Neil1993

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well since you're asking for a friend it's ok! You would also need to consider the fact that, without trees, there will be nothing left to take in CO2 and transform it into Oxygen, which is, by far, the more dangerous factor. 9,900,000,000 metric tons of CO2 were released last year which is still more than your friend is planning to release by burning all the trees.

There was also that mission to scan the Moon's gravitational field. Two satellites were placed far apart on the same orbit and one satellite shot a laser beam which reflected off the other satellite and returned to the first satellite. The deflections in the laser beam were measured.

I don't know if I can! Apparently, they're "Top Secret" XD (some examples: Russian hypersonic fighter jet, hypersonic ICBMs, etc.)

I know what you mean. I know some people from Russia and they've told me about similar "super-projects"

That's some pretty specific data. Where did you hear about this?

Just out of curiosity, have you seen interstellar recently?

Quantum entaglement can't transmit useful data at all. The principle states that entangled particles will have opposite (I think it was opposite) spins when one is observed and the function collapses, but you can't control what the spin of the particle will be when the state of superposition collapses which means that you can't control the message being sent. (fact check me; I'm probably messing something up)

I apologize for my assumption I was thinking that the ore mixture could be turned into a slurry within the craft. If the drilling tip was something like sal_vager proposed, the ore would first be transported by an archimedes screw and then mixed with a liquid of some kind (probably not water) and turned into a slurry at the other end for internal transport. Still there has to be some way to maintain pressure within the system, otherwise most liquids would simply vaporize.

I'm pretty sure it does. I don't think that the control of the Mars Rover could be termed as tele-operated, but I was just trying to draw a comparison

I had a similar Idea to Mr. RainDreamer. I had thought that transporting the ore using liquid (so basically turn it into a sort of slurry) would be a good option.

It would most likely be tele-operated like the Mars rover is tele-operated. We would basically be sending commands to a very advanced and intelligent computer that could execute the commands and deal with any complications on its own.

Automatic mining drills never work as well as I think they will...

Dominatus came out with a post earlier asking about the challenges of asteroid mining, and one of the responders, Laie, asked an excellent question: So what will the mining look like? How will the drills work? Will they use lasers? how will the ore be refined? how will it be transported throughout the refinery? A lot of good thinking can happen here!

People are already trying to make this move (see Deep Space Industries), but there are quite a few difficulties you haven't considered. First, the amount of space based infrastructure required to create this economy is simply massive. You need large mining craft to travel to asteroids, mine the resources and then, either refine them or transport them to a whole other spacecraft for the refining operations. That's a helluva lot of stuff to put in space. Second, prospecting is quite a large problem. There may be some asteroids that are close to earth, but the majority are just hanging around in the asteroid belt and it may take a while to find an asteroid that's worth mining. Remember the difficulty that the philae lander had extracting information from just one comet? Attempting to prospect an asteroid to find its complete mineral composition will be orders of magnitude more difficult. Finally, something like this will have to remain mostly space based. The best way we have of returning things to earth is by shooting it down into the atmosphere at thousands of miles an hour. Doing this with a metric ton of platinum would present a massive risk to the investment. This isn't to say that I think asteroid mining is hopelessly futuristic. I just think it's a difficult challenge. I would like to see regular asteroid mining within my lifetime.

I'm still trying to figure out which motors to use. I have more experience in rocketry and commercial aircraft performance myself, so I'm still doing research on what RC parts would be best. If you have any suggestions for parts, I'd be glad to incorporate them

New challenge: Round-the-world RC plane

I guess someone will be enjoying their victory from within a windowless cell? It would be quite a feat, though, seeing as I'm in Canada

Hello, Myself and a colleague got in an argument the other day about who could build aircraft better. Of course, the only way to settle this was with a challenge. The general idea of the challenge is that we have to build an aircraft out of cardboard from the recycling which would be as cheap as possible but still perform to a given set of specs. To make the challenge more interesting, no CAD can be used. All that's allowed for the design phase is a pencil, paper and a calculator. Of course, this challenge should probably end up as a youtube video, so that the loser can be appropriately shamed. I'm wondering if anyone has already seen a competition like this or if anyone has any ideas for the rules? thanks! __________________________________________________________________________ The Rules As they Stand Right Now: General Rules: -Respect the other competitor's secrecy of design -You may have one friend help you (?) -Must be as cheap as possible Hardware limitations: -brushless motor with speed controller (?) -1 Battery (?) -5 servos (2 ailerons, 2 elevators, 1 rudder) The challenge includes 4 phases: 1. Design Phase 2. Build Phase 3. Flight Testing and Modification 4. Judging 1. Design Phase: -No CAD tools will be used -The phase should last no more than 1 weekend -Technical documentation that comes with the store-bought components is allowed -the following books/PDFs are allowed: ____-Aerodynamics for Engineering Students (or something similar) ____-Aircraft Performance and Design 2. Build Phase: -The main structure may either be composed of corrugated cardboard or heavy cardstock (like what cereal boxes are made of) -The cardboard must not be purchased (recycling FTW!) -Electrical tape, masking tape, scotch tape and 2 METERS ONLY of Duck tape are allowed -5 metal rods (or alternatively, 5 hinges) are allowed for the control surfaces -CA Glue or Superglue is allowed -30 minute Epoxy (but no less than 30 minute) is allowed as long as it is not used to make resin cast parts -Refer to the standard list of hardware above for the electrical and mechanical components -This phase should last 1 weekend but it may be extended if all competitors are in agreement 3. Flight Testing and modification -The competitors must test in two separate fields -This phase may last 1 weekend MAX -The competitors may change whatever they like, as long as it adheres to all previous rules (rebuilding completely on the field is an option) -All local by-laws concerning the use of RC planes must be followed 4. Judging -This will last one day -Beer will be provided -The aircraft must meet the following specs: ____-It must reach an altitude of 1000 ft (20 points, assigned proportionally) ____-It must stay aloft for at least 20 minutes (20 points, assigned proportionally) ____-speed (5 points for being at 30 kph, 1 extra point for every extra 5 kph up to 55 kph) ____-It must have full roll, yaw and bank capability (5 points for each) -The following subjective points will be assessed and assigned by the impartial judge: ____-Aerobatic capability (10 points) ____-Quality and creativity of design and construction (20 points) ____-Ridiculousness of landing (5 points) __________________________________________________________________________

I have been trying to build a Matlab simulation which models the motion of the planets (on rails) and has the capability to predict the motion of a spacecraft using the n-body problem. However, I would need to create a completely new input file for the KSP planetary system and I think that the fact that KSP models the orbital physics using spheres-of-influence would make my model useless (or at least inaccurate) for predicting in-game maneuvers.

Here's my personal favorite: the X-15. I wish we could see more planes like this being flown today. I remember it being described in The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe as a flying chimney with razor blades

I'll get there eventually. First I need to do all the initial simulations. I might be able to do that tonight (if I can finish all my homework in time). Whatever the case, I'm not about to use beer cans for the combustion chamber. I'll try to get some aluminum or stainless steel.

Using the previous calculation, I estimated an exhaust velocity of approximately 174 m/s coming from the EDF (assuming the plane has an airspeed of 25 m/s). I can use this to create the final simulation. One last thing before I continue; I was considering using Butane, like the guy in the video. Would something else work better? Like maybe propane or methanol?

I just found this paper which helps with the calculation of the EDF's output parameters. This is a pretty good place to start my calculations http://southamptonmac.org.uk/doc/RS_EDF_theory_and_Practice_v5.pdf

Cool experiment with the airhog! I, personally, can't really tell if it gets a speed boost. There's nothing to create a frame of reference when he ignites the afterburner. In the end, myself and some friends are hoping to use this concept to make a high speed RC plane. Maybe even one that can pass Mach 1, but that's still a long way off.