Fantasist's Scroll

“To the stars through hardship.”

That’s roughly what Ad Astra Per Aspera means. I think the effort is worth it, though. There’s been a lot of talk lately about President Bush’s new space plan. Basically, his plan has two branches. First, establish a moon base. Second, send a manned mission to Mars.
This Wired News article talks about the first step, building a permanent moon base. This, of course, has been the dream of many of us since the very early days of space travel. I know that I’ve been waiting for it since I was a little kid. I even remember getting a book from a school book fair that had cardboard cut-out toys that which was all about a moon base. But, something happened. We lost our way and this dream got shelved. Now, President Bush has revived it. Let’s hope it stays alive.
The second part of the space plan is to send a manned mission to Mars. Again, a dream of many of us for many years. I started to think about this after I started listening to the environmentalists yapping about the state of the Earth’s ecology. In fact, I’ve said for years that if it’s so bad, we need to invest in getting off the planet! Now, it seems, we may.

Of course, there’s a lot of talk about how much this will all cost. Honestly, I’m not sure why it matters. It sure didn’t matter when we went to the moon. All that mattered was that we got there and beat everyone else. I’d say the same thing applies here, too. Now we have to compete with the Chinese and the Indians, who both have viable space programs. Sure, the front-runners are the Chinese who have only recently put an astronaut in space, but still, they’re gaining. We need to beat them to the Red Planet. I mean, c’mon. “The Red Planet”? How can we pass up the chance to make headlines about beating the Red Chinese to the Red Planet?
Seriously, maybe some good, old-fashioned competition can restore our country to the greatness we once enjoyed. I sure hope so. And, I’d love to get a call from a grandkid on Mars.

Er, a mechanical dog for the military?

Okay, I’m not sure why they don’t use the real thing, but according to this story on WiredNews, the US military is working on building, essentially a robotic dog. The idea is to have a robot that can carry more of the soldier’s gear and still be able to keep up with them over rough terrain. Interesting, but the robot looks like a clunky, mechanical dog. The article even makes the comparison. Seems to me, with all the problems that they seem to be having creating this robotic helper, it would be better to stick with the K-9 units. But, then, I’m an old-fashioned guy.
In any case, it’s an interesting story.

The future of transportation?

Funny, that’s what they said about the Segway… But, this time, I think they might actually have something. This time it’s a mono-wheel motorcycle. Well, an almost uni-bike. It actually has other wheels for, er, something. From the pictures in the article on WiredNews it’s hard to tell what they’re for, but they are there. Well, at least they’re there in the pictures. There’s not even a prototype, yet. The plan is for it use electric and hydrogen power and it’s going to be a lot faster than the Segway. At 35mph in the “learning mode”, I would imagine that this is meant to be a replacement for Vespa, at the very least.

In any case, it’s cool. And, I think it’s actually on its way!

Can this possibly be a real story?

I feel like I should put this up on April Fool’s Day, but it seems to be a real story. Apparently, the Pentagon is considering using the Segway in battle. Yeah, that’s about what I thought, but it’s a real news story. According to this story on CTV News, the US military is looking at making autonomous robots based on the Segway for use in battlefield conditions. It’s only in the planning stages now, but it actually sounds like a good idea. At least on paper.
It might even be what saves Dean Kamen from disaster. After all, the Segway didn’t really “revolutionize” city transportation the way all his backers said it would. Ah, well, at least there might be a government contract in it for him yet!

Good luck, Mr. Kamen!

Do they have daylight savings on Mars?

I never realized how much of a problem time and dates can be between planets. Maybe I just got used to the whole “Stardate” concept, or something, but I never figured that Mars having a different rotational period would effect its day. Year, sure, but having a different length day caught me by surprise. Anyhow, I may not have thought of it, but scientists at NASA sure have. This article on Asrobiology Magazine describes what they’re going through to allow for this. It’s quite a challenge!

You can read more about how Martian time works, and differs from Earth time, at Marsbase Dot Net. And, if you’d like something to help you keep track of what time it actually is on Mars, you can get the Mars Time Tool from the Goddard Instituite for Space Studies.

This is for all you Monty Python fans…

Someone with way, way too much time on their hands has answered the timeless question “How fast can an unladen swallow fly?” Now, if you’ve seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you know that this is the question asked of the rather rude Frenchman when he insisted that the coconut which hit King Arthur on the head was dropped by an African Swallow. Of course, it doesn’t matter since such a small bird cannot possibly carry something as heavy as a coconut. What?! You doubt me?!? Well, your aunties smell of elderberries!!

Well, it looks like we’re finally sending a probe to Jupiter!

Though, it doesn’t look like it will have HAL or anything even like HAL on board, the probe itself looks rather like the Discovery of Arthur C. Clarke fame. According to this article on Atrobiology Magazine Online, the probe is being sent to study Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa to study any potential life that might be found there. But, we all know it’s just a rendevous with the Monolith. Of course, we’re a little behind schedule, but we’ve been busy. No, really!

Seriously, though, I look forward to this test of a nuclear drive system. It’ll be one way to do some “proof-of-concept” work for future manned missions. I just hope the funding doesn’t get cut before it gets off the ground.

Well, since I’m flying anyway….

I thought a post about promises of flight that didn’t come true would be appropriate. This article on MSNBC about seven ideas regarding the future of flight that never came to pass struck a chord. Here are some great examples of science-fiction that has not quite worked out. Sure, a lot of things have been predicted by science-fiction authors, but how many have really come true? Okay, a lot of them, actually, but not all. For instance, what about flying cars? Where’s my flying car? Or, jet packs? Hey, I’d settle for a personal helicopter that I can fly to work! Now, that would cut down my commute time!!
So, while I fly up to Chicago to visit with family, enjoy the article.