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For a given probe velocity wrt. the sun, the resulting velocity wrt. the planet is at a minimum when the probe's incoming trajectory is aligned with...

I thought you liked looking at potsherds.

Yes, nice work Treb. Not asleep, but that period just before, or in the shower, are usually when I get my ideas. I've learned the hard way to get...

I think you mean for this to be uplifting, but I have the opposite reaction. We're not pond scum, and I have much grander expectations for mankind...

The Samoan Dicer Because you are new here, I will go a little easier on you. But you need to know this post is not appropriate. A rant against...

Are you talking about antelopes? Standing and walking do not seem to be very "instinctive" in human newborns. But yeah, living things are...

Spoiler alert. Heinlein’s Time for the Stars (c1956) was one. Another (and large chunks of the plot were taken from TFTS) was the Spider...

I only vaguely recall the story line, but I think part of it was the ethical argument over whether or not it was appropriate to disrupt the society...

The Greeks and Romans had all they needed to make steam powered devices, perhaps even some sort of toy sized rockets and didn't. The Chinese on the...

I went to see Lowest of the Low. The set list was incredible. Every time I thought the performance was about to end, they came up with another song...

Are you my mother-board?

This is the final day of this project, which means I will not have to wake up before 6 AM or spend 10 hours a day looking at potsherds again for...

Welcome to the forums The Samonan Dicer.

Because 1] it hadn't been specifically asked to. 2] it had safety constraints, which Jordi defeated for the final mystery. In doing so, the AI was...

Right. So let's set aside the learned behavior. How on Earth can genes and hormones build such exacting structures - billions of neurons, all...

Perhaps, although, depending on the author, an astonishing amount of research and development can go into a science fiction story. Authors like Niven...

Where's the dramatic tension in that??

Looking at an ideal two-body system, such as just the probe and Venus, for a moment, the probe will always lose as much speed on the way out as it...

Still no call to home but NASA is optimistic. https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-optimistic-mars-opportunity-rover-can-survive-crazy-dust-storm/

Me too. Of course, 2/3 of the time what I dream up violates every known law of physics.

I'm very curious why the different way to command it to open would give a different result - please do update us when this gets sorted out.

Well done, Treb. I don’t understand it, but I do some of my best engineering problem solving while asleep. Sent from my iPhone using...

They are shooting for closer perihelion, of course.