Category: Technology (Page 1 of 5)

Going back to the Moon.

November 4, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

With the normal stupid stuff going on, it’s easy to lose track of the impressive work being done. SpaceX routinely launches satellites into orbit and occasionally demonstrates an impressive new capability, but the big picture isn’t addressed very often.

The Artemis III project is planning to get people back to the moon in two years. NASA is leading the project along with the space agencies of Europe, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Israel and Dubai.

Humans haven’t walked on the Moon in over fifty years, and this time, we won’t be landing in an expedient contraption. SpaceX is building the lunar lander. The photo above shows the SpaceX HLS with other objects to show the scale. Notice the tiny Apollo Lunar Module on the right.

Germans used to be smart.

October 23, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Euronews: Fire station burns down.

Germans are known for being smart and industrious, and not questioning their leaders. This leads them to getting too swept up in ill-advised causes.

A fire alarm system wasn’t installed in the building because experts did not consider it necessary.

A new fire station in Germany that was destroyed in a fire, causing millions of euros in damage, did not have a fire alarm system.

Germany has building codes. Someone made the decision to exempt this new fire station from customary procedures. Nobody objected.

Buried in the news report:

The fire broke out on an emergency vehicle belonging to the fire department, which contained lithium-ion batteries and an external power connection.

Lithium batteries burn very hot and are difficult to put out. When an electric car burns, fire fighters don’t extinguish the burning battery, but keep the fire contained. Why did the fire department need an electric vehicle? Because Germans are suppressing the smart part of their brains, and embracing the EV cult.

Here is respected physicist, Sabine Hossenfelder, explaining “Why I’m embarrassed to be German”.

RC Battery burns.

September 25, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Prior to our trip to East Harbor State Park, I charged up the batteries for the RC cars.

As the LiPo battery for the Land Rover was charging, I heard a short, sharp, sound., like a ruler hitting a desk. It wasn’t very loud, and sounded like the crack from the discharge of a Van Der Graaff generator.

This kind of thing.

I went to check on the charging battery, and found that it looked inflated. That’s real bad. I turned off the charger, gingerly took the battery outside, and threw it in the yard where it couldn’t damage anything if it exploded or ignited. Which, it apparently did at some point during the night.

It appears that since several batteries were going to be charged, the charger was set for a 4S battery, instead of a 3S. The battery that was being charged had a high enough voltage that the charger didn’t recognized the problem.

Lunar lava tube has been confirmed.

September 17, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WaPo: First lunar lava cave has been found.

My prior post about China looking at lunar lava caves referenced an article that didn’t have any new information about lunar lava caves. This recent WaPo article announces the first direct evidence of a lunar lava cave. There are a few similar news reports all based on this Radar evidence of cave conduit science article. This science article has less fluff and more interesting information. That link may not remain active, so I will post an interesting diagram from the article.

China is going to the Moon.

September 10, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

SpaceNews: China interested in lava tubes.

China, and anyone interested in a Moon base, should be interested in lava tubes. If NASA does wake up, it’s likely to roll over and go back to sleep. Fortunately, Elon Musk needs a Moon base to get to Mars.

The movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, got a lot right. The surface of the Moon is an obnoxious place to live. The surface temperature goes from about -200^o F to 200^o F. Gamma rays bombard the surface, but cosmic rays are a bigger problem. Cosmic rays hitting the Earth produce the Northern Lights as their energy dissipates in the atmosphere and are deflected by our magnetic field. Those subatomic particles moving at nearly the speed of light, are not easily screened

WSJ: The quest for electric airplanes.

August 29, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WSJ: Quest for electric planes.

Why must we entertain and finance blatantly stupid ideas? Nothing is going to make Greta Thunberg happy, so let’s stop trying. No government money or mandates should encourage the dumb ideas.

Germany’s disastrous switch away from nuclear power

August 27, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

RCS: Germany’s Disastrous Switch Away From Nuclear

It’s interesting to watch a country intentionally destroy itself. Germany presents itself as a technically-minded country with high-quality manufacturing, not a country that makes uninformed and impetuous decisions.

Consumer-grade exoskeleton.

July 28, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Tech Crunch: Exoskeleton

The tech, called MO/GO, short for “mountain goat,” is a hybrid soft/rigid system designed to assist wearer mobility and boost the wearer while walking.

Pretty sure they came up with MO/GO first, then came up with the “mountain goat” explanation. Still, it would help a lot of people if it works.

The launch cost of $4,500 will almost certainly restrict its use for the non-mobility limited.

Depending on the performance specifications of the actual product, this could be big. It’s certainly cheaper than a knee replacement and is in the price range of mobility scooters. The military would be interested, along with people who aren’t impaired, just not up t the challenge.
MO/GO isn’t a great name, I’d go with “kicking pants”.

Stop luring girls into STEM careers.

July 17, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

NPR: Getting young girls interested in STEM

I abhor reports like this one on NPR.

SPACE: Railguns on the Moon.

June 24, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

SPACE: Railguns on the Moon

February 6th, 2018, Elon Musk demonstrated that launching objects into orbit had become a mundane commercial activity. To make it interesting, the object he put in orbit was a Tesla Roadster that has since traveled over a million miles and made four laps around the sun. Where is the Roadster now?