SunlitZelkova

I am skeptical this could ever become a prevalent worldview. Unless preceded by some catastrophic event that sets back all of civilization by hundreds of years, such a misanthropic view would not catch on. The shiny things in life tend to prevent people from diving into such a hole. This may be skirting the rules a bit but I’d also like to mention this. Also, like modern day Gnosticism itself, such a world view would be predicated on people coming to this conclusion on their own, not a small group of men preaching dogma through an organization or social movement to the masses. Part of the reason why Gnosticism disappeared in the early CE when it did was because of the lack of a centralized structure. This apocalyptic future variant of it would probably be stamped out by more organized, comparatively progressive forces. If not, it’d probably just be seen as a doomsday cult. Maybe it could catch on with the preceding catastrophic event like I mentioned earlier, but at that point, the backwards nature of technology and society in the aftermath of that would probably prevent these people from having enough power to actually wipe out all of civilization anyways. Thinking about it more I doubt a “social contagion” could ever wipe out a species. Unless they have some biological peculiarity that makes them extremely united and agreeable, they (and of course we) are probably too divided to be overcome with such a threat. It could be a threat to a small colony though. But it wouldn’t kill the species.

You guys are forgetting that “the limitations of simulation and computers” may just be a facet of the simulation to trick you into thinking there is no simulation. Also I vote to have this split into the “simulation discussion thread” in the Science & Spaceflight section

The lander design I am asking about for this trajectory is uncrewed and one way. It’s a cargo lander.

Comrade @steve9728 seems to have signed off the forum permanently. He was an invaluable source of info on the Chinese space program, so it is very unfortunate. In his stead, I will give a monthly update on what China launched and from where, and to where. This will be delayed for the next month (December) due to the New Year's Holiday, but I will try to do it on the first day of every next month. For non-launches, that is, basic space program news, I will try to just post it when it happens, but the scope of my sources isn't as deep as Steve's so I can't guarantee I'll cover everything. So, let's look at what China launched in November 2023! November 3rd, 2023: A Long March 7A launched TJS-10 into GEO from Wenchang SLC. The TJS series of satellites are a cover name for a variety of military testbed satellites. It may be anything from a SIGINT sensor platform to a ballistic missile early warning sat prototype. November 9th, 2023: A Long March 3B/E launched ChinaSat6E into GEO from Xichang SLC. It is a communications satellite for China Satellite Communications, a satcom provider. November 16th, 2023: A Long March 2C with an Expedition-1S restartable upper stage launched Haiyang-3A into SSO from Jiuquan SLC. The Haiyang series of satellites are oceanic remote sensing sats operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The Haiyang-3 series is equipped with synthetic aperture radar. Letter A denotes it is the first in a series of identical SAR sats. November 23rd, 2023: A Long March 2D with an Expedition-3 restartable upper stage launched three HJS-2 communications satellites into LEO from Xichang SLC. By comparison, there were four American non-Starlink launches in November, with one being Starship IFT-2. Russia only conducted one launch in November. The only other launch from any other country was North Korea's Chollima-1 SLV putting the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

Well, considering the foundations of buildings of the world’s major cities are expected to eventually become part of the strata and be objects of research for far future archaeologists, I would say fossilization is possible for at least some nonorganic materials. Source: The Earth After Us, What legacy will we leave in the rocks? by Jan Zalasiewicz.

Why is the game called “Kerbal Space Program” when you don’t actually send anything to space? All you do is put pressure on pieces of plastic called “keys” and “mouse” with your fingers, and watch lights change color on a screen.

The 737 is my favorite modern airliner. The 767/777, 747 and 787 are too big and boisterous, and I don’t know much about Airbus (sorry Europeans).

Has she consulted with a counselor or other mental health professional?

I don’t know if this would be an extinction event though. When this has happened to societies on Earth, something usually comes out from the rubble.

https://x.com/cnspaceflight/status/1729900912867709329?s=46&t=Jd73T2beq0JLNtwTy1uR5A China Manner Space Agency announces the crewed lunar mission was approved by the government earlier this year. They are targeting before 2030. Very interesting. In other areas of society, China has pulled off some impressive construction feats. There is a famous video of an entire train station being built in just 48 hours or so. But rocketry is more complex. At the very least, they have their concepts and designs largely sorted out, and they aren’t redesigning stuff for the thousandth time over like the Soviets did until freaking 1965. In contrast to the constantly flip flopping Long March 9 design, Long March 10 has remained consistent, which may indicate maturity in the project. I would be cautiously optimistic about this. They did complete their space station on time, a sign they are good at setting and keeping schedules, which contrasts with the Soviets. It should be noted they are not officially trying to race the US to the Moon and get there first, but the desire to go is probably brought about by fear of the Artemis Accords. In the past, some PLA papers have expressed concern that the US might try to close off access to the Moon. So by getting to the Moon just shortly after the US, they can secure their own portion of it. I highly doubt they could actually beat the US to the Moon. Even if Artemis III doesn’t fly until 2028, it’s hard to imagine China landing before 2029.

By direct descent, I mean a one way version of a direct ascent profile. For example, the original monolithic Apollo spacecraft and Chelomei’s LK-700 Moon lander were not intended to brake into lunar orbit after coasting to the Moon. They would perform course correction maneuvers along the way and aim directly for their landing site, so instead of braking into lunar orbit, they basically fly the same trajectory a lunar impact or (like Ranger 7) would fly and then soft land on the surface. Such a flight profile allows travel to anywhere on the near side of the Moon, whereas the Apollo spacecraft we got was limited to the equatorial regions due to having to have the CSM always be in a position so that the LM could liftoff and rendezvous at any stage of the mission in the event of an abort. I’m actually now realizing any rover carrier lander probably would need to brake into lunar orbit, because the Constellation lunar base was supposed to be on the South Pole of the Moon. So here is another question (for anyone)- do you have to enter a lunar orbit to get to the South Pole (like Shackleton Crater) or could you do a direct descent/direct ascent style mission to it?

Do direct descent trajectories to the Moon cost more delta v at landing than stopping in orbit? I have been thinking about the Constellation program, and realized the Ares V would probably need to launch a “doggy” lander that sits on its butt during launch to land a big rover. Like this. (This thing made sense with Shuttle-C or Energia loads slung over the side, but with Ares V it would be odd to mount) Also I couldn’t find info on if the particular lander below was a direct descent or not but it is possible it was. But it doesn’t seem like this thing would have the delta v to stop in orbit and then deorbit, especially considering normally the Altair was responsible for doing these things and there would be no room for an Altair derived upper stage below the Ares V Earth Departure stage. So the doggy lander would be on its own. Obviously, the Altair was not really a good vehicle to convert into a vehicle transport lander. It was pretty darn tall.

I guess what I meant was that peaceful times can be interesting too. (snip) No one is saying climate change isn’t happening. I’m not a guy who works the oil fields and denies CC’s existence. I still think we should try to achieve carbon neutrality even if it comes at the expense of offing a fair portion of the fossil fuel industry sooner or later. But I don’t buy the doomerism. It was originally just skepticism at the alarmist views due to some philosophical positions and knowledge of how another scare tactic, that of nuclear winter, doesn’t have much ground to stand on. The recent articles @darthgently and @Hotel26 have raised some valid points about the accuracy of the models being used to predict future climate. Again, I’m not saying I don’t believe it will be warmer in the future, I am just skeptical of the apocalyptic effects it is supposedly going to have. (snip)

I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile, and I don’t think the answer is so black and white. A lack of peace in the 1930s and 1940s propelled aviation and rocket research, but if things had been more peaceful in the 1960s, perhaps we could have gone to Mars in the 1980s. I’m also skeptical military research actually benefits civilian society nowadays. Recent news talks about how a good civilian economy is necessary for military innovation, not the other way around.

One of my ideas for a techno thriller set in the 2050s is to have China have a SBSP demonstrator, and when war breaks out “someone” hacks it and points it at Taipei, wreaking havoc with communications and other electronics. IIRC the beam isn’t strong enough to hurt people usually though.

http://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2016/12/energy-from-space-department-of.html?m=1 It’s actually really feasible, especially with Starship coming online. Starship is basically just a scaled down version of the Space Freighter proposed by Boeing.

One of my theories was that it is the year 3268 and every country has become a Soviet Socialist Republic. Those of us who are not bots are people placed in a false alternative world simulation where the USSR collapsed 1200 years ago as punishment for anti-Soviet activities.

What I meant was mind uploading. From Wikipedia- Mind uploading is a speculative process of whole brain emulation in which a brain scan is used to completely emulate the mental state of the individual in a digital computer. The computer would then run a simulation of the brain's information processing, such that it would respond in essentially the same way as the original brain and experience having a sentient conscious mind.[1][2][3] Digital immortality (or "virtual immortality")[1] is the hypothetical concept of storing (or transferring) a person's personality in digital substrate, i.e., a computer, robot or cyberspace[2] (mind uploading). The result might look like an avatar behaving, reacting, and thinking like a person on the basis of that person's digital archive.[3][4][5][6] After the death of the individual, this avatar could remain static or continue to learn and self-improve autonomously (possibly becoming seed AI).

The idea that an advanced AI could constitute a new lifeform is the same as the ancients believing the trees mountains and rocks were alive. Same goes for conscious uploading. EDIT- I am tired.

The US launching the first satellite into space might have had major effects on world history. Historically, the launch of Sputnik caused a crisis within the US defence establishment, causing a rise in defence spending due to the “missile gap” scare. If the US launched the first satellite, there would probably be no missile gap crisis. This would result in reduced funding for the Atlas and Titan ICBM programs. In addition, there would probably be no Space Race, which was largely only feasible because of the fear Sputnik inspired in the West. Eisenhower grudgingly supported Project Mercury due to public pressure for a response to supposed Soviet success. However, that’s not say a man might never fly into space. The USAF and Army were exploring a sort of proto-Mercury program called Project Man Very High, and it might have gotten funding. But a major consequence of there being no missile gap scare is that the Cold War nuclear arms race might come to a conclusion much earlier than in our timeline. Historically the Sputnik scare caused the USAF to propose a force of 2,500 Minuteman ICBMs, while Congress demanded a force of 1,000. This in turn forced the USSR to undertaken its own massive missile buildup. Without Sputnik being first, this probably wouldn’t happen. Thus both the US and Soviet ICBM arsenals would remain frozen at about 200-300 missiles, which is what each side was contemplating prior to the Sputnik crisis. Another dire consequence of the US winning the satellite race would be that with no missile gap issue to help propel him to the Presidency, John F. Kennedy might barely lose the election to Nixon in 1960. A combination of no Kennedy and no race to put the first man in space which the Soviets win would likely mean there would never be a project Apollo. The notion that the US- or anybody for that matter- was not going to fly to the Moon until the late 20th century (1980s or 1990s) or even after 2000 might remain the prevailing view. I haven’t refreshed my knowledge of the early Soviet space programs recently, but I am pretty sure that no propaganda victory with the launch of the first satellite would mean Khrushchev would not fund further satellites or spacecraft after Sputnik 1. The military was very reluctant to allow Korolev to do that in the first place, and if it didn’t have propaganda value he wouldn’t have gotten more funding. At best, reconnaissance satellites might be built, but there would probably not be any extra money for a man in space like Vostok given Khrushchev’s desire to cut costs. On a much wider note, given that the nuclear arms race of the 60s is part of what doomed the USSR, that might change the entire history of the Cold War. Same with Nixon being president during the pivotal years of 1960-1965 too.

Oh, so that’s why they had the tank in front of a nuclear blast in the artwork when they added the Centurian Mk. 5/1 to War Thunder…

I think these people were expecting something with the same vibe as the original. It’s very different from the anime. But I agree. I watched the live action before the anime and I thought (and still think) it was great. I myself don’t really care if it takes liberties from the original.

It would be the same regardless of if it is surface or orbital. Different studies have been undertaken but no one knows. The estimates range from 14 to 15,000.

Now we need to test the Imperial family to see if they contain this particle, and we can prove if they are descended from the Sun Goddess herself.

Western sources confirm successful launch https://x.com/titaniumsv5/status/1727199380808319203?s=46&t=Jd73T2beq0JLNtwTy1uR5A The satellite is called Malligyong-1. North Korea plans to launch several more and build a constellation. It is in sun synchronous orbit.