Shit. Someone better tell Hoover Dam that, then.

So do I, man. So do I. :(

Kerosene (or RP-1 in this case) is actually pretty hard to light accidentally. As long as it is in the tank, there shouldn’t be any problem at all.

(Robot arm comes out to hold beer.)

They haven’t botched any land attempts - the one they tried was the first, and it succeeded.

There’s folks who have to shit on others because of reasons that seem good to them. Best thing to do is just kind of ignore them.

I watched the Mercury shots as a kid. I watched the Moon landings. I watched the first Shuttle launch. Took my son to see a Shuttle launch. I was hoping for good things from the DC-X program, but that got shelved.

Saw it coming down and was going “Come on, come on.... okay... closer, closer closer don’t tip, pleasepleasePLEASE don’t tip!!!”

That’s likely a bad assumption. If your network’s firewalls aren’t up to speed, you’ve introduced whatever malware might be on the drive into an open environment.

Yeah, it was a nice little fantasy... too bad that bubble had to burst, eh?

All she has to do is roll back a lot of the regulation that’s been imposed in the last 8 years, institute tax reform so companies will actually be glad to move to and invest in the US, and maybe institute the Fair Tax. Make America a good place to do business, and the investment will come flooding in.

I agree. This fake ‘common man’ act doesn’t impress me.

Judging by the last few decades nobody on either side can.

Considering what numbers would need to be crunched? Two, three seconds, tops, for the basics.

True, there is. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of programs and proposals from NASA and private companies just ... vanish. The ‘90s were real good for that.

Seems like it’d depend on the isotopes - I know there’s a lot of talk about thorium reactors, so that might be useful instead of ‘waste’. Of course, it all depends on the percentages...

“While several companies have trial-tested nodule collectors, we don’t yet have production-scale mining systems that can haul thousands of tons of rock to the surface 15,000 feet up.”

It’s a case of costs and availability. Getting to the ocean floor’s significantly easier AND safer than getting to orbit, getting sufficient mass (engines and fuel) OUT of orbit TO an asteroid, breaking it’s orbit and having the delta-v to match Earth’s orbit, and THEN getting it into a stable orbit around Earth that…

Are you kidding? Those bits will feel dissed when you DON’T provide a platinum plated, diamond encrusted cable for them to pass through.

Just look at Amtrak. It’s profitable in the NE corridor, where the population’s high and people need to get into congested areas from the suburbs - but almost everywhere else it loses money on the fares.