www.nasa.gov down

[Nibb31]

At least Orbital and SpaceX will keep calm and carry on...

Orbital and SpaceX are suppliers for the US Government and are still in the middle of the whole certification process, which is on hold until NASA resumes its procurement activities.

[DaRocketCat]

One of the problems is that the US has the oldest constitution in the World. Other countries had democratic institutions around the same period (UK and France for example), but they have made changes to those rules of government on a regular basis. Some countries have experimented various systems and ideas and other countries have learned from those lessons to improve their own rule of law.

The US however is stuck with a system that was made in the 18th Century. The biggest fear that the founding fathers had in those days was monarchical tyranny, and a lot of the US Constitution is geared towards that, although it really isn't a risk at all nowadays. A majority of the population wasn't informed or educated on political matters, and people had to ride several days on a horse to reach a voting station or for ballot results to arrive in Washington DC. There have been amendments, but most of them are minor changes and the world is a totally different place as it was back then. New concepts and systems of government have emerged, yet the US Constitution is stuck with institutions that simply aren't fit for the 21st Century.

The longevity and effectiveness of the US constitution as well as the fact that it's the shortest in the world is a testament to it's conciseness and how well made it was.

Although I do agree with your main point, take France for instance, they've had 5 republics and even more constitutions since their revolution.

Also, according to the 2nd amendment, I am entitled to have anything the military has...assault rifles, tanks, drones, nukes...you name it.

Obviously there's a little problem with that in the 21st century.

[magnemoe]

The longevity and effectiveness of the US constitution as well as the fact that it's the shortest in the world is a testament to it's conciseness and how well made it was.

Although I do agree with your main point, take France for instance, they've had 5 republics and even more constitutions since their revolution.

Also, according to the 2nd amendment, I am entitled to have anything the military has...assault rifles, tanks, drones, nukes...you name it.

Obviously there's a little problem with that in the 21st century.

LOL, I want an tank for easy parking, worse tanks are pretty cheap, lots of countries has many old they want to get rid off.

Back in the 18th century it was not unreasonable to have the same weapons as the armies had with the exceptions of cannons, they are kind of unpractical as they needs an crew to operate.

[WestAir]

Anything they have? Even rockets?

I wonder if you need a license to operate a Saturn V Rocket.

[OdinYggd]

LOL, I want an tank for easy parking, worse tanks are pretty cheap, lots of countries has many old they want to get rid off.

Back in the 18th century it was not unreasonable to have the same weapons as the armies had with the exceptions of cannons, they are kind of unpractical as they needs an crew to operate.

Yeah but in the 18th century, if you were rich enough to pay for the crew to use it there was nothing stopping you from owning it.

And at the time, merchant ships owned by prosperous businessmen were heavily armed with canon and manned by sailors trained in their use. Typically said cannons were protection against pirates, but probably were in reality used for other tasks too when it could slip unnoticed.

I would imagine that if you filed the necessary permits, you could indeed build and fly a Saturn V. The issue there is one of funding, as it would take someone on the same level as Elon Musk to organize sufficient resources to pull it off.

[Anton P. Nym]

Hot off the "presses" of Twitter, Maven's been granted an emergency exemption to the shut down and work on the craft will resume tomorrow.

-- Steve

[DaRocketCat]

Hot off the "presses" of Twitter, Maven's been granted an emergency exemption to the shut down and work on the craft will resume tomorrow.

-- Steve

Awesome!

I've never heard of the Antideficiency act before, looks like a pretty smart one though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antideficiency_Act.

[goldenpeach]

I'm sure you heard about the NASA shut-down.

You also could ahve heard that the shut-down could make MAVEN miss the launch window to mars.

However,NASA have announced that the launch will take place despite the shut-down(source:space.com)

If you want more detail(because I say nearly nothing here ),here's a link!

http://www.space.com/23074-maven-mars-mission-launch-government-shutdown.html

[deadshot462]

Good news indeed.

First mission I got to put my name on its disk!

[M.Wolfy]

Because that's how I reacted...

[Javster]

I knew about this but it's good they take it as a serious matter

[Kryten]

Unfortunately the shutdown is still threatening the other Mars mission due this year. India's Mars Orbiter Mission probe is planned to use NASA communications assets immediately after launch; if they aren't available, it can't fly.

[rkman]

Radio observatories shutdown

National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Very Large Array, Very Long Baseline Array

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/cosmic-tragedy-shutdown-kills-radio-observatories-131004.htm

Beyond The Visible: The Story of the Very Large Array

http://vimeo.com/70554007

[DaRocketCat]

I knew about this but it's good they take it as a serious matter

Well it's not a matter of people taking is seriously or not, it's a matter of whether it fulfills the requirements of the AntiDeficiency Act, which it does.