Imagine that: responsibility

 blather, dumbassery, Hmm..., I'm from the government, politics  5 Responses »
Aug 112013
 

States Consider Charging for Risky Behavior

Short form: some people do monumentally stupid things (kayaking in floods, frex), and then need rescuing. Since the economy is not exactly stellar, states are looking at ways to fund rescue services. Well… how about charging for their services, when their services are required to save someone who exhibited poor judgement?

This is not only a good idea for this particular government function, but for *most* government functions. Some functions cover everybody equally… the military, weather services, etc. Others, such as rescue, policing, food stamps, welfare, etc. take funds from some and distribute it unequally to others. Why should those who consume out of proportion, and do so not due to bad luck but due to bad judgement, not be required to pay back the society they’ve helped impoverish?

Of course, there are other opinions:

Rep. Ellison: ‘There’s Plenty of Money, It’s Just The Government Doesn’t Have It’

The other approach to dealing with cash-strapped governments is to simply soak the taxpayers. Sure, that’s worked well.

 Posted by at 4:09 pm

Space Station for manned interplanetary missions

 art, history, projects, spacecraft  7 Responses »
Aug 102013
 

One of the original selling points of the Space Station was that it would be useful as an assembly station and launch point for manned missions to the Moon and Mars. One such concept was the one illustrated below, a “dual keel” station concept from 1989 with a partially enclosed “hangar” below and an aeroshell-equipped Mars vehicle above.

This space station design features a wealth of electrical power, both from rectangular photovoltaic arrays and segmented-mirror solar dynamic generators.

 Posted by at 6:34 pm

Because it’s funny, that’s why

 awesomeness, cats, humor, science fiction, youtube  5 Responses »
Aug 092013
 

A cat in a shark costume riding a floor-cleaning robot.

[youtube tLt5rBfNucc]

Forty years ago, who could have predicted this? Was there some obscure sci-fi author who posited that just this sort of thing would become inordinately popular on some freely-accessible information network, and would become part of a productivity-destroying pastime?

 Posted by at 8:35 pm

The Translucent Nuke

 history, Hmm..., nukes, photography, rockets, weapons  7 Responses »
Aug 072013
 

Something I hadn’t noticed before: the re-entry vehicle for the Titan II ICBM nuclear warhead is, in part, translucent. It’s covered with an ablative “rubber” that is, on close examination, sort of amber-colored, translucent and with more bubbles than I would have expected from a nuclear/aerospace product.

Dsc_8908 Dsc_8918

 Posted by at 6:23 am

Shuttle Art

 art, history, rockets, spacecraft  No Responses »
Aug 062013
 

NASA art, circa 1975, depicting the Space Transportation System. Apart from the paint job, this is pretty much as-flown, except for the fairing over the nose of the ET. This probably depicts the “de-orbit” solid rocket motor that early ET concepts showed, meant to make sure that the ET was properly dumped into the Indian Ocean.

 Posted by at 11:21 am
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