@Technogen: That sounds almost as promising as the Super Monkey Collider:

[www.theonion.com]

Almost.

bobdobbs

@Technogen: More research. Ever heard of a little group called DARPA?

DustyButt

@ the pew pew part, odds are once we get the design perfected that we'll have some of the most powerful beams you can get by reflecting the sun's light. Construct some 100m+ ones in orbit around the moon and move them to L7 and use them to push stuff around the solar system using a higher energy solarsail.

And bob, you're an insult to your name, NASA does more research then any other arm of the government. What Adrian Covert failed to mention is that a pair of 50m telescopes on the moon would let us make out oceans on planets orbiting other stars.

Technogen

@92BuickLeSabre: Not a Hillary fan, eh? Me neither.

bobdobbs

not that I want to say it, but it just has to be said "We'll call it the Alan Parsons Project"

Chester_Copperpot

@ittekimasu: I am not interested in an ass telescope, much less one for gigantic asses, much less one for viewing asses so gigantic that you can see them from the moon.

92BuickLeSabre

Fabricant is a traitor to his name.

But 13 lbs of nanotubes? Isn't that like 5hundreditygazillion nanotubes or something?

Look, I'm not a scientist or anything, but...what...oh, it was clear I'm not a scientist? Okay.

92BuickLeSabre

NASA: Why don't we make one gigantic ass telescope on the moon, and name it the Death Star? C'mon guys it'll be funny.

ittekimasu

Did anyone else get the impression he was making up the telescope recipe when they saw 1300, 130 and 13?

itchytooth

Hey NASA, how about using taxpayer dollars to solve a problem that benefits taxpayers?

Oh, that's not your job. I forgot.

bobdobbs

I don't know if I get it. Do they want to construct them on earth so they don't have to transport the delicate pieces from earth?

taciturnforsale

Sattelites made out of cheese. Who would have guessed?

marksman7328

@spyguy99: I put my homemade kahlua in a feed horn.

Kaiser-Machead

take probably 13 space monkeys to operate this machine

bookmark

If the dish is as big as a crater how the hell are they supposed to get the feed horn up there? BTW the feed horn is the thing that sends the signals to the dish which are then reflected back.

spyguy99

@Technogen: And, um, what part of the US Constitution says it's the federal government's role to fund non-defense research? The problem isn't what they do, it's who's doing it.

bobdobbs

@DustyButt: I actually can't find any solid numbers to back it up either way, but NASA does do more than just space research. And... for some reason www.darpa.mil is down so I can't get a number from them for funded projects for 2007.

Technogen

@Technogen:
bobdobbs: "The problem isn't what they do, it's who's doing it."

bobdobbs

Nothing shows a mans ignorance more than rejecting knowledge and the search for it.

Technogen

@godemperor: Two fallacious arguments. Just because the Bush administration ignores the Constitution doesn't give you the right to.

bobdobbs

@housewarmer: And that's in the Constitution where exactly?

Talk about dense.

bobdobbs

@bobdobbs:

Are you really that dense? Government funded non-defense research is directly connected to virtually every technological development we live by.

housewarmer

pshh the constitution may not say that it's the federal government's role to fund non-defense research but....

a) GDubya and his pals wipe their ass with the constitution on a daily basis

b) I like to think that spending money on furthering human knowledge and scientific endeavour is a more noble cause than finding new ways to horrifically murder people...

godemperor

That'll look GREAT next to the Missie Silos, er, Moon Base!

MagnoliaBoy

@DeadWriter: What a great beat! That's a song that needs a re-mix.

MagnoliaBoy

Where have I seen this design before?: Moon Patrol

+ Watch video

DeadWriter

@MagnoliaBoy: Yea, but I posted in the wrong thread.

DeadWriter

"...what part of the US Constitution says it's the federal government's role to fund non-defense research?"

Where does it say we can fund education, or subsidize agriculture, or pay people to not work? That Constitution ship sailed a long time ago.

"Just because the Bush administration ignores the Constitution..."

No it doesn't. Nor does it spy on innocent Americans, or violate the Geneva convention.

itsgadgetplayyyy

I guess a gas guzzler just doesn't seem as abominable on the Moon as it does on Earth. Maybe because on the Moon it might actually be needed. Unlike in suburban America.

Also, move along people...stop feeding the trolls (Mr. Pipey up there).

jawzzy

itsgadgetplayyyy: "fund education, or subsidize agriculture, or pay people to not work... spy on innocent Americans, or violate the Geneva convention"

Thank you. Put those on the list.

bobdobbs

we're whalers on the moon! we carry a harpoon! but there ain't no whales! So we tell tall tales! and sing our whaling tune!

moogoescow

Whatever, noob.

bobdobbs

So what would they use the telescopes to broadcast? And can they make telescopes out of mars dust?
And why does someone in every single NASA post always say "Wow way to spend billions on stuff that could have been spent solving other issues"...come on people NASA has invented over 1400 products you probably use every day.

robokasey

Toshie: "I guarantee they'll still need to make a second trip back to Home Depot for some more epoxy..."

Funniest shit I read all day.

bobdobbs

"According to Chen, making a telescope equivalent in size to the Hubble (2.4 meters) on the Moon would require 1300 pounds of Moon dust, 130 pounds of epoxy, 13 pounds of carbon nanotubes and under a gram of aluminum."

I guarantee they'll still need to make a second trip back to Home Depot for some more epoxy...

Toshie

2.4 meters seems like a lot of area for under a gram of aluminum to cover. unless aluminum weighs waaaaaaaaaaay less than i was led to previously believe. just seems like highly precision work to make a coating that thin... on the moon.

x23

robokasey: "come on people NASA has invented over 1400 products you probably use every day."

Name three.

bobdobbs

That's no moon. It's a space station!!!

C'mon, I can't believe no one's said this yet!

melikespi

@jawzzy: We need a new sign: "Please don't feed the radical libertarians."

icelight

@icelight: Yeah, because individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government are bad things.

bobdobbs

@bobdobbs: So our government is suppose to use tax dollars to help people right? Like Social Security and Medicare? They're helping the needy there. After all, entitlement programs cost much more than space exploration. Hell, soon enough entitlement programs will be the majority of our budget.

bbfreak

I suspect the next hurdle for them to clear will be to find a way to conveniently liquefy, pour, and shape aluminum in space, on the moon. There aren't many metal foundries on the moon and you cant exactly transport molten aluminum up there conveniently from Earth.

deciBels

What if they accidentally turn the entire moon to concrete? It could get too heavy and fall on earth!

GeekyNerdGuy

@bobdobbs: for your three, check here: [space.about.com]

Plus one more for the masses (and since I'm directly affected by their use) - smoke detectors.

Now away from the political commentary and back to the pointless attempt at humor only to be knocked down by some holier-than-thou anonymous Internet commenter...
I'll donate the "under a gram" of aluminum - *grabs empty pop can from the trash.* They should name this thing after me.

Geisrud

@bobdobbs:
[science.howstuffworks.com]

Do your research before arguing.

pliSkiNAKE

So, umm, if they're thinking of sticking this thing in a giant crater what will stop it from becoming the next new crater? That's a whole lot of effort and money to use only to watch it get blasted away by the constant barrage of meteors the moon faces.

JymmyZ

@melikespi: Actually it would be "That's no moon, it's a... Oh wait, it IS a moon!".

AndyMac

@bobdobbs Not in the Constitution? Look up the necessary-and-proper clause. Just becuase your definition of what is necessary and proper doesn't line up with what Congress and the Supreme Court has decided over the years, it doesn't make government programs unconstitutional. The Founding Fathers had the foresight to know that the needs of our nation would change drastically as time went by and included the proper provisions in the Constitution.

LastGunslinger

Moon? We've never even been to the moon.... theres a giant man in the moon... he would eat us.... geez....

icegnome

Is that EARTH pounds, or MOON pounds?

ke6seh

@itchytooth I don't think he was making up the numbers if the package on the carbon tubes says mix 1 part tubes with 10 parts epoxy and 100 parts moon dust.

thepontiff

@bobdobbs: What part of the Constitution...?

Ahem.

Article I. Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;

Basically, if it is good for us all (and honestly, science is good for us all... the Moon program drove computer technology forward faster than any military project) then they can tax you and do it.

And in the same section the following passage makes it clear that "promoting the progress of science and useful arts" is indeed one of the roles of Congress... so they are just doing what they are told!

"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;"

Also, as @LastGunslinger: mentioned, the final clause of Section 8: "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

Finally;
What kind of butt-head is so sure of their own brilliance that they think 400 million Americans over the past 60 years would have all been blind to mis-appropriation in Congress? 400 Million people didn't understand something and you are the lone genius in all that time to spot it or you read it wrong.... hmmmm. I know which one I'm picking.

furt1v3ly

What is really funny is a true-believer ideolog big-L libertarian trying to use a dobbshead as an avatar.

Here is a clue for you ... Sub-Genii are not followers of anyone or anything. Not even followers of RuPaul or some other randite/constitutionalist geek.

Unless it amuses them to do so.

If you are offended by the rest of the folks in the US misinterpreting the constitution, I would suggest immigrating to New Swabia.

kbarrett

@bbfreak: "Hell, soon enough entitlement programs will be the majority of our budget."

I think that ship sailed a long time ago.

@icelight: "'Please don't feed the radical libertarians.'"

You shouldn't have to, I'm pretty sure they believe in feeding themselves. A more appropriate sign:

"Please don't feed the able-bodied with their hands out."

itsgadgetplayyyy