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New York, 6:57 PM
Sun Nov 29
15 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #spaceexploration more →

    NASA Pays "Pillownauts" Well To Lie In Bed For Weeks On End

    Researchers Use Cameraphones to Help Develop Mars Imaging Software

    NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore

    Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball

    SpaceX's Falcon 1, Dreams of Space Conquest Begin in 10, 9, 8...

    NASA Engineers Team Up With Retirees to Secretly Develop Alternative Moon Rocket

    Mars Rovers: Three Years Running and Smarter, Too
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of .357 .357
    06/03/09

    In reply to NASA Pays "Pillownauts" Well To Lie In Bed For Weeks On End
    I'm the first Cowboy/Pillownaut/Lawyer.

    I only lie at one job.
     Reply
    .357 was starred .357 was unstarred
    Image of OMG! Ponies! OMG! Ponies!
    06/03/09

    In reply to NASA Pays "Pillownauts" Well To Lie In Bed For Weeks On End
    I'd want to be a Pillownaut if only for the wicked awesome job title. I'm picturing how it would look on my resume.
     Reply
    OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred
    Image of OMG! Ponies! OMG! Ponies!
    06/03/09

    @OMG! Ponies!: I've got an incredible amount of experience at being slothful. I am well qualified to lounge around doing nothing. I have an advanced degree in inattentiveness and authored several authoritative texts on daydreaming. I presently sit on the Board of Directors at Sealy. Well, I don't really sit; more like I recline. And the board is a pillowtop.

    Also, I have set several records in doing nothing in particular and have started a successful business that entails me just sitting on my duff.
     Reply
    OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    06/03/09

    @OMG! Ponies!: I planned to major in Pillownautics in college, but when I turned in all my papers on time in Intro to Pillownautics (aka Pillowgut), the prof told me I just wasn't cut out for it.
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of IceCoffee IceCoffee
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    Can't Doc Brown just steal more from the Libyans?
     Reply
    IceCoffee was starred IceCoffee was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    05/07/09

    @IceCoffee: No, because he left them nothing but a shoddy casing full of used pinball machine parts. Besides, I think that by that point, they'd be pretty pissed.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of drewdrawshashtags drewdrawshashtags
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    So, the US currently has 9,962 warheads in its stockpile (according to [nuclearweaponarchive.org]), and we've sent, what, 20 deep space probes?


    So where in the hell is the rest of the Pu-238 they created over the 50 years of weapons manufacture?

     Reply
    drewdrawshashtags was starred drewdrawshashtags was unstarred
    Image of CaliBoom CaliBoom
    05/07/09

    @DrewDrawsCreptKombikészítéshez:

    Difference between Uranium 235 and 238 and Plutonium-238.


    Pu-238 isn't used in bombs - Pu-239 is.


    "The isotope plutonium-238 (Pu-238) is not capable of undergoing nuclear fission easily, although it will undergo alpha decay." (wikipedia)

     Reply
    CaliBoom was starred CaliBoom was unstarred
    Image of drewdrawshashtags drewdrawshashtags
    05/12/09

    @CaliBoom: That's not what I meant.


    If Pu-238 is a byproduct of the weapons manufacturing industry, and that industry has, in the last 50 years, created over 20,000 nuclear weapons, what were they doing with the Pu-238 they generated for all those years?

     Reply
    drewdrawshashtags was starred drewdrawshashtags was unstarred
    Image of OCEntertainment OCEntertainment
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    Or they coulda just asked the Libyans. Sheesh.
     Reply
    OCEntertainment was starred OCEntertainment was unstarred
    Image of badhatharry badhatharry
    05/07/09

    @OCEntertainment: Yeah, that worked out well for Doc Brown in 1985.
     Reply
    badhatharry was starred badhatharry was unstarred
    Image of Rabid Penguin Rabid Penguin
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    If you just through Cher or Larry King in a probe and powered it off the heat from their natural decay it would never need to refuel.
     Reply
    Rabid Penguin was starred Rabid Penguin was unstarred
    Image of frigg frigg
    05/07/09

    @Rabid Penguin: there's nothing natural about the way Cher has decayed.
     Reply
    frigg was starred frigg was unstarred
    Image of Parapraxis Parapraxis
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    How about the shaving cream atom? Anyone ever look into that one?


    (if someone can figure out that reference, I'd be incredibly impressed)

     Reply
    Parapraxis was starred Parapraxis was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    05/07/09

    @Parapraxis: The obthcurity of your comment is dethhhhhpicable!
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of incubushead incubushead
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    Why don't we forgo the dangerous, damaging radioactive stuff in favor of, in my opinion, more favorable options like the NSTAR engine currently powering Deep Space One?
     Reply
    incubushead was starred incubushead was unstarred
    Image of KhaiJB KhaiJB
    05/07/09

    @incubushead: erm whats it damaging out there? there's more radioactivity around the probe already! it just can't use it...
     Reply
    KhaiJB was starred KhaiJB was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/07/09

    @incubushead: Nuclear materials are for power generation, not propulsion.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    05/07/09

    @Hello Mister Walrus: Well... I guess you could use it for propulsion, but I don't think that's what they meant.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore
    I guess this was predicted in science fiction with the fictitious dawn of dilithium crystals.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of OMG! Ponies! OMG! Ponies!
    05/07/09

    In reply to NASA Running Out Of Fuel For Deep Space Missions Because Nobody Makes Nukes Anymore


    Need some Pu-238, huh? Perhaps I can be of assistance...

     Reply
    OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred
    Image of Rabid Penguin Rabid Penguin
    05/07/09

    @OMG! Ponies!: Thanks you Nuclear Man! One last favor, could you deliver it to our Deep Space Exploration HQ on the dark side of the moon?
     Reply
    Rabid Penguin was starred Rabid Penguin was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    12/08/08

    In reply to Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball
    This is the first step towards building those rolling minds that follow you in Half Life 2.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Shub-Niggurath!*pew-pew* YourRuneIsMine! Shub-Niggurath!*pew-pew* YourRuneIsMine!
    12/08/08

    In reply to Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball
    this is awesome! I always thought that a rolling ball design would be the best bet for robot movement, but this really overcomes the hurdle (no pun intended) of getting stuck in harsh terrain.
     Reply
    Shub-Niggurath!*pew-pew* YourRuneIsMine! was starred Shub-Niggurath!*pew-pew* YourRuneIsMine! was unstarred
    Image of Anonymoose Anonymoose
    12/08/08

    @Shub-Niggurath: i agree. nasa should jump at the opportunity to adopt this thing. they'd have a ball with it. they could probably even improve it by bouncing around a few ideas, rolling with a few innovations, you know, just continually round out their design.
     Reply
    Anonymoose was starred Anonymoose was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    12/08/08

    @Anonymoose:


    in a moon or martian environment, these would kick ass. on earth, it wouldn't take long for a weed to tangle in the ball frame.

     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    12/08/08

    In reply to Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball
    And with proper application, can make Killer Tomatoes a reality. I can't wait.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
    12/08/08

    In reply to Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball
    Cover this in white rubber and it's the Rover from The Prisoner.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was starred GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was unstarred
    Image of VideoVampire VideoVampire
    12/08/08

    In reply to Jollbot Jumps Like a Grasshopper, Rolls Like a Ball
    cool, but will it blend?
     Reply
    VideoVampire was starred VideoVampire was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
    12/08/08

    @VideoVampire: Can it kill the Grimace?
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was starred GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    12/08/08

    @Git Em SteveDave loves this guy->★:


    can it avoid the noid?

     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
    12/08/08

    @nutbastard: Don't blame me i voted for Ron Paul edition: Has it heard about the bird?
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was starred GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid was unstarred
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