Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
South Africa's Rocket Man Elon Musk Announces New Heavy Lift Rocket That Could Take Astronauts To The Moon And Mars
Huge Private Rocket Could Send Astronauts to the Moon or Mars
Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com senior writer
Date: 06 April 2011 Time: 10:40 AM ET
| An artist's illustration of a SpaceX Falcon 9 Heavy rocket launching into space. CREDIT: SpaceX |
A massive new private rocket envisioned by the commercial spaceflight company SpaceX could do more than just ferry big satellites and spacecraft into orbit. It could even help return astronauts to the moon, the rocket's builder says.
SpaceX announced plans to build the huge rocket, called the Falcon Heavy, yesterday (April 5). To make the new booster, SpaceX will upgrade its Falcon 9 rockets with twin strap-on boosters and other systems to make them capable of launching larger payloads into space than any other rocket operating today.
But the Falcon Heavy's increased power could also be put toward traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and out into the solar system, said SpaceX's founder and CEO Elon Musk during a Tuesday press conference. [Video: How SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket Flies]
See Why PowerFrame® is the Technology You Should Be Asking For
Learn more about the leading provider of Rad Hard Electronics
Earn an Aerospace Degree Online. Respected. Affordable. Accredited.
"It certainly opens up a wide range of possibilities, such as returning to the moon and conceivably going to Mars," Musk said.
Traveling that far requires more lift than most rockets flying today, including NASA's space shuttle. But the Falcon Heavy, which is designed to generate 3.8 million pounds (1,700 metric tons) of thrust, would be able to do the job, Musk said.
Illustration of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which the company says will be the most capable rocket operating today.
CREDIT: SpaceX
CREDIT: SpaceX
"The Falcon 9 Heavy could go much farther than low-Earth orbit," Musk said. The heavy-lift rocket could fly on its first test flights as soon as 2013, he added. [Photos: SpaceX's First Falcon 9 Rocket Launch]
A private moon rocket?
The Falcon Heavy booster is designed to have more lifting capability than any other rocket in service today, and about half the capability of the most powerful rocket ever built, NASA's towering Saturn 5 booster, which sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Falcon Heavy may not be able to carry everything needed for a mission to the moon in a single go, but it could potentially launch various components separately. For example, the astronauts and moon lander could be launched in one trip, with another liftoff following to deliver the vehicle that would ferry the crew back home, Musk said.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has so far made two successful test launches, one of which carried SpaceX's Dragon capsule to orbit for the first time. Both rockets will initially fly unmanned, but have been created with flying people in mind. [World's Tallest Rockets]
"As far as human standards are concerned, they are designed to meet all of the published human standards," Musk said.
SpaceX's commercial plans
The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company hopes the Falcon rockets will be used to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, and possibly beyond, after the space agency's space shuttles retire this year. SpaceX already has a $1.6 million contract to haul cargo to the space station aboard the Falcon 9.
In addition to NASA missions, the Falcon Heavy could prove useful for other commercial space ventures. For example, the Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace is designing a commercial space station, and eyeing establishing a private moon base.
Such a destination would require a vehicle to help build it, as well as a rocket to ferry space tourists and other clients to and from the base.
Even farther destinations like Mars are not out of the question with the Falcon Heavy, Musk said, though such a trip would probably require multiple launches. He brought up the possibility of a mission to collect samples of Martian dirt and return them to Earth for studying – an endeavor that has so far proven prohibitively complicated.
"The Falcon Heavy has so much more capability than any other vehicle, I think we can start to realistically contemplate missions like a Mars sample return," Musk said.
And the company isn't content to stop at the Falcon Heavy.
SpaceX is also considering building an even more powerful rocket called a "super heavy-lift" vehicle that would have about three times the capability of a Falcon Heavy, or about 50 percent more power than the Saturn 5.
Such a vehicle would likely have no trouble reaching the moon, Mars or beyond.
Musk said SpaceX has a small contract with NASA right now to explore the possibility of building the super heavy-lift rocket.
You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and onFacebook.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Pay Pal-Your Ticket To A Foreign Prison And Perhaps Execution
Pay Pal-Your Ticket To A Foreign Prison And Perhaps Execution
My dear readers I had a terrible experience with Pay Pal that I would like to share with you. Most of us know that credit card and debit card companies have developed very sophisticated programs to detect fraud. At one level these programs give us extra protection. At another level they make life more difficult for us. Any time we do anything out of our ordinary pattern, we have to call the security department at the card company and inform them.
An overseas vacation requires special attention. The minute the card company sees charges from far away, they will assume that your card or card number has been stolen and lock up your card. It is necessary to call the card company before you fly off to far away lands.
I just came back from a month in Brasil and Argentina. Before leaving I called the Pay Pal security department. I gave them my travel dates and the countries that I would be in. I was assured by the very nice lady on the phone that all would be well. I just needed to send an email to the company after two weeks reminding them that I was on my over seas trip.
I flew to Brasil on 21 February. My Pay Pal card worked perfectly in Brasil. As I was getting ready to fly from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires to join my wife, I got a notice that a security hold had been placed on my Pay Pal card. I tried to correct this by email and got no response or help.
After I arrived in Buenos Aires, I went to a local phone and internet shop and called Pay Pal security. I was in for one of the most humiliating and degrading experiences of my life. I had to stay on hold for one hour and run up a large international toll bill. I got a lady on the phone and was put through a rigorous interrogation that included listing my residential addresses for the last 40 years. I finally passed that test. I was assured that my card would be all right for the rest of my vacation. I was even sent over to a Pay Pal manager in Omaha,Nebraska who gave me glowing assurances that all would be OK with my card for the rest of my trip.
My card worked from 3 March until Saturday 12 March, 2011. I was in a hotel in Llao Llao, Argentina finishing a delightful lunch in a hotel high above Lago Nahuel Huapi. I presented my Pay Pal card to the waiter. He came back with a sad look on his face and told me that my card had been declined. Fortunately I had the cash to pay for the meal. I left angry and humiliated. A wonderful moment in my life had been ruined. I made my way back to my hotel and got on the computer. I saw that my Pay Pal card had again been locked up for a security hold. I was told to send an email and they would respond in 24-72 hours. I did this and never got a response. I sent a desperate email to their vice president of international operations and never got a response.
I found myself in a bad situation. I had only enough cash on me to pay all the taxi fares I had to pay to get back to the US. Fortunately I had been smart enough to pay my hotel in advance. But I was in a situation where I had no money for food. My State Farm Bank ATM card did not work in Argentina. The hotel where I was staying offered a breakfast of cereal, bread, coffee, and juice. That was the food that I had to survive on for seven days. It was not a nice way to have to spend my last week of vacation.
When I got to Los Angeles I called Pay Pal and demanded that my card be turned back on. I gave them my whole story. They refused to turn the card back on until I did a pass word change and was at home so they could call me and verify that I was at home. I demanded to talk to the president of the company. The lady hung up on me. Then an hour later I got an email telling me that my card had been turned back on.
I have been traveling internationally for almost 40 years. One of the worst nightmares of any traveler is to appear at the hotel desk to check out and have your credit or debit card declined for payment of the hotel bill. Virtually every country and political jurisdiction on earth has a defrauding an innkeeper statute. In a country with a British Common Law tradition, you might face a maximum of 90 days in jail for not paying a hotel bill.
If you are in a country with Muslim law, not paying a valid debt carries a maximum sentence of death. Some poor hapless Pay Pal card holder would walk up to the check out station at a hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He or she knows they have the funds to pay the bill on their card. He or she will know that they called Pay Pal security and informed them of their trip to Saudi Arabia. All of a sudden their card is rejected. An hour later they find themselves in a Saudi police station being charged with a crime that carries the death penalty because Pay Pal locked up their card on a security hold.
OK the hapless Pay Pal card holder probably will not be executed for this because the Arabs would be frightened of all the bad publicity they would get for such a thing.
A more likely nightmare scenario would take place in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The poor hapless Pay Pal user gets his card denied after he or she did everything right. They find themselves in a Guatemalan prison. They quickly find out that the state does not supply food, clothing, or medical care to prisoners. If one does not have a family member providing these necessities, starvation is a definite possibility. The hapless Pay Pal card holder then finds out that it will take 12-18 months before he even gets to see a judge about the matter.
These heavy-handed security policies used by Pay Pal could end up destroying lives and families.
An overseas vacation requires special attention. The minute the card company sees charges from far away, they will assume that your card or card number has been stolen and lock up your card. It is necessary to call the card company before you fly off to far away lands.
I just came back from a month in Brasil and Argentina. Before leaving I called the Pay Pal security department. I gave them my travel dates and the countries that I would be in. I was assured by the very nice lady on the phone that all would be well. I just needed to send an email to the company after two weeks reminding them that I was on my over seas trip.
I flew to Brasil on 21 February. My Pay Pal card worked perfectly in Brasil. As I was getting ready to fly from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires to join my wife, I got a notice that a security hold had been placed on my Pay Pal card. I tried to correct this by email and got no response or help.
After I arrived in Buenos Aires, I went to a local phone and internet shop and called Pay Pal security. I was in for one of the most humiliating and degrading experiences of my life. I had to stay on hold for one hour and run up a large international toll bill. I got a lady on the phone and was put through a rigorous interrogation that included listing my residential addresses for the last 40 years. I finally passed that test. I was assured that my card would be all right for the rest of my vacation. I was even sent over to a Pay Pal manager in Omaha,Nebraska who gave me glowing assurances that all would be OK with my card for the rest of my trip.
My card worked from 3 March until Saturday 12 March, 2011. I was in a hotel in Llao Llao, Argentina finishing a delightful lunch in a hotel high above Lago Nahuel Huapi. I presented my Pay Pal card to the waiter. He came back with a sad look on his face and told me that my card had been declined. Fortunately I had the cash to pay for the meal. I left angry and humiliated. A wonderful moment in my life had been ruined. I made my way back to my hotel and got on the computer. I saw that my Pay Pal card had again been locked up for a security hold. I was told to send an email and they would respond in 24-72 hours. I did this and never got a response. I sent a desperate email to their vice president of international operations and never got a response.
I found myself in a bad situation. I had only enough cash on me to pay all the taxi fares I had to pay to get back to the US. Fortunately I had been smart enough to pay my hotel in advance. But I was in a situation where I had no money for food. My State Farm Bank ATM card did not work in Argentina. The hotel where I was staying offered a breakfast of cereal, bread, coffee, and juice. That was the food that I had to survive on for seven days. It was not a nice way to have to spend my last week of vacation.
When I got to Los Angeles I called Pay Pal and demanded that my card be turned back on. I gave them my whole story. They refused to turn the card back on until I did a pass word change and was at home so they could call me and verify that I was at home. I demanded to talk to the president of the company. The lady hung up on me. Then an hour later I got an email telling me that my card had been turned back on.
I have been traveling internationally for almost 40 years. One of the worst nightmares of any traveler is to appear at the hotel desk to check out and have your credit or debit card declined for payment of the hotel bill. Virtually every country and political jurisdiction on earth has a defrauding an innkeeper statute. In a country with a British Common Law tradition, you might face a maximum of 90 days in jail for not paying a hotel bill.
If you are in a country with Muslim law, not paying a valid debt carries a maximum sentence of death. Some poor hapless Pay Pal card holder would walk up to the check out station at a hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He or she knows they have the funds to pay the bill on their card. He or she will know that they called Pay Pal security and informed them of their trip to Saudi Arabia. All of a sudden their card is rejected. An hour later they find themselves in a Saudi police station being charged with a crime that carries the death penalty because Pay Pal locked up their card on a security hold.
OK the hapless Pay Pal card holder probably will not be executed for this because the Arabs would be frightened of all the bad publicity they would get for such a thing.
A more likely nightmare scenario would take place in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The poor hapless Pay Pal user gets his card denied after he or she did everything right. They find themselves in a Guatemalan prison. They quickly find out that the state does not supply food, clothing, or medical care to prisoners. If one does not have a family member providing these necessities, starvation is a definite possibility. The hapless Pay Pal card holder then finds out that it will take 12-18 months before he even gets to see a judge about the matter.
These heavy-handed security policies used by Pay Pal could end up destroying lives and families.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)