[ExI] Meat v. Machine

spike spike66 at att.net
Thu Dec 30 16:03:33 UTC 2010


...

Current access to space is good enough, if your payload has a lot of magic.
The longer you wait, the more magic it gets....--Eugen* Leitl 


As a spacecraft controls guy I am reluctant to admit it, but this comment is
really right on, the conclusion I eventually reached with much kicking and
screaming over 20 yrs ago.  I was new to the field right when the Challenger
exploded in 1986.  We really looked at the numbers that the space shuttle
was making at the time, and most of us concluded that system had not the
potential to be a game changer.  We did calcs on heavy lifters for the next
several years.  I and others concluded by around 1989 that all the real
potential was in miniaturization and vastly increased sophistication of
payloads.  That is perhaps why the K. Eric's book Engines of Creation had
such an impact on me, and why I became Mister Nanotech at the aerospace
weight engineers conferences.

Regarding content of the list, EXCELLENT, thanks all.  ExI-chat has been the
most worthwhile I have seen in a long time.  I really enjoyed reading it
recently, many thanks to all who are posting smart and relevant material,
the space science, futurism, energy, the technology, the sex stuff, all of
it.

spike









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