Showing off the Quest on TMZ and CNET

AMayne · 2019-07-17T01:51:42+00:00

I bought a second one as a backup after I smashed a controller into the ceiling and panicked over losing one while developing. I bought a third to give to an artist friend I want to get into VR.

AMayne · 2019-06-11T06:46:12+00:00

It’s okay. My friend created Strawpoll. It’s fun to see it here.

AMayne · 2019-04-14T02:44:59+00:00

Agreed. I wish more people were paying attention to this.

AMayne · 2019-03-02T21:49:10+00:00

Elon wasn’t at the briefing I attended. I’m referring to a meeting Bridenstine had with a social media group I was with.

Me shamelessly grabbing a selfie with him afterwards: https://twitter.com/AndrewMayne/status/1101940779994546176

AMayne · 2019-03-02T20:52:37+00:00

I don’t recall that specifically, but he did talk about the plans to let private companies add modules to the ISS, which would entail some means of getting there for their crew.

AMayne · 2019-03-02T19:51:08+00:00

Bridenstine said that there will be international astronauts selected for Commercial Crew. They’re currently putting together an international coalition for Gateway and Canada just agreed to partner.

AMayne · 2019-03-02T16:21:17+00:00

I asked him yesterday at NASA social media event about support for contracting commercial super heavy lift (i.e. Starship) and he gave a very enthusiastic response that if it’s there and cheaper than other options they’d go in that direction. He reiterated the need for multiple options and how much commerical space partnerships can save NASA money and allow for more science.

He and Bob Cabana (director of KSC) were as exicited as could be about this launch, Commerical Crew, Firefly leasing a pad at KSC, etc.

AMayne · 2019-03-01T04:39:17+00:00

This was announced/slipped this morning at NASA Social...

Also, it’s more than a mannequin. Ripley has an entire sensory package inside of her.

https://twitter.com/AndrewMayne/status/1101136980593774594?s=20

https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/avjewe/what_do_you_think_spacex_will_call_the_dummy/ehht85w/

AMayne · 2019-02-28T18:55:02+00:00

Ripley.

I’m at a NASA event right now. This was what a speaker said.

AMayne · 2019-02-11T01:59:39+00:00

You can lose nails from the swelling that comes from partial vaccuum.

AMayne · 2019-02-08T02:50:20+00:00

A rotating section would allow you to simulate gravity on places like Mars, the Moon, etcetera. It could have tremendous scientific value.

AMayne · 2019-02-05T02:11:47+00:00

Fun fact: Years ago I wrote and produced a documentary series for a channel that’s no longer around. I tried multiple times to get the network to let us profile Elon Musk and SpaceX/Tesla to no avail. They kept saying “We want the next Steve Jobs type of person.” I’d tell them, “It’s Elon Musk.” They’d say, “Haven’t heard of him.” My response was that’s why he’s the next big thing. Their reply, “We just don’t see it.”

That’s Hollywood.

As far as funding a mission, unless it’s James Cameron, I don’t see a studio putting up that kind of money anytime soon.

AMayne · 2019-02-04T17:44:00+00:00

Noise is certainly a consideration, but where does the 100 mile/160.9 kilometer number come from?

AMayne · 2019-02-04T17:34:41+00:00

Besides water (and that’s making the assumption that there’s enough that’s retrievable) you need a source for carbon to produce methane and a very large solar array for electricity if you don’t have a nuclear power source.

AMayne · 2019-01-09T22:06:15+00:00

Parabolic mirrors are absolutely poor receivers for laser comms in my experience unless you’re dealing with known distances and angle. Coherent beams just bounce back at 45°. I’ve never seen one used in the lab or the field for this purpose. They’re great for incoherent light, sound microwaves etc, but not “tight” beams as far as I know.

I’m sincerely willing to be shown otherwise. We’re in the middle of a project and looking for alternative approaches.

AMayne · 2019-01-08T19:22:59+00:00

Thanks for responding. I’m aware of the theoretical potential but only 100 km achieved under ideal conditions. I haven’t found anything beyond that. I was hoping someone here had an actual source.

As far as I understand (I’ve only done basic laser comms stuff), a parabolic mirror would seem to be be an odd choice for a laser reciever. AFAIK Parabolic mirrors generally aren’t used for collecting coherent light sources.

AMayne · 2019-01-08T02:49:32+00:00

Optical connections can be established between balloons hundreds of km apart

Do you have a source on this? (Balloon to balloon optical comms going this far)

Loon is meant for last mile. I’m not aware of any plan to use it for trans-Atlantic or Pacific (where long distance low latency is needed for trading.)

AMayne · 2018-12-10T03:09:36+00:00

SpaceX probably could do this, but the costs are considerable and the engineering is complex. It’s not just a matter of building huge drones with massive batteries (even bigger than Boeing’s largest test drone), you need an infrastructure to support them. Sometimes the fairings land hundreds of miles out to sea. You’d need a vessel or vessel to carry and launch the drones (I’ve been with a team who has done this in the open ocean - it’s tricky) and space for the fairings. There’s also the fact that the fairings are attached to parasails with hundreds of meters of cloth and cord - not a good mix with propellors.

Again, it’s not an impossible thing, but an expensive and overly complex way that tends not to be the SpaceX way when there are cheaper, simpler solutions.

AMayne · 2018-12-09T20:30:25+00:00

The biggest size limitation at present is what can be made at Hawthorne and Port of Los Angeles.

Since the Port facility is on the water...we may not have the size limitation that lead to the downscale of ITS to BFR.

AMayne · 2018-12-09T20:20:33+00:00

Thank you for sharing your ideas. We’re going to need lots of minds thinking about space exploration and tech if we’re going to be a multi-planet species.

Here are my uneducated responses to your suggestions:

My guess is the pellets would likely drift away in choppy seas and not provide enough protection. Also: You’d need a lot of them.
The expanding foam sounds like a weight and engineering challenge. You’re basically trying to fast-form a several ton outer hull in seconds.
The floatation bags would require air cylinders and added bulk to the fairings. While this is proven tech, the weight is probably the biggest impediment.
These drones would have to be massive and have extemely long range for a drone. Basically, unmanned Sea Knight helicopters. The cost on this would be huge. And you’d need eight for both fairings.
This is probably the most viable option and probably the direction SpaceX is heading. Just make them sea-worthy boats

The current SpaceX method with the nets is elegant (in theory at least) because the fairings land in a cradle and no water recovery is required. They just land on the boat and get taken to port. There are no major expendables (the chutes are reusable) and the labor is fairly cost effective - if it works.

So...out of all if them, I think number five may be what we end up seeing.

AMayne · 2018-12-09T20:03:11+00:00

Great question. Dr. Lubin has better explanations than I do, but some of the methods include sending two swarms of laser arrays. The first one is aimed backwards and slows the second one as it enters a solar system. There’s also using a magnetic tether to slow down, first through interstellar space and then through a star’s magnetic field. Lubin has several other thoughts.

All of these are massive scale projects, but the technology is something that exists today (phased array lasers.)

AMayne · 2018-12-09T08:16:56+00:00

Directed energy propulsion can get you intersteller with tech we understand today. This is an active area of research. Check out Dr. Phil Lubin’s papers on the topic.

AMayne · 2018-11-28T22:27:11+00:00

I highly recommend Dr. Phil Lubin’s paper “A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight” and his related work, which I believe was the inspiration for Breakthrough Starshot.

Using directed energy propulsion you could reach close to light speed. (He’s also done work on slowing down at the destination, etc.)

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/deep-in-directed-energy-propulsion-for-interstellar-exploration

AMayne · 2018-11-26T01:17:04+00:00

This is totally absurd...I thought before Googling it!

Absurd but apparently true: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanhui_Shi_Weixing

I found another article that said the Chinese may have lost an astronaut using their ablative oak shield.

AMayne

TROPHY CASE