Because it's expensive, and this:

Don't conflate something one of Clarke's characters said with advice from Clarke himself.

/no it's not

Poor Watson!

Now that would be interesting....

Yeah, this episode totally lost me when Rudy explained how he could, absolutely, positively, always identify whether a voice came from a human being or a recording. Then he played a recording and identified it as coming from a human.

Why?

No, the "deorbit device" is on a CubeSat (10x10x10 cm, 1 kg satellite) and it's probably an inflatable balloon or a tether or something like that. It just had to generate enough atmospheric drag to pull the tiny satellite down. For example:

Just to clarify, the NROL-39 spacecraft is one satellite and the primary payload of the launch vehicle. The 12 CubeSats are all separate missions called "secondary payloads." None of them appear to be about spying; they look more like small spacecraft technology demonstrators.

The _____ remains one of Tolkien's most enduring inventions, a standout amongst an increasingly crowded field of _____ characters. And he endures not merely for being the _____ upon whom so many fictional _____ have been based, but also because he represents Tolkien's care and attention to the idea of _____ and how a…

But what if the percentages skew the other way?! I think that's make-or-break, right there.

He's easily the best choice for overall "Lord of the Rings" protagonist.

It's really, really cool, yeah - unfortunately, at present the US is a very unforgiving place for all my planetary scientist friends: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/arc…

It's really fantastic to see articles like this. When I was taking planetary geology classes, it was really fun to think about the physical phenomena that can give rise to completely different worlds, and how those worlds might come about in alien solar systems. There's a surprising amount of variety in the…

::walks in from the '80s::

That. Is. Fantabulous.

All the Mars missions are mostly about easy access. We get a launch opportunity every 2 years, and the transit time is only six months, so we can send a lot more small missions there.

One a Europa article, writing that comment is as bad as "FIRST!"

I second the Old Man's War suggestion for you.

Maybe they can travel here next: