ADVANCED SECRET SPACE PROGRAM

[EtherealN]

Hahah, I even forgot to be upset at the allegation of humanity.

 

I'm an AI! :D

[cichlidfan]

I'm an AI! :D

 

Not a 'reptilian', thank goodness! Any mention of Icke or reptilians causes me to flashback to an image of the Gorn from ST:TOS. :lol:

[Rotorhead]

SFAL, if thrust is required to stay in orbit, how does the moon do it? It's got no engines, yet is actually slowly boosting away from the earth.

 

That's exactly what THEY want you to believe! :alien:

 

And incidentally, the functions of orbital mechanics are, in cases like this, just awesomely beautifu.

 

Yeah, when you start learning and get at least little insight on how things really work, you'll find out that plain reality is often more fascinating than those sci-fi fantasies, and that world is much more beautiful and miraculous place than all those supernatural theories can ever offer.

[EtherealN]

They have the distinct disadvantage of being kinda hard, though. Not really conceptually, but there is a barrier to entry since a lot of it is non-intuitive. (Classic case of non-intuitive stuff in orbital mechanics is how you, through adding energy twice in a Hohmann (sp?) transfer, actually end up flying slower. Easy once you internalise the whole "problem", but at first it does look weird. After that the very interesting study of the recession of the moon's orbit due to the interaction of tides and the earth's rotation, which probably is my favourite, though that is in competition with the future fates of Mars' two moons.)

 

That said, I am actually a fan of Sci-fi. But most specifically of "hard" sci-fi; that is, where the author makes a well executed attempt to extrapolate from known science to paint a plausible conclusion of "what the future might bring". Alastair Reynolds is a good one there - a plausible, still entertaining, depiction of a possible future multi-stellar "civilization" without taking shortcuts around the speed of light. (Though he does touch on that area slightly, but that would reach into spoilers - suffice to say, it's well handled.)

Edited October 31, 2013 by EtherealN