Orion project question

CaptainBeowulf · Post by **CaptainBeowulf** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:29 pm

I could see someone trying it, but quite frankly, I think we're a long way from there. Bigelow is still way far away from being profitable or self-sustaining, and in the meantime, he'll have to worry about things like investors and U.S. regulators.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:34 pm

He probably will not have to worry long. Do not forget that he just got a contract with NASA, and according to the Director that I talked to, the intent is adding Bigelow modules to the ISS.
It would also not surprise me to see them leverage Bigelow for larger volume "assemble in orbit" moon and deep space manned packages based on that discussion.

kunkmiester · Post by **kunkmiester** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:56 am

I just realized no one has really answered the original question well. Would a "magnetic flux compression" device like I described produce the same kind of HEMP as a conventional nuke at altitude?

AcesHigh · Post by **AcesHigh** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:45 am

Tom Ligon wrote:One of my SF-writing buddies recently quoted another SF writer. Alas, I'm away from my files and can't look it up at the moment. The gist of it is that if humanity survives for as long as we like to think we will (tens of thousands of years being only a good start), they will look way back into their historical dustbin and realize that only in the first little sliver of recorded human history did the word "ship" refer to a craft designed for water.

quite the english-centric view... which fails to consider not only that english itself has changed a lot in the last 1000 years as also that the main human language can change in the next 2 centuries...just as 2 centuries ago english was NOT the main language around the world.

now... its a question to see in how many languages does the words for ship are the same for both water and space ships.

Tom Ligon · Post by **Tom Ligon** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:19 pm

Ah, in exactly how many languages has there been a word for spacecraft dating back more than about a century?

Aside from analogies to ships or boats, I think you might find some chariot references, plus certain creatures (birds, wheels with animal faces, the odd feathered serpent), but always the conveyance has some earthly analog.

All of which will emit an EMP to some degree if they are propelled by bursts of plasma from nuclear explosions.

CaptainBeowulf · Post by **CaptainBeowulf** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:28 pm

Ace, two centuries ago which language are you thinking of? Spanish?

For a long time in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries there was actually a division of roles: Spanish was considered a language of business, French was the language of diplomacy, and Latin still got used a lot (especially in legal matters and by the Catholic Church). I'm not sure there was a dominant language. We may be returning to that sort of situation.

However, the Chinese are learning English in huge numbers and using it as a second language in their dealing with a lot of the rest of the world. Also, the elite in India tends to use English a lot. English has de facto been a native Indian language since the 19th century, with a slice of the elite population learning it from early childhood. It's also a politically neutral language in many ways for Indians, since there are a couple of dozen native languages there tied to various groups. The most spoken language is Hindi, but English avoids a tribal designation. So, I actually wouldn't be surprised if English remains a dominant world language.

After all, Latin remained a common language long after Rome ceased to be a superpower.