it would have structure, and be full of exciting space craft, infrastructure, and destinations... there would be a sense of going forward, as each step was learned, scientific research was developed and incorporated into the advancement of humanity...
so what of the structure: there would have to be stepping stones, that would tell us the progress we were making... building of Launch Vehicles, and the infruatructure to develop, build, and fly them into space... Space vehicles and satellites would need to be built, and maintained... intermediary goals, that would lead logically to the next and then the next: return to the moon, lunar sorties (stays of 8 to 14 days on the moon at temporary bases); later a habitat for longer stays, with protection from Cosmic Rays (to teach us how to live on another planetary body, testing infrastructure for Mars landings); visit to Near Earth Objects, (for research on the origins of the Solar System, and for learning more about potential deflection to protect Earth from impacts in the future, practice of long duration space flights, prior to going to Mars); building of larger and more permanent Space Stations like the ISS, positioning them in LEO and in the L1 or L2 points as way posts to the Moon and beyond...
but ultimately the structure must be loose or flexible enough that should skipping a step be advisable or possible, then it would not create problems with the other steps or the research that is necessary for safe progress into the Solar System...
I have one caveate here... US space program insists on referring to any space exploration beyong LEO as Deep Space... that is wrong... anything within the Solar System is within the gravitaional effects of the Sun, and is therefore not deep space, but can be divided up into several areas:
LEO,
Inner Planets (Mars, Venus, Mercury) and Near Earth Objects,
Astroid Belt,
Outer Planets (Gas Giants: Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus),
near Planetary bodies (ie Pluto and several recently found bodies),
the Oort Cloud
the edge of Space, where the Sun's Solar Wind ends (I am not sure, but I don't believe the Oort Cloud goes out this far
That makes 7 distinct and separate categories of destinations for exploration, before heading out into DEEP SPACE, akin to the Continental Shelf, before heading out into DEEP OCEAN...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Face To Face?
with Face Book... strange enough name... hear tell, that the originators, some under 25yr old entrepreneurs, turned down an offer of 1 billion US awhile ago... the group is number 2 in the socialization of the net, with MySpace number 1... but not by much... I was introduced to it by my daughter, and she has roped in a few of the family... I'm one of them ;) not terribly active, just keeping in touch with the family, in another medium...
not entirely certain of the value of it all yet... can only compare it to a huge room with a wide variety of people, whom you don't know, and your hanging out with your own chums and making new friends and meeting old friends along the way... searched on one of my old jobs, and found that they have several networks going... for current and past employees and students... when I checked out some of the friends lists I was amazed... instead of 10 or 20 as I had assumed, there were between 75 and 200... how can you possibly keep in touch with that many people from the past and present... the investment in time alone must be enourmous... no wonder some companies are blocking these sites from their servers... just as they did the instant messengers a few years ago...
considering I only have 20 family members on my post, I am still a babe in the woods... I think the thing that keeps me from going into the networks (still haven't signed up for any) or any of those to do with the old job, is the fear that I would be inundated with messages from old friends and acquaintances... for now they don't know I am on there, even though I found my name on a network for past employees that had been invited to join (obviously they hadn't found me, because it had been before I signed up)when I first started out in the Web back 11 years ago, I signed up for a few e-mail lists... fine enough, but my inbox was inundated with 50+ e-mails per day from each list... and these were not big lists, maybe 30-40 people... then I got into virtual worlds, and meeting people via the use of avatars and a program to surf the web that was a plug in to the browser... in the end I was spending from 6 to 8 hours a night on the web, getting to bed at 2-3 in the morning... truly I had been caught in a web...
so my question remains, is this truly useful or is it another source of wasted time... any thoughts or comments gratefully welcome...
not entirely certain of the value of it all yet... can only compare it to a huge room with a wide variety of people, whom you don't know, and your hanging out with your own chums and making new friends and meeting old friends along the way... searched on one of my old jobs, and found that they have several networks going... for current and past employees and students... when I checked out some of the friends lists I was amazed... instead of 10 or 20 as I had assumed, there were between 75 and 200... how can you possibly keep in touch with that many people from the past and present... the investment in time alone must be enourmous... no wonder some companies are blocking these sites from their servers... just as they did the instant messengers a few years ago...
considering I only have 20 family members on my post, I am still a babe in the woods... I think the thing that keeps me from going into the networks (still haven't signed up for any) or any of those to do with the old job, is the fear that I would be inundated with messages from old friends and acquaintances... for now they don't know I am on there, even though I found my name on a network for past employees that had been invited to join (obviously they hadn't found me, because it had been before I signed up)when I first started out in the Web back 11 years ago, I signed up for a few e-mail lists... fine enough, but my inbox was inundated with 50+ e-mails per day from each list... and these were not big lists, maybe 30-40 people... then I got into virtual worlds, and meeting people via the use of avatars and a program to surf the web that was a plug in to the browser... in the end I was spending from 6 to 8 hours a night on the web, getting to bed at 2-3 in the morning... truly I had been caught in a web...
so my question remains, is this truly useful or is it another source of wasted time... any thoughts or comments gratefully welcome...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A Vision for Space Exploration: To Boldly Go!
I have tried many times to be succinct regarding the Vision, but each time it comes out in reams... so I am going to try a short (HA!!) series of essays on what I believe the VISION should be... and in doing so, try to justify my answer...
Humankind is on the brink of becoming a Space Faring Species... it began centuries ago when the first human looked up at the night sky and wondered what it was... and in the past 200 years has accelerated like an avalanche... to the point that in the past 50 years since the end of WWII we have seen great strides… but at what cost to the Vision…
A Vision should be detailed and yet general enough to accommodate changes as they happen… there should be a progression of hoped for events, and outcomes, milestones that mark the journey; interim goals that are attainable, rewarding and exciting enough to draw the generations into fulfilling those goals…
Sadly the first steps into space were for Geopolitical reasons, and had nothing to do with Vision or sustainable development… we were given a task that went well beyond our true capabilities, and misdirected us from building the infrastructure that would facilitate the attaining the goal of Space Faring Species… in other words, ‘We Got Lucky’… but in the end, it was too expensive, and had no root… the project withered in the sun of financial and political reality…
So I call the VISION, ‘To Boldly Go!’ keeping it short, to the point and familiar… to build on the infrastructure that was developed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and on the ground in the past 50 years… the mile stones I call ‘Space Treks’, and detail the steps that are required to spread humanity through Sol’s System of inner rocky planets and their moons, comets, Near Earth Objects (NEO), asteroid belt, the Gas Giants, their moons, out to the quasi planets like Pluto, and to the Oort Cloud, and the space where Sol’s solar wind merges with the edges of inter stellar space… they start with Space Trek I, and go to Space Trek IX, when we progress to ‘Star Trek I’ and humanities first steps out of the cradle past the edge of inter stellar space…
In fiction it took more than 200 years to get outside our suns system… but I believe we will achieve it in less time, only because we are an impatient species, and have dreamed great dreams, and will push towards the edge of the envelope…
Humankind is on the brink of becoming a Space Faring Species... it began centuries ago when the first human looked up at the night sky and wondered what it was... and in the past 200 years has accelerated like an avalanche... to the point that in the past 50 years since the end of WWII we have seen great strides… but at what cost to the Vision…
A Vision should be detailed and yet general enough to accommodate changes as they happen… there should be a progression of hoped for events, and outcomes, milestones that mark the journey; interim goals that are attainable, rewarding and exciting enough to draw the generations into fulfilling those goals…
Sadly the first steps into space were for Geopolitical reasons, and had nothing to do with Vision or sustainable development… we were given a task that went well beyond our true capabilities, and misdirected us from building the infrastructure that would facilitate the attaining the goal of Space Faring Species… in other words, ‘We Got Lucky’… but in the end, it was too expensive, and had no root… the project withered in the sun of financial and political reality…
So I call the VISION, ‘To Boldly Go!’ keeping it short, to the point and familiar… to build on the infrastructure that was developed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and on the ground in the past 50 years… the mile stones I call ‘Space Treks’, and detail the steps that are required to spread humanity through Sol’s System of inner rocky planets and their moons, comets, Near Earth Objects (NEO), asteroid belt, the Gas Giants, their moons, out to the quasi planets like Pluto, and to the Oort Cloud, and the space where Sol’s solar wind merges with the edges of inter stellar space… they start with Space Trek I, and go to Space Trek IX, when we progress to ‘Star Trek I’ and humanities first steps out of the cradle past the edge of inter stellar space…
In fiction it took more than 200 years to get outside our suns system… but I believe we will achieve it in less time, only because we are an impatient species, and have dreamed great dreams, and will push towards the edge of the envelope…
Monday, February 2, 2009
Ground Hog Day, February 2,
well, some think it is Heart Month, and for them it is; and other's Black History Month, and of course they have there parties and exhibitions; but in the old days it was called unofficially Cabin Fever Month... many a family would break up or bad things happened, which I won't go into, in this month... the days are getting longer, but it is the month with the most snow and it is half way through the dregs of Winter and the bad weather, before REAL Spring arrives... it never arrives on March 21st except maybe in Vancouver, BC where the Daffodils will be blooming... 
here, in mid April we will still have ice on the lakes and rivers, for another 3-4 weeks, and the possibility of snow and temperatures hovering about 3-9 degrees Celsius... 33 to 45 degrees for you Farenheit fans ;) and it is a cold wind off the lakes, so don't get rid of the winter coats yet... and no planting of gardens until after May 24th weekend... FROST is still likely...
so to answer the question, What makes February, the Cabin Fever Month... the snow and clouds... especially the lack of sunshine... it has been clinically proven that sunshine is necessary for a well balanced mental attitude, and some places that are extreme like Liverpool and Stockholm, should and do have clinics for people to get under ultra violet lights for just that purpose... not to get tans... but to boost their happiness quotient ;0 sooooooo with no further waiting... the snow storms of early February... we have had 1 foot in 3 snow storms that began in Late January... the snow that came for Michelle was a weak dusting by comparison... the snowmeter shows the last two bouts of snow... this weekend we are due for more... the meter is showing a drop of about 1 1/2 inches due to warm weather yesterday...
here, in mid April we will still have ice on the lakes and rivers, for another 3-4 weeks, and the possibility of snow and temperatures hovering about 3-9 degrees Celsius... 33 to 45 degrees for you Farenheit fans ;) and it is a cold wind off the lakes, so don't get rid of the winter coats yet... and no planting of gardens until after May 24th weekend... FROST is still likely...
so to answer the question, What makes February, the Cabin Fever Month... the snow and clouds... especially the lack of sunshine... it has been clinically proven that sunshine is necessary for a well balanced mental attitude, and some places that are extreme like Liverpool and Stockholm, should and do have clinics for people to get under ultra violet lights for just that purpose... not to get tans... but to boost their happiness quotient ;0 sooooooo with no further waiting... the snow storms of early February... we have had 1 foot in 3 snow storms that began in Late January... the snow that came for Michelle was a weak dusting by comparison... the snowmeter shows the last two bouts of snow... this weekend we are due for more... the meter is showing a drop of about 1 1/2 inches due to warm weather yesterday...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Today, September 10th, the Earth was destroyed
with the successful starting of the cyclotron in CERN, a new World was created...
Imagine that you were a bride or groom in the late 1800s and you were in your late teens... you were on the North American prairies, about to start a homestead... rumours of experiments were trickling out to your town, about a crazy idea to use lightning to light the world... you heard people say, that if it happens it will mean the end of all life... to use it would mean that you will die... that it was unholy...
but fast forward to 1940's, and compare the two worlds... the immense changes, that this couple lived through... their children and grand-children and great grand children... now come back to today, and look at a similar couple, starting out life... excited and letting the news of the experiments in CERN filter through but not paying too much attention... their lives have been as dramatically altered today as had the previous couple... only difference, they can not begin to guess in what ways, as neither can we...
BUT, CHANGE WILL HAPPEN, and as dramatically as it has for our fictitious homesteaders... Without electricity being harnessed, we would not have motors, or motor vehicles... electric light, computers, audio and video equipment... planes would have been impossible... our world would not exist without electricity... the discoveries that will be made with the new cyclotron will revolutionize transportation, health care, computers, how we work, and how we communicate... it will bring space travel into the 21st century, and out of the model T era of liquid fueled rockets... how these changes are assimilated and how fast, will depend on the resilience of out societies and economies... just as electricity and the use of oil were slow to get off the ground, so we will see similar resistance... greed will be the number one enemy... the benefits that will save many lives, will be reserved for the rich, and powerful, but perhaps altruism will prevail... we can only hope...
if the 20th century model of economic power is over thrown, and the new economy, that is the Internet/Web and the GRID, prevails we will see the benefits spread faster than wild fire... and mankind as a whole, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, all of us will begin to benefit...
that is my dream... for if it holds true, I may be around to see these benefits come to pass... even though I will be 140 years old... if not, then mankind will truly have destroyed his home, and native land... proving once and for all, that he is an unfit species for survival... all because of greed...
Imagine that you were a bride or groom in the late 1800s and you were in your late teens... you were on the North American prairies, about to start a homestead... rumours of experiments were trickling out to your town, about a crazy idea to use lightning to light the world... you heard people say, that if it happens it will mean the end of all life... to use it would mean that you will die... that it was unholy...
but fast forward to 1940's, and compare the two worlds... the immense changes, that this couple lived through... their children and grand-children and great grand children... now come back to today, and look at a similar couple, starting out life... excited and letting the news of the experiments in CERN filter through but not paying too much attention... their lives have been as dramatically altered today as had the previous couple... only difference, they can not begin to guess in what ways, as neither can we...
BUT, CHANGE WILL HAPPEN, and as dramatically as it has for our fictitious homesteaders... Without electricity being harnessed, we would not have motors, or motor vehicles... electric light, computers, audio and video equipment... planes would have been impossible... our world would not exist without electricity... the discoveries that will be made with the new cyclotron will revolutionize transportation, health care, computers, how we work, and how we communicate... it will bring space travel into the 21st century, and out of the model T era of liquid fueled rockets... how these changes are assimilated and how fast, will depend on the resilience of out societies and economies... just as electricity and the use of oil were slow to get off the ground, so we will see similar resistance... greed will be the number one enemy... the benefits that will save many lives, will be reserved for the rich, and powerful, but perhaps altruism will prevail... we can only hope...
if the 20th century model of economic power is over thrown, and the new economy, that is the Internet/Web and the GRID, prevails we will see the benefits spread faster than wild fire... and mankind as a whole, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, all of us will begin to benefit...
that is my dream... for if it holds true, I may be around to see these benefits come to pass... even though I will be 140 years old... if not, then mankind will truly have destroyed his home, and native land... proving once and for all, that he is an unfit species for survival... all because of greed...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Dad beaten over daughters disco ban
Dad beaten over daughters disco ban
http://www.austriantimes.at/?c=9&id=7629
21. 07. 08. - 08:30
Dad Dumitru Hasdeu ended up in hospital when his teenage daughter's pals beat him up for refusing to let her go to a disco.
The 47-year-old was left with broken ribs and concussion after the attack outside his home in Todireni, eastern Romania.
From his hospital bed he told local media: "I didn't want her going out at night. She's only 16 and discos aren't a suitable place for her. I went outside to tell her friends that and they were furious and attacked me. I don't care though - she still won't be going out."
Police have arrested his attackers.
ok, now that you have read it, what do YOU think... should that father have let his daughter go to a Disco... now remember, we don't know her friends, and we don't know what if any adult supervision would be had at this club... obviously the music won't be the old style disco music... but new club music... and it is probably going to feature alcohol and drugs... at least the ones here do... and I certainly would have grave reservations about letting my daughters go...
now as for the attackers... what should there punishment be... did they have a right to beat the father up... and if the daughter egged them on, what should her punishment be... in this case I think for those over 18, treat them as adults, and give them a bit of jail time... 1 year at least... and for those under 18, put them to work in community service or if there is work around the house of the man they beat up... have them do it, under supervision... this father is not going to be up to doing anything for at least 6 months... concussion can take that long or longer to get over... there should be a clear signal to other young people, and I am thinking here there may be young girls involved in this brawl as well... they should not be allowed to get a slap on the wrist... this is serious and if not punished could lead to more attacks like this...
*************************************************************
now the meat of the post: do kids these days, have too much freedom... have we taken the teen out of teenager and made it adult hood... should we rein in these kids and bring them under more strict control... or has it gone to far... and we are not in a position to bring our authority to bear on this or any other issue that involves teenagers... ie sex, clothes, smoking, drinking, traveling, staying out all hours...
and if we have let this happen, are we to blame or the media and the schools... have parents been missing in action, because the schools and the media have taken over the raising of our children... from the time that a child enters public school she becomes the pawn in a stuggle to see who controls her growth and education, between the school, her peers, the parents and the media (ie Internet, magazines, music, and books) and the parents have little or no real power in this, as all the authority lays with the schools and the media... the schools get them 5-6 hours a day and the media / peers, almost the rest of their waking time... if the parents get 1-2 hours a day out of 16, it is a miracle...
so little wonder at 16 years of age, after 10 years of indoctrination, our teenagers are rebelling against our authority... we become the old establishment, and they are the new...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Politiczied Wofe
Recently, I have had the "opportunity" to be confronted by Right Wing American attacks while posting comments around the web... not that my comments have been so out and out Liberal or Democratic... but that I chose to be even handed in my comments... going with Canadian Traditions of Fair Play and Decency, rather than Personal Attack and Discredit of those to whom I was debating... it has caused me to Politiczy this Blog, and so to counter that tendency and give myself space to speak, I have created this blog http://the-politicized-wolfe.blogspot.com/
My version of Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park...
Schnee Wolfe
My version of Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park...
Schnee Wolfe
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
