Comments on: The Amazing Cruise: Day 1

By: Peter McGrath

Peter McGrath — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:22:38 +0000

Did you see the eyesplices on those mooring lines?

Oh, hope you enjoyed the cruise…

By: Crystal

Crystal — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:33:56 +0000

It looks like you had a lot of fun

By: John Morales

John Morales — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:48:25 +0000

Paul Fournier, you consider Trappists “the ideal flight crew for a long duration mission to Mars”?

1. This seems awfully Trollish.

2. These are they.

By: Mark Martin

Mark Martin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:30:03 +0000

Thanks Gary; that’s interesting, to say the least.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:23:38 +0000

MArk MArtin: 3.9 gigaWatts is about what Orion could output. I was actually thinking of the EIC Boron11/Proton cycle proposed by Bussard. He estimated that 95% of the power generated would be in alpha particles, which could be used to generate electricity directly. I just used the 140Mw number because it’s the typical power output of a nuc. sub fission reactor. I expect Bussards reactor design could be upscaled significantly, though with 5% of its energy production being thermal, that’s still a lot of heat. In Bussards design proposal, using the EIC reactor design and a Boron /proton cycle, the residual thermal energy is used to preheat the reactant. Further acceleration of that reactant mass was electrically induced. At the 57th International Astronautical Congress, Bussard presented a 30 page paper describing Superperformance space power and propulsion, using the EIC reactor. Cool paper,,,

Squid: $1000 I could handle,,,$10,000,,,NOT! Thanks for the input, though. Gives me something to dream about.

GAry 7

By: Evolving Squid

Evolving Squid — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:42:23 +0000

I hope you get to go to Sitka (where I live) but only about 10-15% of the cruise ships get here. The cruise I was on visited Sitka. In all my cephalopodic glory, I ran about the town. Actually, I mostly visited the bird rehabilitation centre, an inhabitant of which you can see here.

By: Lurchgs

Lurchgs — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:40:32 +0000

man, I’m homesick,

I used to live in Sitka and Juneau – I *really* miss the old splashing grounds.

I do have a suggestion for those of you who really want to see the area. Skip the cruise ship. Book a ride on the Alaska Marine Highway. It’s a lot cheaper, and, in my experience, you see a heck of a lot more.

Not as much as from a 180 ft Buoy Tender, and I was PAID for that! But still, it’s a hell of a trip and worth every penny. (last time I looked, you could stagger your trip – ferry to Ketchikan, for instance – fool around there.. catch the next ferry north to.. oh.. Juneau… take a few days to do the local ferry/tour ships, etc)

I wonder if Rosie’s is still in Pelican…

Phil – as you cruise past the northern tip of Admiralty Island, pay attention to the lighthouse. I’m negotiating (ok begging) with the Coast Guard to let me retire there.