* Posts by Cochituate

11 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jan 2011

Elon Musk's SpaceX to build 'Grasshopper' hover-rocket

Cochituate
Boffin

Merlin engines

The currently flying version of the Merlin engine is the 1C, while this glasshopper variant is the 1D. Th e1D has a throttle capability (1C does not), and the 1D is heading for use on the Falcon Heavy.

NASA releases asteroid flyby video from Dawn probe

Cochituate

Tire tracks?

What's with the tire track feature that seems to be common with so many of the asteroids we've closely observed? Have the boffins come up with any explanation for this sight?

NASA 'deep space' ship: Humans beyond orbit by 2020?

Cochituate
Angel

Answer...

Stuart- the answer is that getting pas the first step ("design, test and build") is what holds them up. No one plans better than NASA. The reams of paper generated by the various plans developed since the 1990s is simply staggering. To build a test article and build the damned thing, that's where they lack the fortitude to follow through, that is what is lacking. If they did step two or three, they'd be committed to something, and NASA does not want to be committed to anything. That's why taking the reins out of their hands and giving them to someone like SpaceX or Orbital, is such a great idea.

Cochituate
Coat

it's built by Itlian Engineers

Well, the reusable shipping containers brought to orbit multiple times (named after Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles) were all built by Italian engineers, and one of them is permanently attached to the ISS, so I guess my answer is that I would. I think they also built most of the connector modules. Not sure what they'd be called in the world of Legos.

Interstellar space 'full of Jupiter-size orphan planets'

Cochituate
Pint

Poul Anderson proud

No doubt you'd also have a barrel of stout to tap on your voyages between the stars, and some hair pomade as well, Mr. van Rijn?

Stolen smart-meter SIM leads to outrageous 3G bill

Cochituate
Thumb Up

SIM chip usage

My company uses an obvious SIM chip embedded in my work badge. Makes me think of a revenge fantasy if they ever lay me off. Epic win (for a few weeks).

Multimillionaire's private space ship 'can land on Mars'

Cochituate
Boffin

Billionare Space Club

Team Musk with Bigelow (the space hotel folks), and you've got a winning combination that would have a space big enough to make the trip enjoyable, and give the landing team a nice space to spend their time. Orbital module, hotel space, and a cottage to visit. Hell, I'd go too.

NASA aims for space tests of Mars-in-a-month plasma drive

Cochituate
Boffin

39 Days to Mars

the 39 day figure accounts for half the voyage speeding up, and once the craft flips over, the other half hitting the brakes.

Gwyneth Paltrow rouses Discovery crew

Cochituate
Joke

Roused by Gwyneth?

Okay, the crew was roused by the blond goddess, but who woke them up that morning?

Twenty-tonne space truck poised for ISS trip

Cochituate
Boffin

Man rating the future

Elon Musk fully intends to man rate the current Falcon 9 so he can use his capsule to boost crew to the ISS and other stations by 2015-16. Once the new Bigelow module is added to the ISS in two years, that will serve as an advert for all of these companies and programs to ramp up their goods and services, and we'll really see a rise in the number of manned launches by the end of the decade.

Gawker makes a hash of non-ASCII characters in passwords

Cochituate
Thumb Up

Already started

I forgot my new Gawker password yesterday, and was prompted to use a burner to get back in.