Chatroom
 

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum > General Interest > Small Media at Large
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

   

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 17-April-2002, 09:53 PM
MHS MHS is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Posts: 127
Send a message via MSN to MHS
Default

As usual I was reading a few of the articles on one of the most reliable Dutch newssites (Nu.nl) when I found out that one of the main articles was about the company 'Lunar Embassy' that opened a new 'shop' in Holland where they're going to sell pieces of the Moon. The article was absolutely serious about it and mentioned that the company has all the rights to do what they're doing. Ofcourse I sent them an e-mail right away telling them that it's all crap and that the rights are truly for 80% made up. I've also sent them a link to a CNN article that's far more skeptical about it and explains perfectly what the rights of this company are.

Funny thing: the CNN article mentions a co-director from Leiden University. Check where I come from!

<<<---------------------------

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MHS on 2002-04-17 16:56 ]</font>
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 18-April-2002, 07:15 AM
GrapesOfWrath's Avatar
GrapesOfWrath GrapesOfWrath is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 3,019
Default

He sold 300,000 plots, 18,000 acres each, for 27 US dollars apiece. And that guy in Germany whose family was bequeathed the moon in the nineteenth century wants all the money he has made.

Incredible.

I gotta go take my pet rock for a walk.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 18-April-2002, 04:12 PM
MHS MHS is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Posts: 127
Send a message via MSN to MHS
Default

They listen to us! Well, they didn't change the article, but they did place a link to the CNN article I recommended. In the e-mail sent to me by Nu.nl they agreed with me that the CNN article is pretty good :>

Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 18-April-2002, 05:18 PM
Firefox Firefox is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Wichita, Kansas
Posts: 294
Send a message via AIM to Firefox
Default

Does anyone remember the two Arab brothers who filed suit against NASA for landing the Mars Pathfinder on what they claimed to be their planet?


-Adam
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 18-April-2002, 06:01 PM
Wiley Wiley is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 899
Default

They can have the Moon and they can have Mars, but they better stay off of Venus. She's mine, all mine. Keep your clam shell shuckin' hands off!
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 19-April-2002, 07:03 AM
Martian Jim Martian Jim is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mars
Posts: 104
Default

Quote:
On 2002-04-18 12:18, Firefox wrote:
Does anyone remember the two Arab brothers who filed suit against NASA for landing the Mars Pathfinder on what they claimed to be their planet?


-Adam
HEY! THATS MY HOME PLANNET! I SHOULD BE THE ONE FILING LAW SUITS AGAINST NASA!
__________________
<marquee> the guy that has come from mars, for no reason (no reason, or you think for no reason......) </Marquee>
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 19-April-2002, 09:29 PM
Chuck Chuck is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Valley of The Sun
Posts: 2,604
Send a message via AIM to Chuck
Default

I want the plot of land under the lunar rover so I can charge NASA for parking there.
__________________
Life is like a box of chocolates. All of your choices are bad for you.
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 20-April-2002, 07:42 PM
MHS MHS is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Posts: 127
Send a message via MSN to MHS
Default

That reminds me: would an 'earth-pen' work on the moon? Or is there not enough gravity?

A pen is kinda necessary for writing the ticket [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MHS on 2002-04-20 14:42 ]</font>
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 20-April-2002, 07:44 PM
Firefox Firefox is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Wichita, Kansas
Posts: 294
Send a message via AIM to Firefox
Default

I don't think Chuck has to worry about that. NASA developed pens that work in microgravity. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]


-Adam
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 23-April-2002, 11:27 AM
Martian Jim Martian Jim is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mars
Posts: 104
Default

Quote:
On 2002-04-20 14:44, Firefox wrote:
I don't think Chuck has to worry about that. NASA developed pens that work in microgravity. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]


-Adam
why did nasa spend alot of money researching that when they could use a PENCIL?
__________________
<marquee> the guy that has come from mars, for no reason (no reason, or you think for no reason......) </Marquee>
Reply With Quote
  #11 (permalink)  
Old 23-April-2002, 12:52 PM
Donnie B.'s Avatar
Donnie B. Donnie B. is online now
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 5,763
Default

Pencils wear down and require sharpening. Sharpening a pencil creates tiny bits of wood and graphite, which can float around, get inhaled, clog air filters, and generally be a pain. The graphite is conductive and could get into electrical equipment, causing shorts. A mechanical pencil would reduce, but not eliminate, the problem of graphite particles; and it would be impossible to operate one in an EVA suit.

Sometimes there really are good reasons for spending a little extra money.
Reply With Quote
  #12 (permalink)  
Old 23-April-2002, 01:59 PM
David Hall David Hall is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Osaka, Japan
Posts: 2,689
Default

I remember hearing that the Russians used pencils on their flights. I wonder how they coped (cope?) with the problems.
__________________
...And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped. --Sir Bedevere
Reply With Quote
  #13 (permalink)  
Old 24-April-2002, 12:43 AM
Donnie B.'s Avatar
Donnie B. Donnie B. is online now
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 5,763
Default

Maybe they didn't write much. Or, maybe they spent a couple million developing a combo vacuum cleaner and sharpener!

Anybody know whether a fountain pen will write "upward"? They're fed by capillary action, so maybe they'd still work in zero-g... as long as you could keep the nib wet.
Reply With Quote
  #14 (permalink)  
Old 24-April-2002, 02:05 PM
SeanF's Avatar
SeanF SeanF is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Posts: 6,191
Default

Quote:
On 2002-04-23 19:43, Donnie B. wrote:
Maybe they didn't write much. Or, maybe they spent a couple million developing a combo vacuum cleaner and sharpener!
Hey, I've got a combo vacuum cleaner and beard trimmer that I use to trim my beard without having little tiny hair clippings all over the bathroom! [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

(It's definitely an improvement over a regular trimmer, but it still drops enough clippings that I don't think I'd use it in zero-g around sensitive electronics . . . )


__________________
SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2010 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF
Reply With Quote
  #15 (permalink)  
Old 05-May-2002, 08:20 PM
Jim_McBrearty Jim_McBrearty is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 18
Default

Well, they can claim to own the moon all they want, but once I'm up there with an M-16, they can't do anything.

Will an M-16 work in space? I think the powder contains all the oxygen, and that the mercury cap thing would still spark. Combine that with the Moon's gravity (or lack of it) and you hace a lethal weapon. Keep off estate Agents?

P.S. Can I buy Uranus? <har har har> (Is it officially pronunce "Your-Anus" or "U-Ran-Nos"?)
Reply With Quote
  #16 (permalink)  
Old 05-May-2002, 08:41 PM
Kaptain K's Avatar
Kaptain K Kaptain K is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Elgin, Tx
Posts: 7,699
Default

Quote:
Will an M-16 work in space?
Yup! Just fine. Although, aiming might be a little difficult in a space suit.
Quote:
P.S. Can I buy Uranus? (Is it officially pronunce "Your-Anus" or "U-Ran-Nos"?)
Actually it is closer to urine-us [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

__________________
Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson
Reply With Quote
  #17 (permalink)  
Old 05-May-2002, 09:11 PM
Donnie B.'s Avatar
Donnie B. Donnie B. is online now
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 5,763
Default

Quote:
On 2002-05-05 15:20, Jim_McBrearty wrote:
Will an M-16 work in space?
I wonder... would the ammunition hold together in a vacuum? The bullet is just friction-fit into the cartridge casing, I believe; the internal pressure might pop them apart if that fit isn't tight enough.
Reply With Quote
  #18 (permalink)  
Old 05-May-2002, 09:47 PM
Kaptain K's Avatar
Kaptain K Kaptain K is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Elgin, Tx
Posts: 7,699
Default

Quote:
I wonder... would the ammunition hold together in a vacuum? The bullet is just friction-fit into the cartridge casing, I believe; the internal pressure might pop them apart if that fit isn't tight enough.
The M-16 uses the 5.56mm NATO ammunition (.223 caliber). Assuming 1 atm of internal pressure (~15 lb/in^2); the pressure on the base of the bullet would be .223^2 x 15 x 16 = ~12oz. I think the friction fit would be tight enough to resist that.
__________________
Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson
Reply With Quote
  #19 (permalink)  
Old 07-May-2002, 09:06 AM
Martian Jim Martian Jim is offline
Established Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mars
Posts: 104
Default

i heard that if you fired a powerful gun on the moon, it would travel all the way around the moon. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

The reason for this is because there virtually no air resistance. so if you fire your m16 and stand their for a long time it would hit you in the back of the head.

when they went to the moon they should of tried this.
__________________
<marquee> the guy that has come from mars, for no reason (no reason, or you think for no reason......) </Marquee>
Reply With Quote
  #20 (permalink)  
Old 07-May-2002, 05:09 PM
ToSeek's Avatar
ToSeek ToSeek is offline
Vulcan Administrator
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Posts: 26,357
Default

Quote:
On 2002-05-07 04:06, Martian Jim wrote:
i heard that if you fired a powerful gun on the moon, it would travel all the way around the moon. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I believe it's mathematically possible, but in practice odds are good that there's something your height in the orbital path before it gets to you.

Reminds me a bit of the (mostly joking) concerns about the 51,000-foot mountain on the backside of the Moon when the lunar module was in a 50,000-foot orbit.
__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Reply With Quote
  #21 (permalink)  
Old 07-May-2002, 08:34 PM
Kaptain K's Avatar
Kaptain K Kaptain K is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Elgin, Tx
Posts: 7,699
Default

Quote:
...if you fire your m16 and stand their for a long time it would hit you in the back of the head.
The orbital velocity of the Moon is ~5500fps.
The muzzle velocity of an M 16 is ~3100fps. The maximum MV of a high power rifle (i.e. 22-250, 220 Swift, 30-06-223 sabot, etc) is a little over 4000fps. So, no you could not shoot yourself in the head. A tank or howitzer could probably come close.

_________________
When all is said and done - sit down and shut up!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kaptain K on 2002-05-07 15:35 ]</font>
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT. The time now is 05:39 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
LinkBacks Enabled by vBSEO 3.0.0
©  2006 Bad Astronomy and Universe Today