Pinwheel Galaxy Images

Pinwheel Galaxy Images

The Space Telescope Science Institute has released the second-largest ever image of a galaxy, a 16000 x 12000 pixel composite of the M101 (Pinwheel) Galaxy, taken by Hubble over a period of 51 exposures (the largest was a 21904 x 14454 pixel mosaic of M31 composited by Rob Gendler). The images in various sizes (including the 455405 kb original) can be downloaded here. I downloaded the 10 Meg version and selected a few smaller sections of the image, reproduced below.

The whole galaxy; the original image has roughly 27x25 pixels for every pixel in the image below

A closeup of the core. The lacy structures are probably interstellar dust backlit by the core

An image of the inner part of one of the arms, again with lots of dust silhouetted by the bright stars behind

The following two images are of arms further out from the core; note that there are even more distant galaxies visible, shining through the arms of M101


Technorati Tags: Space, Hubble, Galaxy

book reviews coming soon

book reviews coming soon

Today I received two books from Apogee Space Books: Return to the Moon and On To Mars 2. I've been bugging Rick Tumlinson for three months now to get a copy of RTTM, so I want to thank him and Collector's Guide Publishing for getting these to me.

Return to the Moon is a collection of about two dozen essays by various writers, so rather than review the book as a single unit I will probably be reviewing each essay in a separate blog post. After I'm done with RTTM, I'll turn my attention to On to Mars 2.

Technorati Tags: Space, Moon, Mars, Books

Saddam had WMD

Saddam had WMD

This will prove inconvenient for the "Bush Lied" crowd.

Inconveniently for critics of the war, Saddam made tapes in his version of the Oval Office. These tapes landed in the hands of American intelligence and were recently aired publicly.

The first 12 hours of the tapes — there are hundreds more waiting to be translated — are damning, to say the least. They show conclusively that Bush didn't lie when he cited Saddam's WMD plans as one of the big reasons for taking the dictator out.

Nobody disputes the tapes' authenticity. On them, Saddam talks openly of programs involving biological, chemical and, yes, nuclear weapons.

(hat tip to Neale News)

Technorati Tags: War, Iraq, Saddam Hussein, WMD

feel-good story of the week

feel-good story of the week

This kid took his chance to shine and really, really delivered.


Technorati Tags: Basketball, Autism

word cloud

word cloud

A word cloud is an image that shows the relative frequency of occurences of words, with words that occur most frequently showing up in larger, bolder font. As an example, Technorati generates a word cloud of the currently most-popular Technorati tags. Now SnapShirts.com has put together a little program that generates a word cloud for your blog, which they can then put on a T-shirt. To the right is the the word cloud for my blog.

Technorati Tags: Word Cloud, Technorati, Blog

underground crop

underground crop

Whenever there is finally a colony on the moon, the residents will need to have lots of plants around, both for recycling the air and for producing food. These plants will likely be grown underground (as the entire colony would be under at least five meters of rock for protection from radiation) and grown under artificial lighting for precise control of the day/night cycle.

When the time comes to set up the farms, I want these guys to run them. They obviously know what they are doing.

Technorati Tags: Space, Moon, Agriculture, Space Colonization

SpaceX trying again

SpaceX trying again

Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies has set a new launch window for the maiden flight of the Falcon 1 rocket: sometime between March 20th and 25th they hope to launch the Falconsat 2 from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific. This will be the fourth attempted launch of the Falcon.

SpaceX faces several bottlenecks on the road to regular launches of the Falcon series. The most serious bottlenecks are the lack of a reliable LOX plant on Kwajalein that is capable of producing the amounts of liquid oxygen needed for launches, and the fact that they must share launch facilities with the US military. If they ever hope to have high flight rates they must have that new LOX plant and their own launch facilities (or at least launch facilities that are available to them without waiting a month at a time for the military to get its launches out of the way).

Technorati Tags: Space, SpaceX

monster sudoku (060225)

monster sudoku (060225)

Yay! It's Saturday, and you know what that means: yes, another edition of Monster Sudoku.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. The first person who posts the correct solution wins a prize: a permalink on my blogroll and a graphic declaring him or her to be the Monster Sudoku Champion, which can be displayed on their own blog. I will post the solution next Saturday if nobody else gets it by then.

If you want to play the regular 9 x 9 sudoku puzzle, just scroll down; there is a sudoku puzzle just before the cartoons, which you can play right on this blog.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

Pluto might have rings

Pluto might have rings

In May of 2005, two new moons were discovered orbiting Pluto. The small size of the moons, and their resonance with the orbit of Charon, suggests that all three moons were formed as part of a single impact event. It also raises the possibility that Pluto might have many more small moons, and perhaps even a system of rings. Pluto and its three (known) moons are shown in this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope:


From Space.com:

The discovery of P1 and P2 also raises the intriguing possibility that impact debris from the small moons is captured by Pluto’s gravity and coalescing into rings or even arcs around the tiny planet. If confirmed, it would be the first example of a ring system around a solid body rather than a gas giant planet.

This isn't entirely true. Although this would be the first example of a natural ring system around a terrestrial planet (assuming that Pluto can still be classified as a planet rather than a Kuiper Belt Object), there is one terrestrial planet that has an artificial ring system: the Earth.



Technorati Tags: Space, Pluto

30 billion dimes

30 billion dimes

The Planetary Society has issued a scathing statement on NASA's budget:

The proposed budget directs three billion dollars (over five years) away from robotic exploration of the solar system to continue to operate the shuttle. Last year the Administrator said, "not one thin dime" would be so directed. Now we learn it is 30 billion dimes.

...

But the biggest danger to the Vision for Space Exploration is not the removal of a few exploration missions from NASA's budget, but the commitment made in the budget for 17 shuttle flights. The average number of shuttle launches per year of the space shuttle over its lifetime is less than five. This was with 4-5 orbiters. Now that the country is down to only three orbiters (and soon, just one launch pad) on a system with far more safety concerns and scrutiny, how can we expect the number to be larger? Three or four is a more reasonable expectation -- meaning that if all goes well and there are no more accidents or gaps in readiness for flight, the 17 flights might be accomplished in 4 to 6 years.

That takes us beyond 2010, and leads to more expenditures and hence more delays in the transition to new launch vehicles and a new human space flight program beyond Earth orbit. In fact we would predict that the likely outcome is another decade or more for humans stuck in low Earth orbit.

We don't have to cite our anxieties about the dangers of extending shuttle lifetime, and the delays of implementing the new Vision program. The proposed budget itself states that the CEV may not be ready until 2014, and that NASA is only hoping that some synergies and new providers will be found to enable readiness two years (not four) earlier. Hope is not a good planning tool.

It's time to end the Shuttle Program. The horse has two broken legs: time to put it out of its misery.

(hat tip to Space Politics)

Technorati Tags: Space, NASA, Space Shuttle, Politics

there goes the betting pool

there goes the betting pool

Canada was eliminated by Russia in the quarter-finals of the Olympic men's hockey tournament.

Technorati Tags: Canada, Olympics, Hockey

new template

new template

Well, here it is: a brand new template, the biggest overhaul I've had on this blog since I started blogging almost three years ago. The black text on the white background should make it easier to read, and the new font is a little more pleasant to the eye as well. I've widened the content from 800 pixels to 990 pixels (sorry to those folks who have an 800 pixel wide screen). Moving both sidebars to the right has given the blog a less "busy" appearance.

I've also cut out a few cartoons, and rearranged some of the single-panel cartoons to fit together two to a row. The final change was to add a permanent Sudoku game; it appears just before the cartoons, and now people can play sudoku right on this blog.

I've still got a little tweaking left to do, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I'd appreciate any critiques of the new template. Like it? Hate it? Have further suggestions? Let me know.

Update: Thanks to Lone Pony for checking out the new template in Firefox for me and for showing me how to do Technorati tags. I've added tags to most of the last 300 or so posts (that's seven hours of my life I'll never get back, but hey, anything to support my shameless quest for more traffic to the blog).

Technorati Tags: Blog

sudoku (060221)

sudoku (060221)

Well, I didn't finish my new blog template yet, so I am going to publish one final easy 9x9 sudoku. I will still publish a 16 x 16 monster sudoku every Saturday, but once the new template is up I won't be making up any more 9 x 9 sudokus; instead, there will be a permanent sudoku game at the bottom of the page just before the comic strips.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want to play more sudokus, you can find them here. Or, you can wait until I get the new template published and just come back to my blog.

Update: Sandlady posted the correct solution in the comments.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

why go to the moon?

why go to the moon?

Brint Montgomery thinks that going to the moon is a bad idea. He has three complaints:

The first compaint I have is this: it's really expensive. I'm all for going to space and doing exploration, but the kind of money it takes to land people, or even just craft on the moon seems better spent on robotic exploration to other places.

Darn right going to the moon is expensive - NASA is planning on spending $104 billion to develop a heavy-lift launch vehicle and a second vehicle to launch crew members. If you're going to send people to ... well, anywhere in space at all ... then going about it the way that NASA does is not going to be done economically. If there is no return on investment, then there can be no economic justification for spending any money on the venture at all.

Ronald Greeley, a Galileo imaging team scientist and a geologist at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. recently said, "We're seeing evidence of a lot of geological activity on Europa." Try finding a statement like that for the Moon! Geologically speaking, it's just a really boring place. Thus, our efforts at exploration should be refocused on what's most likely to give interesting science.

The lack of geological activity on the moon (although there is a bit, instruments left behind by Apollo astronauts found evidence of moonquakes) can be an advantage. It all depends on what the goal of visiting the moon is in the first place; more on that later.

The third complaint I have regards the possibility for finding life. The moon is a dead place. But there are other, accessable places where there might be life.

Again, this gets back to asking why people should go to the moon in the first place. If the intent is to find life, then the moon is obviously the wrong target.

However, looking for geological processes or life are not the justifications for going to the moon. Lets look at some other reasons.

First, the lack of erosion, plate tectonics, and other major geological activity can be an advantage. The moon's surface is pockmarked with craters from the impacts of asteroids and comets. Such impact zones have huge economic potential: just ask anyone living in the nickel belt of Ontario, Canada, the site of an ancient impact here on earth and currently the supplier of much of the world's nickel. Every crater has the potential to be a major supply of raw materials such as platinum-group metals, nickel, iron, and other metals. Furthermore, the moon's surface is constantly being bombarded by the solar wind. This solar wind brings with it something the Russians are very interested in: Helium-3, which will be fed to nuclear fusion power plants. With no erosion or major geological processes, all of that valuable material lays exposed on the surface, just waiting to be strip-mined.

The moon isn't just covered with craters, however; there are some very interesting features, such as Diamondback Rille (which I talked about in a recent blog entry), and the permanently-shadowed craters near the poles (and the associated peaks of eternal light along the rims of Peary crater at the lunar north pole and Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole).

The far side of the moon has a property which makes it potentially valuable to radio astronomers. The moon is tidally locked with the earth, so that face never points towards the earth. Any radio telescopes located on the far side of the moon would be permanently blocked from radio interference caused by transmissions from the earth.

I think Montgomery has fallen into a trap, a way of thinking about activity in space which NASA is only too happy to encourage: that the only justification for going into space is to explore, and that only a government agency such as NASA may do so.

As I mentioned above, mining the moon is one other possible purpose. But let's just suppose for a moment that we take mining out of the equation, and geology at the permanently-shadowed craters near the poles, and radio astronomy on the far side of the moon, and indeed anything that private industry might propose to do. Let's suppose that the only purpose in going into space is exploration.

If we only seek to explore, then sure, we can send robots to do the job. The question becomes: why explore anywhere in the solar system at all? What would be the point, unless the plan is for humans to follow?

If we don't plan on having human beings to go to the moon or Mars or Ceres or Vesta or Callisto or Europa, then why bother looking at these places up close at all? What good does it do to know that there is a huge supply of - for instance - Platinum on the moon, if we don't go and get it?

We explore these extraterrestrial bodies not simply to explore for exploration's sake. We explore them with the knowledge that we are doing so for a purpose. That purpose is the eventual migration of human beings away from the earth, to spread ourselves around the solar system. This could actually happen if private industry takes the lead in space operations - and will never happen if it is left to NASA to perform only the most tentative baby steps decade after decade after decade, all the while sucking up tens of billions of dollars every year.

However, the "giggle factor" that has in the past been a major obstacle to private space businesses is slowly fading away. Every success for companies like Scaled Composites and SpaceX, and others, would reduce the giggle factor further. It is this giggle factor that NASA seeks to encourage, so that they may maintain their monopoly on space operations in America.

In fact, after NASA spends its $104 billion (actually, add another 50% for the inevitable cost overruns), they will have likely produced nothing, or nothing better than Apollo. They might, at best, launch a few people three or four times, and then sit back and do nothing more beyond earth orbit for another 35 years.

In contrast, expect private space businesses to open up the first permanent bases on the moon (as opposed to the temporary ones proposed by NASA), to open up a lunar resort, to begin mining operations, and to begin permanent settlement of the moon. Private business can only do that which makes a profit, so even if it is expensive to start, in the long run private industry will make a profit. Those private businesses that cannot will eventually have go bankrupt or step aside for those that can make a profit.

In the course of living on the moon in the long term, people will learn the things that are necessary to learn in order to live anywhere. Lessons learned on the moon will apply to living on an asteroid, or on Mars, or indeed anywhere in the solar system. And it is those lessons that will enable humanity to spread throughout the solar system.

Technorati Tags: Space, Moon

more than meets the eye

more than meets the eye

For best results: wait until the page has completely loaded, and then press the Play button.

As seen on Wimp.com

Technorati Tags: Robots, Video

Blogspot problem solved?

Blogspot problem solved?

Well, it looks like whatever problem I had with Blogspot over the last 24 hours has been solved. I hope. We'll find out in a minute; if the monster sudoku I just posted vanishes when I publish this post, then the problem still exists. If not, then I guess it's back to normal.

This has been a real pain in the butt. If it happens again, then I guess I'm going to have to finally abandon blogspot and start paying for a domain.

Update: Here's the explanation I received from Blogger:

Hello,

Thank you for reporting this issue. There was a period of time on Friday and Saturday during which one of our databases was not saving new posts correctly. They would be published initially, however, so the problem would not be apparent until the blog was republished later, or until another post was added. Though we have fixed the database issue that was causing this, we cannot recover any such posts that were lost. We recommend checking your archives for any posts not listed in your Edit Posts page. If you find a copy there, you can cut and paste it into a new entry. We apologize for the trouble this has caused, and we are working to prevent this from happening again.

Sincerely,
Blogger Support

Technorati Tags: Blog

monster sudoku (060218)

monster sudoku (060218)

Once again the weekend is upon us, so it is time for a monster 16 x 16 sudoku. Today's sudoku is one of the hardest ones I have posted on this site; this is the very first time I managed to make a monster sudoku with less than 108 cells filled (this one has 104) yet still generate a unique solution. Let's get right to it.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. The first person who posts the correct solution wins a prize: a permalink on my blogroll and a graphic declaring him or her to be the Monster Sudoku Champion, which can be displayed on their own blog. I will post the solution next Saturday if nobody else gets it by then.

Update: the solution is here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

a competitor for Virgin

a competitor for Virgin

The Ansari family is keeping its hands in the suborbital commercial space market. The same family that sponsored the Ansari X-Prize has announced a joint venture with Roscosmos and Space Adventures to manufacture a fleet of five-person vehicles to be used for providing suborbital flights. The new venture would not fly the Explorer vehicles themselves, but would sell them to space tourism companies, which would operate the vehicles from various locations around the globe.

Technorati Tags: Space

sudoku (060216)

sudoku (060216)

Welcome to Thursday. Thursdays are usually the day when I post a medium-hard sudoku on my blog. This will probably be the last 9x9 sudoku I publish on this blog, though. At the suggestion of Vulkanino, I will likely be changing my blog template so that sudokus are automatically generated; not only that, but readers will be able to play sudoku right here on my blog, without ever having to leave the page. This will be part of a major revamp of the blog, so sometime over the next few days (hopefully) my blog will look very different. I will probably still publish the monster 16x16 sudokus every Saturday.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want to play more sudokus, you can find them here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

more spaceblogs

more spaceblogs

I added another seven blogs to the Space Blogroll today. The only problem I have is that I can't read any of them; I think they are all in Portugese. However, even a non-Portugese-speaker like myself can appreciate the pretty pictures. I guess there's always Babelfish.

Anyhow, welcome to the Space Blogroll Astropolítica, AVIStando O COSMOS, Chove sobre Prometeu, Estrela Cansada, Rastos de Luz, Odisséia Espacial, and Supernova.

The Space Blogroll now lists 122 blogs, with more added as I find them. If you know of a blog that belongs on the Space Blogroll but isn't there yet, please leave me a note in the comments or email me.

Technorati Tags: Space, Blog

yep, nothing's changed

yep, nothing's changed

I took version 1 of this test back in November, and now that I see that version 2 is making its way around the blogosphere, I decided to try again. And, once again, all things considered I'd rather be flying around in a Firefly-class freighter:

You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and don't enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you. Serenity (Firefly) 94% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 81% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 81% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 69% SG-1 (Stargate) 69% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 63% Moya (Farscape) 56% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 56% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 56% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 56% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 56% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 50% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

sudoku (060214)

sudoku (060214)

Happy Valentine's Day! It's Tuesday, so it is time for an easy sudoku. The medium-hard ones are on Thursdays and the monster 16x16 sudokus are every Saturday.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want to play more sudokus, you can find them here.

Update: Well, that was fast; Sandlady posted the correct solution here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

What is Diamondback Rille?

What is Diamondback Rille?

This recent entry at Lunar Photo of the Day caught my eye. It is an image of Maskelyne Rille (also called Diamondback Rille) taken by Jérôme Grenier on September 9, 2004. The Rille is the long, sinuous structure weaving from the center of the image towards the top left portion.
The explanation of the image given on LPOD is

Lunar sinuous rilles are lava channels. They did not cut down into pre-existing surfaces, rather they transported the lava that formed the surrounding surfaces. Sinuous rilles were once rivers of molten lava, now they are elusive channels of emptiness.

I found this explanation to be wholly unsatisfying. So, I did some looking around on Google and I found a few more images of lava channels, like this one of the Pu'u O'o lava channel (click on the following images for much higher-resolution versions):
The Pu'u O'o lava channel is only 4 meters wide. Then there's this photo of an inactive lava channel on Kilauea, taken by J. Dixon:
The levees on the sides of a lava channel form when lava fills the channel to overflowing, and then the overflow cools. Such levees are built up over several successive eruptions, as can be seen in the second and in particular the third picture in this post. The scale of the vegetation growing in this inactive channel shows that the channel is also fairly narrow. Here's one more photo, of the 'A'a lava channel:This lava channel is between 20 meters and 50 meters wide.

So, does it make sense that the Diamondback Rille is also a lava channel? Well, it would if the Rille was only a few meters to a few tens of meters wide. However, this is definitely not the case. Such a resolution simply isn't possible with earth-based cameras. So, let's have another look at the Rille, from a photo taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts during the descent phase; I cropped this image from a much higher resolution image taken by the astronauts, which you can see by clicking on the image:
This picture is rotated clockwise by 90 degrees relative to the picture at the top of this post. The large crater at the bottom right of the image is Maskelyne A, and the smaller crater above that is Maskelyne B. Maskelyne A and B are about 24 km and 9 km across, respectively. A richly-labelled (by Markus Mehring) version of the above photo is here.

Using the known diameters of the Maskelyne A and Maskelyne B craters, we can estimate the width of Diamondback Rille. The Rille is approximately 400 meters across as it passes the Maskelyne X double crater (at the top left of the above image). That is between 10 and 100 times the size of lava channels on the earth.

So, does it make sense that Diamondback Rille is a lava channel? If so, why is it so very much wider than lava channels on earth? And where is the large pool of black lava rock downstream from the rille? Why is there no color difference between the downstream area and the surrounding plain? Perhaps one of my readers has the answers to these questions.

Technorati Tags: Space, Moon

monster sudoku (060211)

monster sudoku (060211)

Ah, the weekend. Time to kick back, relax, and play around with my weekly monster sudoku.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. The first person who posts the correct solution wins a prize: a permalink on my blogroll and a graphic declaring him or her to be the Monster Sudoku Champion, which can be displayed on their own blog. I will post the solution next Saturday if nobody else gets it by then.

Update: Kiraly posted the correct solution here. I'm impressed; this was a really tough one. Too bad there's no link to Kiraly's blog or homepage or anything like that, or I'd send him (her?) a Monster Sudoku Champion logo, like the one at left. Good job, Kiraly!

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

a clearer vision

a clearer vision

Both Ben Reytblat and Jon Goff are arguing for placing fuel depots in orbit (either in low earth orbit, at the L1 libration orbit, or both). This would increase the amount of commercial involvement in the the Vision for Space Exploration, and thus increase the quantity of trips between the earth and moon. This would also mean that much of the current VSE architecture would change:

Once you have reusable tugs, low-cost and probably reusable earth-to-orbit transportation, and a reusable lander, does it still make sense to have people carted around in a huge reentry module like the CEV? Does that really make sense when you're trying to develop a transportation system that's cheap enough to be long-term sustainable at robust levels of lunar flight demand?

I don't really think so. Many of the subsystems wanted in the CEV already are needed for the other components. If you can return the habitat portion safely to LEO after the flight, why not ride down on whatever style of craft you rode up in? Why do you even need a capsule at all? Direct return to earth may be the simplest route, but it's unlikely to be the cheapest. If you can come down from orbit in a reusable vehicle for instance, then you don't need to ship the habitat module up and down with every flight. If that hab module is meant for in-space use only, it will also likely be designed in a substantially different manner from a capsule that has to survive reentry, steer, land on land or at sea, be watertight, have components that won't corrode with sea-water, have bear-proof latches on the doors...etc.

I agree with this. The current VSE is following the same ruinous path as the space shuttle: trying to be all things to all missions. There is no reason for the module that takes people from LEO to lunar orbit (or L1) and back to also be the same module in which people reenter the earth's atmosphere. There is no reason that the module that takes people from lunar orbit (or L1) to the moon's surface and back needs to ever return to earth, and no economical reason for it to be wasted on every trip, to be replaced by another copy that is launched from the earth with every mission.

The current VSE calls for multiple launches per mission anyhow. Why not go whole-hog and make it so that many, many space companies can get involved? There is no reason for NASA to do absolutely everything. If 8 different companies can launch people into space, then let them. If more than one company can set up fuel depots in low earth orbit and/or at L1 and/or on the moon's surface, then let them. If more than one company can take over a stage of the voyage such as LEO-L1 or L1-moon, then let them. If a dozen different companies can send fuel to a fuel depot operated at LEO or L1, then let them.

The net result would be that NASA (or any other customer) would only pay for services as needed. NASA would pay a private company for the trip into space to the LEO station, then another company (whichever one has seats available) for the LEO to L1 trip, and another company for the L1 to moon's surface trip; then they would pay the lunar base operator for the accomodations there. At each stage, NASA would have no up-front costs, only paying for results delivered. The transportation companies operating between LEO and L1 or between L1 and the moon (and back) would be paying the fuel depot operators for gassing up; the fuel depot operators would be paying the fuel launch companies for propellant deliveries, and so on. At every stage, there would be a population involved in tasks other than the primary tasks of the stage: hoteliers, restaurateurs, medical staff, maintenance workers, construction staff, and on and on. In short, Ben and Jeff's ideas would lead to an entire cislunar economy. Such an economy is essential if the Vision for Space Exploration is to ever become more than another Apollo-flags-and-footprints one-shot, robust enough to survive several changes in US administration. It would also mean that the costs to NASA would be much lower in the long run.

This is the way NASA must go about implementing the VSE. If they stick with The Stick and Longfellow, they will be putting all their eggs into one basket, to be sacrificed at the whim of a few congressmen. Instead, they could follow Ben and Jon's ideas and end up with an actual exploration program, with NASA paying for whatever private industry can supply (cash on delivery) and doing themselves those things they are best at: the cutting-edge research that they hope to accomplish outside the confines of the (privately-supported) moonbase(s).

Technorati Tags: Space, NASA, Moon

Vive la difference

Vive la difference

Phil Bowermaster and Dick Stafford both linked to this page which shows a difference engine made out of Legos.Also linked to from the Lego difference engine page is this difference engine built with Meccano.I guess now we only need a Tinkertoy difference engine to complete the trifecta; it would probably look similar to the one pictured below, which plays tic-tac-toe.

Technorati Tags: Lego, Computers

sudoku (060209)

sudoku (060209)

It's Thursday, so it is time for a medium-hard sudoku. The easy ones are on Tuesdays and the monster 16x16 sudokus are every Saturday.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want to play more sudokus, you can find them here.

Update: Sandlady posted the correct solution here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

illiterate, schmilliterate

illiterate, schmilliterate

A group of high school students and their parents are suing the California department of education. These students all failed either the English and/or Math portions of the statewide high school exit exam.

So, rather than study their subjects and take their educations seriously, these students will sue to get their diplomas.

What do they hope to accomplish? If they get their diplomas even though they are functionally illiterate, what good does it do for them? The diploma doesn't mean that they are educated. It is supposed to be an indication that they have learned the necessary minimum to be allowed to graduate from high school.

If this lawsuit succeeds, it will render all California high school diplomas worthless except as kindling or toilet paper. "Gee, I'd like to hire you, but a diploma from a California high school is worthless. Go get your GED from another state, and then we'll talk."

Technorati Tags: Education, Moonbats

Kathleen Parker has a change of heart

Kathleen Parker has a change of heart

On December 28th, in her column in the Orlando Sentinel, Kathleen Parker wrote:

Likewise, many bloggers seek the destruction of others for their own self-aggrandizement. When a mainstream journalist stumbles, they pile on like so many savages, hoisting his or her head on a bloody stick as Golding's children did the fly-covered head of a butchered sow.

What a difference a six weeks makes. Now, with most newspapers in North America refusing to publish the cartoons that are triggering so many violent demonstrations in the middle East, she has this to say:

Meanwhile, querulous Americans still reliant on traditional media are left in the kind of darkness admired by Islamic states. How are they to debate and make a judgment about the cartoons without seeing them?

They can go to the blogosphere, that's how.

The Internet is now the only place Americans can view the cartoons and, as a bonus, learn that much of the outrage now seething through the Middle East was stoked not by the cartoons in question, but by three bogus photographs circulated by the (peace-loving) Islamic Society of Denmark. A spokesman for the group said they circulated the photos to demonstrate Denmark's Islamophobia.

Except that the photographs weren't published in Denmark or elsewhere on terra firma. One of them, allegedly depicting Muhammad dressed like a pig, is in fact a photo of Frenchman Jacques Barrot as he participated in last August's annual French Pig-Squealing Championships in Trie-sur-Baise. And that's no joke.

The pig photograph, lifted from an MSNBC story, is posted at neanderNews.com, where other blogs (Gateway Pundit and Counter Terrorism Blog) also are credited with reporting the photoscam. The other photos (origins unknown), including one of a man dressed in Arab garb being mounted by a dog, are the sort of images bored college students Photoshop in dorm rooms late at night.

(emphasis mine)

How about that. In six weeks bloggers have gone from being murderous children hoisting the fly-covered head of a butchered sow, to being the fact-checkers that show the sow photo to be bogus.

I guess some of us in the blogosphere are adults after all.

Technorati Tags: Media, Blog

meet the new boss, same as the old boss

meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Update: Stephen Taylor responds.

The Conservative Party of Canada just won an election, campaigning on, among other things, ethics. They held the high ground. They brought down the Liberal government over serious ethical breaches. That was a government that included David Emerson, the Industry minister under the former Liberal government.

Well, now that the dust has settled from the election, and the new Prime Minister sworn in, one would expect that such high moral standards would be adhered to, at least for a little while.

But, no! Far from it. Not only did Stephen Harper welcome David "I will be Stephen Harper's worst nightmare" Emerson into caucus, he also appointed a campaign co-chair to the Senate (breaking his promise to only appoint those elected to the senate in provincial elections) and made the newly-minted senator the Minister of Public Works - so now the minister in charge of the largest ministry in the government is exempt from question in the House of Commons.

Wow. That took all of one day in power to throw ethics completely out the window. I guess ethics and accountability were cute, empty catchphrases with which to trick voters, and to be discarded the moment the Conservatives came into possession of power.

Lord Acton is famous for saying that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". It is a truism that holds up rather well; the longer a government is in power, the more corrupt it gets. This is why it is essential to regularly change governments, so that corruption may be kept in check.

And here, on the very first day in power, the Conservatives have pulled a complete 180 on ethics and accountability. They have set the bar very low, and if Lord Acton is correct (and he has been, invariably so, so far), then it will only get worse.

This is for what we threw the Liberals out? This is why we had a federal election? So that the Conservatives could behave exactly the same as the Liberals, discarding moral rectitude on the very first day?

During the election, I found myself arguing with people who said things like "all politicians are the same", saying that such an argument was merely an excuse for the excesses of the Liberals, and didn't apply to the Conservatives. Silly me!

I find it baffling that such normally clear-headed thinkers like Kate McMillan, Steve Janke, and Stephen Taylor would excuse this rubbish.

The Reform party started in Canada over precisely this sort of ethical lapse on the part of the former Progressive Conservative party; it led to a split of the right wing in Canada that lasted for a decade. Could we not have waited longer than a single day before fracturing the right wing once again?

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada

sudoku (060207)

sudoku (060207)

Once again it is Tuesday, and this week's easy sudoku. The medium-hard ones are on Thursdays and the monster 16x16 sudokus are every Saturday.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you want to play more sudokus, you can find them here.

Update: Sandlady was the first one with the correct solution, here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

robots replacing small boys

robots replacing small boys

Camel racing is very popular in the Persian Gulf, and highly lucrative. Of course, the smaller the jockeys, the better, as a camel can move faster with a lighter load (apparently handicapping isn't practiced as it is with horse racing). As a result of trying to use smaller and smaller jockeys, young boys were used, some as young as four years old. This is obviously very dangerous for such young riders, and last year Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates banned the use of child camel jockeys.

But, the race must go on. What to do?

The answer apparently is to use robot jockeys fashioned in the shape of small boys.

(hat tip: Kevin Parkin)

Technorati Tags: Robots

The Red Ensign flies again

The Red Ensign flies again

... at the Phantom Observer.

Technorati Tags: Red Ensign

canada online rpg part 1

If Canadian political history was an online role-playing game
Part 1: before world war 1

THE_BUFFALO has joined the game
INDIANS has joined the game
THE_BUFFALO: hi
INDIANS: hi
THE_BUFFALO: pretty quiet in here
INDIANS: yeah
INDIANS: ...
THE_BUFFALO: ...
INDIANS: ...
THE_BUFFALO: ...
VIKINGS has joined the game
VIKINGS: hi
INDIANS: hi
THE_BUFFALO: hi
VIKINGS: pretty quiet in here
INDIANS: yeah
THE_BUFFALO: yeah
VIKINGS: screw this, i'm going to play Iceland instead
VIKINGS has left the game
INDIANS: bye
INDIANS: aw crap he left already
INDIANS: were you waiting here long?
THE_BUFFALO: yeah, it seems like i was here by myself forever
INDIANS: so what do we do?
THE_BUFFALO: i dunno, wait 4 another player i gues
FRANCE has joined the game
INDIANS: hi
THE_BUFFALO: hi
FRANCE: hi
FRANCE: ok l4mers, i'm taking over this game
INDIANS: lol
THE_BUFFALO: hahaha
INDIANS: n00b
FRANCE: haha i've got guns, what are you going to do about it
INDIANS: oh crap
THE_BUFFALO: dude, that is so totally not fair.
ENGLAND has joined the game
ENGLAND: hi
INDIANS: hi
THE_BUFFALO: hi
FRANCE: oh crap. i've seen this guy in another game, he sux
ENGLAND: screw you france
ENGLAND attacks FRANCE
INDIANS: lol
FRANCE attacks ENGLAND
THE_BUFFALO: lol
ENGLAND: hahaha you lamer
FRANCE: stfu
ENGLAND: haha i took over quebec
FRANCE: sonofabitch
FRANCE: i'm staying anyhow
ENGLAND: lol ok but i pwned you lol
HUDSONSBAYCO joined the game
ENGLAND: hi
FRANCE: hi
HUDSONSBAYCO: hi
ENGLAND: hey HBC you want the northwest territories
HUDSONSBAYCO: sure
FRANCE: this is lame
THE_BUFFALO: wtf?
INDIANS: wtf
ENGLAND: hey indians i won't attack you if you won't attack me ok
INDIANS: sure fine whatever
THE_BUFFALO: WTF!!!11!!!! what happened to all my guys?
ENGLAND: hahaha lamer
INDIANS: hey!
THE_BUFFALO has left the game
INDIANS: shit dude you wiped out the_buffalo
ENGLAND: yeah
FRANCE: yeah
HUDSONSBAYCO: lol
INDIANS: oh shit shit shit
UPPERCANADA has joined the game
LOWERCANADA has joined the game
FRANCE: hey lowercanada, i'm leaving, you want my territory?
LOWERCANADA: sure
FRANCE has left the game
UPPERCANADA: hi
LOWERCANADA: hi
INDIANS: hi
ENGLAND: hi
HUDSONSBAYCO: hi
ENGLAND: hey guys, i promised not to attack indians so don't attack him ok?
UPPERCANADA: whatever
LOWERCANADA: ok
ENGLAND: i'm in charge around here so do it
UPPERCANADA: yeah yeah fine
LOWERCANADA: geez what an asshole
NEWBRUNSWICK has joined the game
NOVASCOTIA has joined the game
ENGLAND: hi
NOVASCOTIA: hi
NEWBRUNSWICK: hi
INDIANS: hi
HUDSONSBAYCO: hi
UNITEDSTATES has joined the game
UPPERCANADA: hi
UNITEDSTATES: hi
ENGLAND: oh shit, i know this guy, he sux
INDIANS: yeah i remember him, he damn near wiped me out
UNITEDSTATES: screw you england
UNITEDSTATES: you're just pissed off because i pwned your ass
UPPERCANADA: holy shit you guys look at unitedstates hit points he could crush us all one by one
LOWERCANADA: geez, you're right UC
NOVASCOTIA: we should all band together
UNITEDSTATES: stfu, i'm going to take over the whole continent
UNITEDSTATES attacks UPPERCANADA
UNITEDSTATES attacks LOWERCANADA
ENGLAND attacks UNITEDSTATES
UPPERCANADA attacks UNITEDSTATES
LOWERCANADA attacks UNITEDSTATES
UNITEDSTATES: hahaha i burned toronto
UPPERCANADA: lol so? i burned down the white hose
UNITEDSTATES: this sucks we aren't getting anywhere
ENGLAND: brb my kid is acting up
UPPERCANADA changed his name to ONTARIO
LOWERCANADA changed his name to QUEBEC
ONTARIO and QUEBEC have formed an alliance: CANADA
ONTARIO: hey you guys want to join up with me and quebec
NOVASCOTIA: sure
NEWBRUNSWICK: sure
NEWBRUNSWICK has joined the CANADA alliance
NOVASCOTIA has joined the CANADA alliance
UNITEDSTATES: you guys just stay on your own side of the saint lawrence river and i won't take you out ok
ONTARIO: ok
QUEBEC: fine
NEWBRUNSWICK: ya
NOVASCOTIA: whatever
MANITOBA has joined the game
ONTARIO: hi
MANITOBA: hi
ONTARIO: hey manitoba we're forming an alliance against unitedstates, wanna join us?
MANITOBA: sure, but i want some of hbc's territory
HUDSONSBAYCO: hey!
ONTARIO: stfu hbc give manitoba some territory
HUDSONSBAYCO: fine
MANITOBA has joined the CANADA alliance
BC has joined the game
BC: hi
UNITEDSTATES: hi
ONTARIO: hi
BC: haha look at all this area over here you guys haven't even touched it yet. i'm taking it
INDIANS: hey!
BC: stfu
ONTARIO: hey bc we're all banding together against unitedstates, wanna join us?
BC: maybe.
BC: build me a railroad and i'll think about it
HUDSONSBAYCO: that would go through my territory
BC: so? i don't care
INDIANS: hey! who says that's your territory, that's mine jerk
HUDSONSBAYCO: geez weren't you paying attention? scroll up dude, england gave that to me
HUDSONSBAYCO: if you want it back you'll have to fight england for it
INDIANS: shit shit shit
ONTARIO: ok we'll put a railroad through ok
BC: fine
CANADA has built a railroad
BC has joined the CANADA alliance
UNITEDSTATES: you guys suck ass
ONTARIO: stfu
QUEBEC: lol
INDIANS: you all suck
PEI has joined the game
ONTARIO: hi
PEI: hi
ONTARIO: hey pie we're all banding up together against unitedstates, wanna join us?
PEI: ok
PEI has joined the CANADA alliance
UNITEDSTATES: you guys suck
NOVASCOTIA: whatever
ALBERTA has joined the game
SASKATCHEWAN has joined the game
ALBERTA: hi
SASKATCHEWAN: hi
UNITEDSTATES: hi
BC: hi
ALBERTA: how's it goin
INDIANS: stfu n00b
ONTARIO: hey you guys we're forming an alliance against unitedstates, wnat to join us
ALBERTA: ok
SASKATCHEWAN: sure
ALBERTA: how the hell do you pronounce that anyhow
SASKATCHEWAN: what
ALBERTA: your name
SASKATCHEWAN: saskatchewan
PEI: lol
ALBERTA: whatever
ALBERTA has joined the CANADA alliance
SASKATCHEWAN has joined the CANADA alliance
HUDSONSBAYCO: shit! all my territory is gone
INDIANS: damn mine too, except for little bits i've got reserved all over
ONTARIO: lol
QUEBEC: hahhaaahaha
ONTARIO: hey unitedstates, our alliance has more territory than you
ONTARIO: we're 1337
UNITEDSTATES: i've got ten times as many guys as you so stfu
ENGLAND: i'm back, did i miss anything?
CANADA: nah

Technorati Tags: Politics, Canada, History, Humor

monster sudoku (060204)

monster sudoku (060204)

Wow, I have been totally neglecting my blog... nothing here since the last sudoku on Thursday. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll have an extended rant about a space topic very soon. In the meantime, here is this week's monster 16x16 sudoku.

The rules of Monster Sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 16 by 16 grid, which is further divided up into sixteen 4 by 4 blocks. In each row, column, and 4x4 block, the letters A through P each get written exactly once. There is only one solution. If the letters are a little too small for you, click on the image to bring up a large version. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

To solve this puzzle, I suggest first saving the GIF on your computer. Then print it out (or copy it out on graph paper) and solve it in pencil (or in pen if you're feeling bold). If you don't feel like using paper, then solve it using a graphics editor such as Microsoft Paint.

If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. The first person who posts the correct solution wins a prize: a permalink on my blogroll and a graphic declaring him or her to be the Monster Sudoku Champion, which can be displayed on their own blog. I will post the solution next Saturday if nobody else gets it by then.

Update: Kiraly posted the correct solution here. An easier-to-read version is posted here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

sudoku (060202)

sudoku (060202)

Welcome to Thursday, and this week's medium-hard sudoku. To all you groundhogs out there, don't let your shadow scare you.

The rules of sudoku: The puzzle board consists of a 9 by 9 grid, which is further divided up into nine 3 by 3 blocks. In each row, column, and 3x3 block, the numbers 1 through 9 each get written exactly once. The puzzle board generally starts with 18 to 36 of the cells in the grid already filled in. For those who need help, a short tutorial on how to solve sudoku puzzles can be found here.

You can either solve this on paper (by printing out the GIF or copying it by hand) or solve it on your computer. If you solve this puzzle, post your solution in the comments. I will be posting the solution in a few days.

If you are yearning for more sudokus, you can find them here.

Update: Sandlady posted the correct solution here.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku

Yeah, what he said

Yeah, what he said

Update: there are plenty more caricatures of mohammed at this site, including a link to this South Park cartoon.

Steve Janke has a point:

Denmark is being subjected to a boycott by Islamic nations.

The justification? Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Mohammed Al Dhaheri of the UAE called this "cultural terrorism".

Nice try. Not too many buses got blown up by cartoons. No one has ever taken over an airplane by threatening to draw a cartoon. In fact, it's hard to be terrorized by a cartoon.

Unless you are some sort of coward. Frightened by doodles. Are Muslims terrified by a sketch? Are they really terrorized by this?

What a bunch of babies. And I always thought that Muslims, and Arab Muslim men in particular, were all about honour and reckless courage. Guess I was wrong.

I extend a personal invitation to every blogger to repost this cartoon on their blog in order to take a stand on free speech, and to frighten a terrorist with this bit of "cultural terrorism".

You know what? I like pissing people off. Here goes:

Technorati Tags: Politics, Moonbats, Islamic Riots

it's getting a little crowded around here

it's getting a little crowded around here

The Armaugh Observatory has put together a chart of the positions of asteroids in the inner solar system, a small version of which is reproduced below. The red dots are asteroids which cross the earth's orbit (click on the picture for the larger version and a more detailed explanation); these asteroids pose a threat to all life on earth. It isn't a question of if one of these will hit us; the question is when.

The Armaugh Observatory site also links to this animation of the asteroids and inner planets. They state that

It is estimated that there are perhaps 100,000 to 1,000,000 undiscovered asteroids on similar Earth crossing orbits.
Have a Nice Day.

After seeing this picture (or the animation), is it any wonder that the B612 Foundation wants to figure out a way to alter the orbit of an asteroid?

(hat tip to the Eternal Golden Braid)

Technorati Tags: Space, Asteroids