Saturn 5

[Guest]

I get 31.7gph on take off - ROP

I can beat that, 35GPH at take off.

Clarence

[Andy95W]

 

But we went to the moon left a ton of junk there and we didn't solve anything on earth! 

I think we did.  For a short time during July, 1969, the people of the earth looked beyond our petty difficulties and differences and were simply proud to be united as humans.  It wasn't just that America put a man on the moon, it was that mankind did.  My parents came to this country.  My relatives who still live overseas are proud that we (humans) walked on the moon.

 The worldwide benefits to a Mars flight would be even greater, because it would be a natural extension of the International Space Station.  Think of that: since the fall of the Soviet Union, we have never been more at odds with Russia, but we still have astronauts serving side by side with cosmonauts aboard the ISS.

 Exploration and curiosity are encoded in our DNA.  We should go to Mars because we are humans and it's what we do.  I think the benefits to world unity will far outweigh the considerable technological benefits derived.

[jbs007]

And it was designed with a slide ruler and a pencil.

Clarence

There are two kinds of countries.  Those that have been to the moon and those that use the metric system.

[Guest]

 

There are two kinds of countries.  Those that have been to the moon and those that use the metric system.

Countries not using the metric system find it very difficult to multiply and divide by 10.

Clarence

[PTK]

... For a short time during July, 1969, the people of the earth looked beyond our petty difficulties and differences and were simply proud to be united as humans...

That's so wonderful! It gives me the warm and fuzzies!

And for how many nanoseconds did the stupid "human" inhabitants of this planet feel that way again?

Because I missed it. Please forgive me. 

(Give me a break man!)

Edited September 23, 2015 by PTK

[Yetti]

Tang, microchips and hook and loop fastener.   Got it.  What has the space program done for us lately.

[mooniac15u]

Tang, microchips and hook and loop fastener.   Got it.  What has the space program done for us lately.

GPS comes to mind, along with pretty much anything else that uses satellites for things like television and weather.

 

Some technology finds its way more or less directly to us but NASA isn’t really in the business of developing consumer products.  Most of the benefits we get come from the basic scientific research.  That research has given us a better understanding of human physiology, materials engineering, and the earth’s climate among other things.  There is also the secondary effect of training new scientists through research partnerships with universities and directly through postdoctoral programs at NASA.  The benefits of scientific research often aren’t observable for years or even decades as the research leads to engineering which leads to products.

 

For what it’s worth, Velcro and Tang weren’t invented by NASA.  They were both around before the space program.

[Mooneymite]

Yup - the dinosaurs went extinct due to budget cuts to their space program.

That was a clever retort!

 

[Andy95W]

That's so wonderful! It gives me the warm and fuzzies!

And for how many nanoseconds did the stupid "human" inhabitants of this planet feel that way again?

Okay, so if I drink whiskey I get angry, beer I get goofy, and wine I get happy and nostalgic. 

Guess which I had late last night?

I'll stand by what I said, but I would have phrased it all differently this morning.

[Cyril Gibb]

You can't throttle a solid fuel rocket booster either...

twin screw extruders were used to continuously produce the single fuel load.  Replacing the multiple batches that had a tendency to break and burn unevenly.  Ever see that little flame burst through the side of the booster rocket and contact the large center fuel tank?

they blamed the O-ring and cold temperatures. There might have been some more engineering detail with that...

Go new engineers!

-a-

The final report is an interesting (long) read.  Bottom line is that a decision to take off was made by "management" over the strident objections of the engineers.  The continued deterioration of the booster o-rings interface, particularly during cold weather, was a known problem that in previous takeoffs was already way beyond the design and safety specifications.

somebody's bonus was more important than a few lives.

[jbs007]

Okay, so if I drink whiskey I get angry, beer I get goofy, and wine I get happy and nostalgic. 

Guess which I had late last night?

I'll stand by what I said, but I would have phrased it all differently this morning.

You drink wine in the morning?  Jealous...

 

Anyway, humans must explore.  Your kids don't need to learn science or history to not accomplish anything.  I hope we try Mars before I'm too old; I'd sign up.  We all die.  I wouldn't mind doing so going down in history as the first to attempt getting to Mars.  Beats being another obituary of a 95 yr old who had access to a great health care system.  Other journeys people probably deemed costly and stupid at the time, but keep in mind retrospect is 20/20: 

Moses leading Israelites out of Egypt

Whoever the hell got to Easter Island first

Whoever the hell tried finding a cool island before that and got eaten by sharks instead

Christopher Columbus's journey

Lewis and Clark expedition

Napoleon invading Russia

Col Custer's battle of Little Bighorn

Everyone trying to build airplanes up to and including the Wright brothers

Hitler invading Russia

US moon landing

I won't quote all of "Man in the Arena" but its a great paragraph size read.  Also, people must have identity, which means there must be someone or something you do not identify with.  Also people unite through common strife.  For these reasons the only possibility to unite humans on earth is through space exploration.

To leave with a joke:

What else would we do with the money?  Fund Planned Parenthood?

[N201MKTurbo]

There is a set of Space Shuttle SRBs at the Evergreen Museum in McMinnville OR. They are laying on the ground at the back or the parking lot. You can look at the O-Ring groves and touch the seals. Very interesting. There is no fuel in them.

I visited that museum two months ago. It has the best collection of rocket engines I've ever seen. The workmanship on those engines is amazing!

The last time I was at that museum was right after the Spruce Goose (Hughes H1) showed up. I was talking to the mechanics who were restoring it, They let me behind the ropes and I got to crawl all over that plane. In the wings, the tail cone, it was amazing! That thing is built like a tank! I even got to sand about a 6 in square on the right flap with a finish sander. So I can honestly say I've worked on the Spruce Goose!

[Marauder]

Tang, microchips and hook and loop fastener.   Got it.  What has the space program done for us lately.

The 2015 NASA budget is a mere $18.01B. Pocket change when you compare it to the $598.5B FY2015 military budget.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

8 more days til gov shutdown...

spend too much until they come up empty.  

The budget hasn't hit the news lately.

it will be soon,

-a-

[Hank]

Countries not using the metric system find it very difficult to multiply and divide by 10.

Clarence

Multiplying by 10 is easy, but why does the name change every time the decimal is moved? I can have a desk drawer 1 foot deep, or a ship 100o feet long, but drawers are measured in centimeters and ships in meters. Don't get me started on things like force, capacitance or torque, where each new unit also has a different name. Weight is in lb_mass [kilograms]; Force is in pounds_force [Newtons], while torque is in foot-pounds [Nm, but because N = kg m/sec², torque is really kg m²/sec²]; work is in pounds [Joules, which is also Nm somehow]; etc.

I'll stick with the easy stuff. If I get hit with 100 N in the forehead, am I dead, knocked over, have a knot or wonder if there are bugs in the room?

[aviatoreb]

Multiplying by 10 is easy, but why does the name change every time the decimal is moved? I can have a desk drawer 1 foot deep, or a ship 100o feet long, but drawers are measured in centimeters and ships in meters. Don't get me started on things like force, capacitance or torque, where each new unit also has a different name. Weight is in lb_mass [kilograms]; Force is in pounds_force [Newtons], while torque is in foot-pounds [Nm, but because N = kg m/sec², torque is really kg m²/sec²]; work is in pounds [Joules, which is also Nm somehow]; etc.

I'll stick with the easy stuff. If I get hit with 100 N in the forehead, am I dead, knocked over, have a knot or wonder if there are bugs in the room?

I have always wondered why we American's aren't really good at base 12 arithmetic if we don't like metric ( but we like inches to feet).

And hey we always got base 20.  Four SCORE and seven years ago today ..and all.

[mooniac15u]

Multiplying by 10 is easy, but why does the name change every time the decimal is moved? I can have a desk drawer 1 foot deep, or a ship 100o feet long, but drawers are measured in centimeters and ships in meters.

The name doesn't change when the decimal moves, only the prefix changes.  The name changes are far worse in our system.  For distance we have Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles and the conversion rates between them have to be memorized because it is impossible to guess what they should be.

[N201MKTurbo]

I had a friend who got a job as a construction worker on a cruise ship. He called me up in terror "They use the metric system for everything and I don't know anything about it!"

I told him not to worry it would be OK. As long as everything was metric he wouldn't have to convert anything.

He called me two weeks later and said: "The metric system is the greatest thing ever! Everything is in decimal with no fractions!"

I have used the metric system at work for so long that I now think in metric and convert to English.

[steingar]

That's what people said about going to the moon. One of the many side benefits, completely unlooked-for, that now pervades modern society is miniature computers. Couldn't put a room-sized computer in the Apollo capsule, couldn't do the required calculations on a slide rule. Viola! Now they are smaller than ever, and everywhere . . .

What will we get from the Mars effort? Who knows, but it's worth trying. May get a functional space drive, better oxygenation equipment, food supplements or just better cold weather gear. Maybe something else completely unthought today.

You are of course correct, though I would counter that we will make as many if not more technical advances with robots, since they have the twin issues of mobility and autonomous control, both of which are important in terrestrial robotics.  That, and no one cares if the robot crashes on the surface of Mars.  Folks get real touchy when their astronauts do that.  And as far and the scientific benefit, nothing done in manned space flight can even being to compare to our robotic exploration of the solar system.

[PTK]

No human will ever go nor should go to Mars.

Even if it was technically possible, which I can't see happening, it would be a waste of taxpayers' money.

Edited September 23, 2015 by PTK

[Marauder]

No human will ever go nor should go to Mars.

Even if it was technically possible it would be a waste of taxpayers' money.

But, but, but, don't you want to know if your family back home is doing well?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PTK]

They're doing just fine! 

Edited September 23, 2015 by PTK

[Deb]

The name doesn't change when the decimal moves, only the prefix changes.  The name changes are far worse in our system.  For distance we have Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles and the conversion rates between them have to be memorized because it is impossible to guess what they should be.

Hmm, I seem to recall having confusion with newtons and dynes... 

[mooniac15u]

Hmm, I seem to recall having confusion with newtons and dynes... 

Dynes is not a unit in the current SI (metric system). 

[carusoam]

Surface energy dynes?

Erg,

-a-