Talk-Polywell.org

Then I think it probable that either you don't understand it or you're hung up on the "God" part by itself... Care to elaborate? I was simply disagreeing with the "reasonable and intelligent statement", since the person quoted obviously hinged his thoughts on the existance of a god. That is however...

Then I think it probable that either you don't understand it or you're hung up on the "God" part by itself... Care to elaborate?

I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen. This is a completely reasonable and intelligent statement if you actually bother to p...

This technology is important for both photovoltaic power and wind power.

[*facepalm*]

Okay, Grasshopper does definitely seem to have left the ground, though not by much. SpaceX's video feed for tonight's launch showed three different angles, and the feet clearly lifted off.

One technical quibble laid to rest.

I dunno... I'd prefer to see Dynetics/PWR resurrect the F-1A and use two of them on each booster. Make the boosters as wide and tall as will fit in the VAB and through the doors (your described solids wouldn't), and you should be able to get 130 tonnes without an upper stage. Aerojet's AJ-1000 would...

And why does it have to work perfectly the first time? This is such a stupid pointless attitude! Ever since the shuttle (again) any prototype or test article that is built by or for NASA is expected to work the first time, or it is made into a big drama and a giant failure. I would much rather see ...

...you do realize you've left yourself wide open to MSimon's main argument, right?

Or was that the idea?

I appreciate that you're something of a NASA insider, and have institutional buy-in, but that also blinds you. I'm an aerospace engineering Ph.D. student in Canada, with no institutional connection to NASA whatsoever. (I have been working on CFD modelling of a launch vehicle main propulsion system....

Besides, I thought that the SLS was basically almost ready already. So where is the risk? I'm not sure SLS is a great example. It should be relatively low risk technically, and the companies are big enough to soak it - but it's so high priority that risking program failure with a fixed-price contra...

Boeing did not say what you claimed they said. Yes they did say exactly that, read the fracking link! I had read that article before you posted your link. They DID NOT say what you claimed they did. If you can't tell the difference, that's your problem. And it's not at all clear to me that Grasshop...

Thanks for that. I tend to get a bit of a contra mundum feel from these efforts, which would be bad enough even if my opponent were entirely and obviously wrong, and of course he's not...

You're all over the place. I'm not sure I need to respond to a lot of this. I was familiar with the information in both your links. Boeing did not say what you claimed they said. And it's not at all clear to me that Grasshopper did in fact leave the ground (those supports seem to have a fair amount ...

Essentially, SpaceX is flying a robust/quality R-7/Soyuz, the most reliable rocket family in human history. Uh, no. They both use kerosene, but that's the only similarity. The Merlin has nothing to do with the RD-107/108/117; it owes more to the Fastrac and possibly the RS-84. Besides which, the So...

Yeah, where Boeing has indicated that they will not continue the CST 100 development if NASA does not commit to at least a certain about of launches (with them) a year. That's not what they said. Besides, why should they? Boeing has no obligation to keep a crew capsule running if it isn't going to ...