We and our goods will continue to get from one point to another with much greater speed. We used animals that move quicker and heavier burdens than we humans do to help us in our conquests until the later part of the 1800s. At this point we used our own facilities in mechanics to move us as fast and sometimes just a little bit faster than we could with other animals. But it wasn't until the 1920s and later that we built machines to carry us much faster than other animals could.
With the introduction of air planes we have really started to move. Most modern commercial air craft carry us at mach .3 or more. The trouble with our current long range transportation is boarding and deboarding - it's time consuming and uncomfortable. Personal transportation is generally preferred for its comfort and personalization. But most of us only have automobiles that travel along man made roads at mach .1 and have difficulty going much faster.
The NASA Space Shuttle travels at 18,000 miles per hour around the Earth when it achieves its low earth orbit (LEO). That's a pretty decent speed to travel even if I spend an hour or so boarding and another hour deboarding. So, why not use the Shuttle to travel from Florida to Hong Kong? Reasons: 1. three large tanks of highly volatile liquids, 2. most astronauts get sick when they get into orbit, 3. 2% of NASA Shuttle missions have ended in loss of life and vehicle. If the FAA had to report 2% of airplane flights ended in total loss of life and loss of the vehicle, I think the air lines would be in a lot of financial and legal trouble.
So, can civilians travel at 18,000 miles per hour to another country? Can I get something shipped to Sidney in an hour? Sure. The majority of the resistance (Earth's atmosphere) that those three large tanks on the Shuttle are there to get past is within 30,000 feet of sea level. So, if we can get cargo to 30,000 feet without expending much fuel, the rest of the flight shouldn't require much fuel at all.
And reentering to 30,000 feet? Well, we don't want to send space planes from the ground to 30,000 feet every time they make a run, so we'll have to keep them up there. I think we'll end up having bunches of bags of gas hovering where our space crafts may dock to them and send their cargo to and from Earth's surface by other means. Though, I know of no technology that can stop a couple of tons traveling more than 10,00 miles per hour in mid air - we'll have to wait for that one.
I believe that this forum will help me with my writing in a couple of ways. Firstly, it will help me get the documents that I have prepared on this subject off of my computer which i think will help to better preserve them. Second, it will give me the incentive to make much needed spelling and grammar corrections to them. As I hope to present a bit more than 'fluff' - what an english teacher referred to writing that I think she would have preferred to call 'crap' - and something that people might enjoy reading versus being turned off by countless grammatical and spelling errors (as I often am when reading well thought but poorly written articles. Third, I would hope to get *thoughtful* feedback.
I think that my third incentive needs a bit definition when concerned with the loose term thoughtful. I don't expect Hubble, Dirak, Einstein, Newton, or Galileo to be reading my writing - as they're dead. Though, I doubt that Hawking, Tyson, or any other - still alive - great minds to read my work. What I would expect is that if you wish to give me feedback, you abide by a couple of 'rules', so please:
Last, the pictures on the slide show may or may not have been taken by me. Most were taken on family vacations and since we only had one (fairly) high end camera - the talented photographers that we all are - had to share. So I can't say which of these pictures I took and which I didn't (unless I was in it - and that is rare).
I think that my third incentive needs a bit definition when concerned with the loose term thoughtful. I don't expect Hubble, Dirak, Einstein, Newton, or Galileo to be reading my writing - as they're dead. Though, I doubt that Hawking, Tyson, or any other - still alive - great minds to read my work. What I would expect is that if you wish to give me feedback, you abide by a couple of 'rules', so please:
- Say more than five words - "You're an idiot" "Love your writing" - I DON'T CARE
- Unless you are pointing a unbiased and blunt untruth I have stated, take more than five minutes to think about what you are saying.
- Make your point and be done with it - don't keep reiterating a point you've already made, don't put incessant carriage returns (aka - 'enter') like a teenage chat room.
- Don't type everything big and bold, small and blending in with the background, or using all caps.
Last, the pictures on the slide show may or may not have been taken by me. Most were taken on family vacations and since we only had one (fairly) high end camera - the talented photographers that we all are - had to share. So I can't say which of these pictures I took and which I didn't (unless I was in it - and that is rare).