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Topic: NASA cancels launch....
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Mad Max
Sarge
Member # 622
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posted 07-13-2005 01:36 PM
    
From CNN:"A fault in the shuttle's fuel-tank sensor system forced NASA to call off today's launch of Discovery." That's re-assuring. 2.5 years of safety checks and $1bn spent and they discover a fault with only a couple of hours to go. I guess it's better now than later though. -------------------- Miss you guys.
Posts: 1487 | From: | Registered: Aug 1999 | IP: Logged
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GFKiller
The Man
Member # 2
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posted 07-14-2005 11:57 AM
Although the idea of space travel and exploration is very interesting to me, do think about this.What all this money could be going to.... Maybe we wouldn't be shelling out $2.50 for a gallon of gas. Or maybe we would of had more homeland security to stop 9/11. Maybe I'd be getting a better salary? Maybe more of my friends would have better jobs (including myself). Instead of sending man to Mars, lets send the homeless men to a home (about the cost to send 1 man to space, we could be sending 100 homeless men on the road to financial stability, if not more). Things have just been very frustrating lately. All expenses just keep going up (at crack head rates) and pay just keeps getting skimmed off the top. Something needs to be done. [ 07-14-2005: Message edited by: GFKiller ]
Posts: 1762 | From: Staten Island, NY | Registered: Jun 1999 | IP: Logged
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Mad Max
Sarge
Member # 622
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posted 07-14-2005 07:29 PM
To be fair, the Space Race has affected our lives in a BIG way, other than just putting a couple of robots on Mars. Teflon for example.BUT I kinda agree. 1 billion $$$ was the sum I heard that NASA has shelled out on safety in the last 2.5 years. That's quite a chunk of change for a government funded agency (please correct me if I'm wrong about that). It's a difficult one but I think that space exploration is worth the effort and expense. If a comet comes hurtling toward earth and we had done nothing space-wise, we could be in deep doo-doo. We could still be in deep doo-doo but at least we have proved that we can hit a comet travelling at 6 miles / second. I go back and forth on this topic all the time and think about how else money could be spent. When I think about how much money is "wasted" on "defence" it sickens me. I think defence is important but so are other matters. Are the weapons we have not good enough? Do we need to continually invent more? If so then perhaps the weapons we have aren't so good after all. What we need is better intelligence, not bigger bombs. Anyway, I digress.  [ 07-14-2005: Message edited by: Mad Max ] [ 07-14-2005: Message edited by: Mad Max ] -------------------- Miss you guys.
Posts: 1487 | From: | Registered: Aug 1999 | IP: Logged
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WillyTrombone
Sarge
Member # 27
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posted 07-14-2005 10:42 PM
velcro and tang were invented by nasa.The story of teflon that was related to me in ochem classes was that it was an accidental discovery in the 30's when some refrigeration experiment called for difluorethene (or maybe tetrafluoroethane. I forget. It was some combination of two carbons, fluorine and maybe chlorine or hydrogen) and the experimentor had an untapped tank of the stuff that had no pressure. So, not finding any leaks in he tank or system, he had a machinist cut the tank in half and found a thick, white, plsticized lining of the polymerized gas. AFAIK, it had nothing to with any space programs. more on the history of teflon from DuPont Oh, and starting Monday, I'll be working for DuPont's largest competitor in the aerospace sealant and adhesive industry. (just interviewd the day before yesterday, and they didn't let me leave without matching the offer I had from the LA County Sanitation District. I was like "well, I could either change the collective diaper for the whole of the largest metroplitan area in the world or go work for these guys and actually make something. So I took the offer. I'm a Production Research Chemist. ) -------------------- signature
Posts: 2844 | From: the edge of forever | Registered: Jun 1999 | IP: Logged
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Mad Max
Sarge
Member # 622
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posted 07-15-2005 07:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by burble:
TEFLON? that's you example? shit in your frying pan, that doesn't even work, and over time chips off into your food and poisons you?NASA is the most worthless government agency ever concieved. and that's saying something, 'cause this country has lots of worthless shit.
It's just AN example that I thought of at the time. I don't have the energy to dig through all the data and list EVERYTHING that has been discovered / developed over the years because of man's interest in space travel but I think that it affects our lives more than we might think. Just my opinion though. -------------------- Miss you guys.
Posts: 1487 | From: | Registered: Aug 1999 | IP: Logged
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Cacophonous
Sarge
Member # 19
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posted 07-15-2005 02:22 PM
In the automotive field we use a process during the design stage of a product or a process, called Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) to help predict what could go wrong & what the effects will be and how much of a risk it is. It uses a 3 number rating system where you rank each number (1-10) for failure mode multiplied by the frequency of problem multiplied by the how easy it is to detect the failure = Risk priority number (RPN) So with a high RPN know that it's a big problem, or it will occur more frequent or it will be hard to detect or any combination of all three. It came from the aerospace industry that used FMEAs back in the 1950s. DFMEA = Design FMEA
PFMEA = Process FMEA [ 07-15-2005: Message edited by: Cacophonous ] -------------------- ...
Posts: 5571 | From: Yes | Registered: Jun 1999 | IP: Logged
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AcidWarp
Sarge
Member # 997
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posted 07-16-2005 10:23 PM
Better, yet, have government employees start selling drugs for the State. That way, you not only save money not fighting the 'War on Drugs' but you make some back!-------------------- “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” --Dr. Stephen Hawking.
Posts: 4363 | From: Waterloo, Ontario | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged
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AcidWarp
Sarge
Member # 997
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posted 07-17-2005 04:04 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Reality:
This isn't exactly related but I read about something called project lucifer where the casini probe would be crashed into Saturn in July 2008. There's a theory that the plutonium on the satelite could implode under the pressure of atmosphere and gravity and go critical causing a chain reaction that could turn Saturn into a star. You can google it. I was just thinking that maybe outdoor tanning could go a lot faster with another star around.
Arthur C. Clarke would be rolling in his grave if he were dead. [ 07-17-2005: Message edited by: AcidWarp ] -------------------- “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” --Dr. Stephen Hawking.
Posts: 4363 | From: Waterloo, Ontario | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged
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AcidWarp
Sarge
Member # 997
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posted 07-18-2005 03:50 AM
Wow . . . more nightmares! Thanks Broch!-------------------- “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” --Dr. Stephen Hawking.
Posts: 4363 | From: Waterloo, Ontario | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged
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