing...

Anyone checked the audio or whatever for easter eggs?

Of course. But if a young China and a young Japan made such tremendous progress in the last century, what will a young, say, India do this century? I don't think they'll go away, just that they won't be able to keep up. Anyway, it's kinda OT. And yes, I know, I brought it up...

Well, it's true... In the US, births/woman is 1.6. In China, it's exactly 1, and in Russia, it's 1.5. Not far behind the US, but they also don't have huge immigration of younger populations. True, but the problem is that they're all gonna be old. Not that I have anything against that; it just doesn't work long-term.

Yeah, well, China has a massive demographics problem. The population is aging, and isn't being replaced. This has effects on the economy, as Japan can attest. Further, women are only ~48% of the young population, thanks to the one-child policy. Here's the relevant population pyramid: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/China_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png/797px-China_single_age_population_pyramid_2020.png What are all those young guys gonna do? *cough* Taipeng rebellion *cough* China has actually done something ingenious with the Belt and Road policy. By selling to younger populations in Africa (where the average age is, I think, 18) and Central Asia, they establish a younger "virtual" population. Still, they're set to be surpassed in population by India in 2026. They've gotta do something. In addition, with most low-end labor already exported to places like Bangladesh, China is coming up on the middle income trap. It's apparently not easy to overcome. So, I think there is some basis for the claims that Russia and China are on downward slopes. Unless they suddenly reverse their population decline, they'll lose a lot of economic influence. Out of all the major world powers, the USA is the only one with an okay-ish birthrate.

I know! I enjoy creating the world so much that I play through the game v e r y s l o w l y . I wonder if there's a sloth-like species portrait...?

Well, then, we can conveniently divide the Moon into the 51st through 67th states, assuming Alaska-sized chunks. Now I wonder how so many stars will fit on the flag...

I'd be happy to see a space-set RPG, but realistic. Like, an Expanse game, but Kerbal-esque. Although, if they were doing that, they'd be hiring writers now, not devs. Some sort of DLC or spinoff sounds likely to my untrained ears.

Great! Then I'm gonna go build a Dragon XL in KSP whenever I get the chance. Sometime. Soon...?

@Spacescifi, you reference Transhumanism and terms like "baseline" and "race". I wonder, have you read the stuff over at OA? Personally it's all revolting to me, but you may not find it so bad. I occasionally read their articles when I feel like I either need a laugh or want to rip into an argument. They have stuff on terraforming, I think, so I guess this isn't OT.

I like that idea. It would help with realism.

Yeah. The precipitate would be carbon, though. With a pure oxygen atmosphere, no less. One spark and the planet becomes a fireball, and you're back at square one. AR has a bit on this.

About vacuum collapse... If the universe were infinite, there would be an infinite number of locations for vacuum collapse to occur at, right? So, shouldn't it have occurred somewhere, and the wave of death is sweeping towards us already? Or is an infinite universe not infinite enough? We know all about that one, don't we. LOL

I was wondering whether it was. Are they still planning to fly it?

Pretty sure the Solidworks software does CFD for models, so you could build it in there and test it. I've never tried it.