John Freeman is a PhD physicist who worked in industry for ten years, building and testing everything from e-cigarettes to industrial cutting lasers. He then tried teaching, and is still recovering. He writes guides to space and technology for authors, game designers, DM's and other worldbuilders, which can be found here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/18101/John-Freeman
Hi everyone, as I'm closing in on the finish of the 4th booklet in this series, I thought I'd post a quick reminder about them:
The Hard SF Worldbuilding Cookbooks:
Find and inspire unique prompts. Choose the location. Write the story. Have the science for it, as needed.
Inspiration, then #worldbuilding.
1# Moons of Gas Giants:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/331779
2# Supernova:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/335851
3# Rogue planets:
https://drivethrurpg.com/product/364916
#space #ISS #satellite #astrophotography
Thierry Legault's Stunning Views of the Space Station (with spacewalking astronauts) Crossing in Front of Sunspots
https://www.universetoday.com/161902/thierry-legaults-stunning-views-of-the-space-station-with-spacewalking-astronauts-crossing-in-front-of-sunspots/ via @universetoday
#space #exploration #resources #science
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 65 —Space is for everyone with Rachel Lyons of Space For Humanity
@Tergenev Given the current world situation I'm not sure how likely it is, but I hope that some amount of common sense - to preserve orbit as a resource for everyone's use - would be applied. In any case, the company planning (and testing technology) to turn space junk into orbiting laboratories is called Nanoracks: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a41833287/cutting-steel-in-space/
@GreenFire Hey, sorry for the delay: The company planning to turn bigger bits of space junk into orbiting laboratories is called Nanoracks, and they've successfully tested some of the technology needed already: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a41833287/cutting-steel-in-space/
@Scifiguy
I don't think that people should feel free to let garbage burn up in our atmosphere personally. I'd like to have all the space trash hauled out someplace closer to the moon where maybe it might get recycled someday.
An Ancient Solar System:
This week, off world: So many space launches, alien lava falls, UAE to send a mission to an asteroid, and loads more....
#space #industry #exploration #ShamelessSelfpromoFriday
https://ancientsolarsystem.blogspot.com/2023/06/this-week-off-world-so-many-space.html
@Tergenev The legal aspect is a bigger problem than the practical one, as the debris sis still considered sovereign territory of the nation that launched it, or property of the company that did. But there are serious proposals to send small, unmanned, craft to things like defunct rocket upper stages and and re-use them as cheap and accessible space laboratories for commercial interests - I'll try to find the link in the morning.
@Scifiguy All interesting points, but I think there needs to be a discussion about when debris can be declared ‘free for salvage’. No business will try to clean up debris until international law provides a mechanism to declare the original launcher’s rights null. If a dead Soviet second stage is still zooming through increasingly full orbital altitudes, why can’t we allow someone to go out and clean it up? Maybe orbits should be considered like radio frequencies.
@GreenFire It's late here, and I can't find the link quickly right now, but I've seen very serious proposals for small unmanned missions that would basically recycle some of the larger pieces of space debris - mostly the shut-down upper rocket stages - into cheap and accessible unmanned space laboratories for commercial interests. I'll try and find the link tomorrow.
#space #science #wildfire #resources
Satellite photos show US East Coast engulfed by smoke from Canadian wildfires https://www.space.com/satellite-photos-canada-wildfire-smoke-us-east-coast
Space Law May Soon Focus on Space Debris Cleanup, Not Just Mitigation
https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/space-law-focus-space-debris-cleanup-not-just-mitigation/
@pa28 ...yet, applying what we might call the 'little mind' model to these systems, people with no knowledge of their actual workings are able to interact with them effectively - often because the interface with the user is designed with just that kind of interaction in mind. So, it's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy but, within narrow limits, most people seem to succeed when applying the 'little mind' model to such systems, which justifies continued use of that model, to them.
@pa28 ...but, within the narrow confines of the tasks these systems are designed to perform, most people seem to treat these things as though they have an understanding of concepts, and are actually making decisions, albeit both in a very limited way over a very limited set of topics. And this seems to be s genuine model they apply, based on their experiences interacting with these systems - I know they're not just speaking informally, because most have no idea what /actually/ makes them work...
@pa28 I think you've already answered that: Because they already apply that kind of model to their spelling and grammar checkers. From what I've seen and heard of colleagues interacting with their checkers, they instinctively seem to find the model of there being a 'mind' making 'decisions' of some sort the easiest one to use, especially when talking about them. The same applies to car sat-nav. I don't think that most of them ascribe a human-level intelligence, or anything like, to them...
@pa28 ...so as long as it is understood that the 'thinking creature' model is just a model, and has narrow limits of usefulness, I think it needs to be gone along with - and so I think the use of the word 'realized' can be justified on the authors part, as could other (mild) anthropomorphising.
@pa28 ....does not seem unreasonable to me. If we deny people the use of more simplistic & intuitive models when dealing with them, then we are going to be denying them the ability to talk about them, and form opinions on them, at all - at least without a massive program of education, which TBH I don't think will be on the table for decades at least. I don't think think that's productive, especially as these folks are the intended users...
@pa28 All fair points, but my issue is the understanding of the author of the article, and of the average person: It does not seem reasonable to expect a layman to have a genuine understanding of these programs. And these programs are being specifically designed to interact with laymen in a way that is, superficially at least, human-like. So the most useful model for a layman to use when dealing with them, and when discussing them, is going to be that of a thinking entity. So the word choice...
Space Force exploring options to build weather monitoring constellation
https://spacenews.com/space-force-exploring-options-to-build-weather-monitoring-constellation/ via @SpaceNews_Inc
@pa28 Fair to say that I am out of my depth discussing the internal workings of one of these things. Allow me to speak from that ignorance: A lot of fairly smart people I know are still more at sea. That is what clouds the issue for us, way ahead of anthropomorphizing and, for /some/ circumstances, the model that works best for us to interact with these things might be to treat it like a person - for the same accessibility reasons we teach Newtonian, not relativistic, mechanics at school.
