Space Forum / Space Flight / May 2004

Gas core nuclear thermal rockets have long been attractive in paper
studies on the exploitation of space.  Their high ISPs and high thrust
have the potential to open up the entire solar system.  However, the
billions of dollars that engine development would cost, coupled with

This was an interesting article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5025388/
Gee, this sounds like it would be a much more enjoyable Space Tourism
experience. Instead of the brief 30-min trip on SpaceShipOne, have a

Bono's aerospike designs from the 60s feature toroidal comubstion
chambers, whereas recent designs like the X-33's linear aerospike
usually have several small, distinct chambers.  Why the change?  Is it
just easier to manufacture distinct chambers?  Would the toroidal

References: <28326d49.0401161506.344a8146@posting.google.com>
Whoo hoo, another update, based on part of the feedback (don't
worry, I'm not ignoring HGH's comments, etc).
Reading lists and recommended references are a recurrent theme in

I believe that we have beaten this horse to death here during prior
discussions.
Yet I feel dissatisfied with the extent of our discussions and the
state of the art in reentry technology. I feel that something can be

For any of you with an interest in Solar Power Satellite (SPS, or SSPS)
concepts, I finally received NASA Technical Memorandum copies of my
papers "Reinventing the Solar Power Satellite" and "Peak Power Markets
for Satellite Solar Power" from the Houston IAF Congress. (actually,

Is this significant at all? So far only the BBC is reporting it (as far as I
can see).
Amateur rocket fired into space
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3724841.stm

In _Entering Space_ Robert Zubrin mentions that it would take only a
small amount of Delta V to send Kuiper Belt Objects down to Mars. He
believes comets striking Mars would thicken the atmosphere and raise the
temperature. (I also seem to recall Kim Stanley Robinson using this ...

Hi all....
Just wondering....
If you were putting people in rockets and "lobbing" the passenger capsule from
the point of departure to the destination how much more fuel/energy  would it

What is the threshold of brightness for seeing an astronomical object
in the daytime Earth sky?
Specifically, would a star with 70% of Sol's absolute brightness be
visible at 45 AU?

Have we lost the will and vision of the space program of the beginning
of the 1960s.
Or what?
Mike

Assume for the sake of argument that we discover an earth mass planet
in the A or B Centauri system.  Further assume spectroscopic analysis
detects copious water, O2, N2, and methane in its atmosphere.  Further
assume that it becomes possible with 2-3X Apollo effort to send a

Hypothetically...
You've captured your stony-iron asteroid and parked it at the
Earth-moon L4 point. You've got mines and smelters producing tens of
megatons of refined metal annually, enough to meet a noticeable

(CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/04/30/space.rockets.reut/index.html
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- Aerospace giants are already
prepared to compete for lucrative contracts in NASA's next big