What is Digg?58 Comments
- Lindquist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28I vaguely remember yesterday.
- Paroparo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+31Sometimes I'm worried by how the US military budget is as huge as the rest of the world's combined, but then I'm always relieved when I remember they use most of it for clearly practical projects like this.
- Wolfghost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Let me know when you invent a magnet that attracts copper.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28That's amazing. I love this website.....it's one of my favorites since Digg turned me on to it. DUGG
- soleblazer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22Don't be fooled, the US gov't was trying to create Halo...
- fartingbob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21A bit of zero gravity acupunture could do wonders for your chi!
- anthonares, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14I wrote the article that you are calling into question, and since I'm nice, here are your answers:
1) Absolutely we were capable of launching to 3700 km, especially such a very small craft as this was. Compared to the weight of the Gemini craft and its crew, this was nothing.
2) The speed differential was imparted by releasing the needles from a spinning spacecraft.
3) The orbit would decay because it was carefully designed to interact with the solar wind at a certain resonance, i.e. the solar wind would tend to strike the needles at the same point in each of their orbits. The effect was to lower the closest approach altitude of the needles on each orbit.
4) Tiny particles do not vaporize because the drag force on them is sufficient to slow them down before they heat rapidly (i.e higher surface-mass ratio). Also, smaller objects with higher surface area are able to re-radiate heat more quickly than large objects. So, no bending of physics needed!
So, you'll have to look somewhere else for *****, sorry! - justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11damn you guys are like cruel rabid dogs!
Even though you're right... i'd completely forgotten that copper is not easily magnetic.. it was just a random thought ;P - puffarthur, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Thats a hell of a lot of space debris...
- anthonares, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10framitz,
What grounds do you have for your claim? The article provided several references (albeit some where non-electronic because of the fact that my university did not have an electronic subscription to the Proceedings of the IEEE back through 1964).
I spent more than a few minutes researching, I spent probably 6 hours reading 100 or more pages of published articles. Your understanding of physics must be all that you are basing your claims of ***** on, but you haven't demonstrated much in the way of an understanding there either. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Sure, all you need is an electromagnet powerful enough to draw material from up to hundreds of miles away. Solar power won't be enough, so we'll just have to make it nuclear powered.
Then, as the tiny bits of metal and other satelites slam into the magnet, either the mass will shift the orbit causing it to crash, or something will just slam into it and rupture the nuclear core, raining radiation upon billions.
Nope, not too hard at all. I mean, it's only going to be the most powerful magnet ever constructed, costing hundreds of millions, if not more, to clean up some small debris (that the majority has already fallen back down on its own). - TheComputerMutt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8The site seems to be slowing down, here's the Coral Cache in case it dies: http://www.damninteresting.com.nyud.net:8090/?p=516
- 7of7, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9That's very scary. I'm not sure if these tiny needles are at the same orbit as satellites or other spacecraft, but can you imagine the thought of a million tiny needles traveling at your orbiter at thousands of miles an hour? That is a bad way to die.
- Deuterium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The French have a military?
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Nope, they wouldn't burn up, though almost all of them have reentered by now. From TFA:
"Most of the West Ford dipoles re-entered Earth's atmosphere sometime around 1970, according to theoretical and observational evidence. The needles slowly drifted down to the Earth's surface, unscathed by re-entry because of their size......Back in space, the failed 1971 spacecraft and some larger clumps of the 1973 dipoles remain in orbit like so many other pieces of space junk, silently carrying the long-dead hopes of this nearly forgotten experiment." - cesclaveria, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11I'm really surprised it took so many comments to get to a Halo reference.
- DCstewieG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I totally agree. It's one of the best and most aptly named sites on the net.
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Yeah, the French could learn a thing or two.
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@framitz
Its pretty obvious you are no rocket scientists. Even a quick google of the space launches from 1963 and before shows we were putting into orbit much larger payloads. Get your facts straight before 'calling *****'. - toddbu, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14What I think is cool is that I was just four days old when this happened. I wonder how many other old timers like me are on this site. Anyone old enough to actually have any lasting memories of May 1963?
- Arkz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Awesome site.
First thing i thought when i read that title was.....Halo?
then i thought.... Halo 3?
then i thought... e3 in a few days!!!
then i thought... ...crap, I'm gonna get neg-modded... - Joe_rigby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Imagine if one day it were possible to have tethers coming from the earth, like space elevators and then actually construct a metal ring connecting them all. Not only would this allow a very easy way for anyone near a tether to get into space, it could also act as a telecommunications platform, or a solar cell array that spans the globe.
I like to think about things like a skyhook and a space elevator, because I feel they will one day fast become a reality. - Wolfghost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Were we capable of putting an object in orbit at 3700 KM in 1963?
Ever heard of TELSTAR, RELAY, and SYNCOM? The US successfully launched and had two of each in orbit by 1964. And don't forget Russia's Sputnik in 1957. - Saint3k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Theoretically, the dipole ring would be placed at a different orbital altitude than the one used my manned spacecraft and satellites. This would eliminate such a possibility, theoretically. I wonder if they accounted for stellar winds when they designed this system? After a hundred years or so the whole thing could become one big mess, surrounding our globe and preventing any orbital sattelite from leaving the earths atmosphere.
- mapkinase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Because the e/m force of the dipole (which is your magnet) drops like 1/r^3 at r>>the size of the dipole. In layman terms, this is pretty steep drop.
- swax, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Your post is nothing but questions, guesses, and loose rationalizations. I call *****.
- ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3saint3k - Didn't you read the whole article? Most of them have already come back to Earth in the 1970s.
- Demarche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I dunno about space, but anyone who gets near the tether who's posted above is certainly going to a lot of unnecessary, vitriolic abuse.
- OctaneZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Coral Cache was being wicked slow but duggmirror is working:
http://www.duggmirror.com/technology/Earth_s_Artificial_Ring:_Project_West_Ford/ - anthonares, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@tether, RTFA, they're right at the bottom.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ummm, you do realize that the force an object can exert on another object has to do with both its speed and its mass, right? I don't care how fast these things travel. They weight 40 MICROGRAMS. Even if these things were travelling at 100,000 miles per hour relative to the satellite, it would be like getting hit with a one ounce object going less than 1 miles per hour.
- latinjones, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So why exactly do you think the article is ***** again, framitz?
If you've done the research like you say you have, maybe you can point out some of the articles flaws? - tether, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3too bad you didn't find time in that 6 hours to cite one of the 100 or more pages of published articles
- blink21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Love the idea of the space elevator and a communications ring, like a big wagon wheel around the globe. Wouldn't it suck to get "tether-spam" in space, though?
- capn_caveman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3LOL. I don't know about that one.
- wilfordbrimley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2dudes, you should fight with some mathml.
neat article. - ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yes, he shattered it into a few hundred tiny pieces.
- boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"article"
- framitz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4I must take back the bull ***** claim.
The project actually did exist and is documented by NASA, a source that I beleive, at http://roland.grc.nasa.gov/~dglover/sat/echo.html and http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4217/ch21.htm.
I still think the article by damninteresting is mostly BS though.
At least I spent a few minutes actually researching, unlike many of the posters... - Julz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1cool artical, VERY cool artical in fact! and a greay new website
- tether, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2LHTCFS (Learn How To Cite ***** Source) Those aren't citations.. further reading and links aren't citations.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+320 kg... not that much
- Bloekie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1We actually were philosophing once at the playground about "a ring built around the earth".
It's just amazing. - dagfooyo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3I consider myself well versed in the events of the early space program, and that's something I never heard about. An artificial ring of antennas around the earth! Amazing! Glad they didn't continue, that would have made the whole space program much more difficult. Imagine having to worry about millions of metal needles careening into spacecraft and satellites. And who knows what other effects it might have had.
I wish some other 50's scientific endeavours had been so unsuccessful, such as the spread of the pesticide DDT, which despite its ban now resides in the cells of every living organism on earth. Thanks, 50's scientists! - splitsixty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Wouldnt then, anyone be able to commuincate through this?
Defiantly a good read, damn interesting! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0***** Bush!
- framitz, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Too many of the things in the article make it unbelievable. Were we capable of putting an object in orbit at 3700 KM in 1963? Not so sure. What mechanism caused the needles to disperse all the way around the planet? Unless you impart some careful speed differential when releasing them they would all just stay together. Would the orbit from 3700 KM decay in less than 10 years? Doubtful. If they did fall back to earth, the size is meaningless. They should be going plenty fast enough to vaporize shortly after hitting our atmosphere. It doesn't matter at all how small or light they were unless the laws of physics were severely bent.
On second thought I call bull *****. - dkarlson, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3DamnInteresting is a great site...I like the use of the ol' Lightbox script for the nav menu, too....
- justice7, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@swax
kind of funny, that's exactly what he's doing (calling *****) - fartingbob, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1It says in the article that they dont burn up during re-entry, so potentially, if someone had got one of these in their eye, they be in for a massive payoff. but i guess its a bit late for that now..
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