The thread for space cadets!

[warpus]

So NASA's Plentary Science Division is somehow getting $223 in restored funding

Good news, but I'm too tired to summarize the article or even read most of it

More info here

 

[hobbsyoyo]

$223 will buy exactly one toilet seat and maybe a lug nut at NASA contractor prices. But that's better than nothing I suppose.

 

[warpus]

LOL

$223 million

so.. 1 million new toilets for NASA I guess

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I will have to read that article, thanks.

 

[peter grimes]

$223 will buy exactly one toilet seat and maybe a lug nut at NASA contractor prices. But that's better than nothing I suppose.

Perhaps, but that lug nuts will have been milled, not cast, from a specific alloy with tight tolerances on crystal variation, and tested much more thoroughly than even medical device components.

Once I learned a bit about the details of some military and nasa purchase order requirements, I found the high price tag was not as surprising.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Solar system to scale

I honestly expected the sun to be bigger than that, at least relative to Jupiter and Saturn.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

@peter grimes - It was a joke, but there really is quite a bit of price gouging that goes on in both military and NASA contracts due to cost-plus contracts. Essentially, these contracts say:

We will pay you X dollars to do some job, plus .1X in profit.

The company goes, good deal, we can do that. Five years later: Oooooops, the thing actually cost X+1 dollars to build and now you have to pay us X+1 as well as .1(X+1) profits.

That also contributes to huge cost overruns, but no doubt many parts really are going to cost a lot because of what they are use for. Then again, the Russians seem to keep costs an order of magnitude lower; NASA fixates on perfection and pays out the nose for it some times.

 

[warpus]

Maybe NASA should put Russians in charge

 

[hobbsyoyo]

That would be a disaster. They should just buy cheap sh&t from the Russians instead - and they'd only have to return half of it for being defective.

 

[warpus]

Just hire Polish guys then, we'll speak with heavy Russian accents but buy American

 

[hobbsyoyo]

But can you jew the suppliers to get good prices?

#racismisfun

 

[hobbsyoyo]

....and I crossed the line. sorry

 

[warpus]

Hey now.. It's all fun and games until someone becomes Hitler

In other news, NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars!

Details can be examined and read by those who are capable of reading. At the moment, that does not really include me.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I am in the brightly lit antechamber of drunk at the moment, will be joining you inside shortly.

 

[peter grimes]

@peter grimes - It was a joke, but there really is quite a bit of price gouging that goes on in both military and NASA contracts due to cost-plus contracts. Essentially, these contracts say:

We will pay you X dollars to do some job, plus .1X in profit.

The company goes, good deal, we can do that. Five years later: Oooooops, the thing actually cost X+1 dollars to build and now you have to pay us X+1 as well as .1(X+1) profits.

That also contributes to huge cost overruns, but no doubt many parts really are going to cost a lot because of what they are use for. Then again, the Russians seem to keep costs an order of magnitude lower; NASA fixates on perfection and pays out the nose for it some times.

Yes, indeed. And I suspected that you knew the details. But all too often I find people legitimately thinking that NASA is so stupid they'll simply pay $300 for a hammer or $95 for a hex nut, and the truth is more complicated. Once it's explained that the hammer has to have a specific hardness in the head, be non-sparking, non-marring, fold up into a given stowage, and be ambidextrous -well, most sensible people* will understand the high cost.

Not that all contracts are virginal, mind you

That would be a disaster. They should just buy cheap sh&t from the Russians instead - and they'd only have to return half of it for being defective.

Except for the optics!

I am in the brightly lit antechamber of drunk at the moment, will be joining you inside shortly.

:jealous:

 

[bhsup]

Just wanted to link this for you guys. Looks like a neat game.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/470015043/shackleton-crater

 

[warpus]

Seen that posted elsewhere, everyone's looking for a sim city alternative it seems. Too bad it likely won't get funded though

 

[r16]

...

this being the Tavern , this Starfleet Admiral challenges you to prove your signature .

 

[LamaGT]

Looking back at the Grashopper I was wondering why they can't just use parachutes in the final stage of the descent KSP style. I'm assuming there are some technical problems with it but I can't understand what it is...

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Looking back at the Grashopper I was wondering why they can't just use parachutes in the final stage of the descent KSP style. I'm assuming there are some technical problems with it but I can't understand what it is...

Two reasons really:
1) Better precision and softer touchdowns with rockets insteaf of chutes
2) The long term goal is to use (at least for the capsule) the built-in launch escape system to do the powered landing. Normally, you jetison the tower with the launch escape rockets. In SpaceX manned dragon capsule, the escape rockets are in the capsule (IIRC) and since they can't be jetisoned, you might as well use them for something. Systems like the grasshopper allows them to test their algorithms and control systems for doing that.