StrandedonEarth

Congrats India!

Whoops, I misread, or skimmed, or lazyread

Well, bear in mind that AFAIK lead is the original superconductor, albeit at liquid helium temp (4K, -269C)

Yeah, those supporting structures can be beastly…

*caveman grunting intensifies *

IIRC correctly the payload adapter and other parts can’t handle the full 64t rated payload; the difference is usually residual props for additional burns. Im not sure if the max actual payload has been published..

With the prize being a spaceflight ticket? I started looking at lottery tickets from an investment standpoint: insanely high risk, insanely high potential return

Error 404: Probe not found.

One of the songs on the "power rotation" on the workplace radio station has been worming its way deeper and deeper into my brain... Well played, sir.

More important, what materials are needed for any human going near the stuff? From reading Ignition! (the Kerbal bible) I recall that the best solution is to passivate the hardware by slowly and carefully fluoridating the surfaces, preventing further reactions

After learning about matrices in computer programming, I leaned into the concept of extra dimensions as simply an expanded coordinate system. We use a 4d coordinate system (x, y, z, t) and computers can easily handle higher-dimension matrices, so that’s how I look at it, just add another coordinate axis. It could be used for, say, cataloging planetary conditions (lat/long/radian L/ t/pl/galaxy/uni) or galaxies or even universes

That’s the general answer to “Why does society (industry) keep doing these harmful things? On an individual level, another common answer is “It feels good”

We don't describe color, we measure it. Red light typically has a wavelength of 625-750 nm, so however an individual perceives it, red is still red.

Given that the partial pressure of water vapor goes up as temperature rises, the overall effects can be quite dramatic as it gets hotter

The engines did not exactly fail. They were prematurely shut down, presumably for out-of-parameter sensor readings. It’s quite possible those engines could still fly after relatively minor repairs (if any). Edit: after further thought, if they all shutdown at the same moment, it's possible it was more of a plumbing issue, trying to feed so many engines. This is why they test. The ultimate test is flight, and in a hardware rich environment flying can be less expensive and provide more useful data than building a full-duration test stand (which would need to be stupidly robust to withstand the fury of a full-duration SH static fire).

The bypass fan moves more air for more thrust. It's essentially a ducted fan powered by a combustion turbine, and is more efficient than only using the hot, fast exhaust stream for thrust (move a large amount of air at a slower speed, or use a smaller amount of hot gas moving very fast). Fast-moving gas is LOUD, so large turbofans (fan air carefully blended with the exhaust stream) are a huge help with noise abatement around airports.

The scenario is reminiscent of Niven's "Known Universe" chronology where demonstrating a 'planet-buster' technology was an effective way of deterring a highly aggressive species. But deploying a planet-buster isn't nearly as effective in Star Wars, for various reasons.

It occurs to me that global thermonuclear war just might have the side effect of combating global warming, destroying the fossil-fuel infrastructure responsible for it and cooling the planet with the so-called "nuclear winter." The survivors would then build back clean, green, and glowing. Obviously, this is not an optimal solution, but human nature being what it is...

I still think "Orion Rising" would make a great name for a movie...

The star forts were built to withstand cannon fire, with walls backed by earth. The star shape and sloped walls are to deflect cannonballs instead of having to withstand the full impact. The star shape also allows the entrances to be placed where attackers would face a withering crossfire if they tried to breach it

Jeb's favorite song, along with "Light my Fire" by The Doors

And vested interests are scared…

You know, I could see that working. “Dangit, I landed on ‘RUD: return to VAB or use a “Revert to launch” card’” or vice versa

Robbie's gone somewhere down that crazy river...

Not sure, but I think spacescifi has made a thread or two about it. We need the hot superconductor for the cold fusion reactor to power the emdrive…