yeah... that is not going to work

tlchwi02: yeah... that is not going to work

For what reason?

/approves

I thought we sent some up already as test subjects when we were in the early stages of space flight?

//sorry, that was horribly racist


Well, if they make it, that will be quite an achievement.

not saying they "can't" do it, but given the resources at their disposal, highly unlikely.
no funding
no engine
no facilities (their "spacecraft" is hanging out under a tree)

Homeboys in space?

/You think they'd have know to bring a helmet. Kinda important fo' keepin' da air in.

Followup 2012:
Uganda wonder why that didn't work

A shame it won't make it into orbit. The flaming fiberglass would look brilliant on re-entry.

Uh, good luck.

I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit? Would it require much more energy to push it into space that way than to blast it straight upwards? It seems like the slower lateral speed would make reentry safer, and the climb into space more comfortable, if quite a bit longer.

But back to Uganda, it's good to see someone there trying to do something grand. Even if they don't make it to space, they are bound to discover a bunch of things that can make their daily lives better. Tang and Velcro come to mind, for example.

Is this their first astronaut?

/DNRTFA

Antagonism: tlchwi02: yeah... that is not going to work

For what reason?

Fingers crossed it does and wins him an X-prize.

/Why the hell not?

Antagonism: For what reason?

look, nothing personal against the Ugandans because i would say this about anyone doing something like this... but building a glider/space ship in your back yard.... thats just not going to work

AverageAmericanGuy: Uh, good luck.

I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit? Would it require much more energy to push it into space that way than to blast it straight upwards? It seems like the slower lateral speed would make reentry safer, and the climb into space more comfortable, if quite a bit longer.

But back to Uganda, it's good to see someone there trying to do something grand. Even if they don't make it to space, they are bound to discover a bunch of things that can make their daily lives better. Tang and Velcro come to mind, for example.

Airplanes need a certain air pressure to generate lift. Air pressure drops off as you get to space, obviously, so an airplane would reach its ceiling of operation.

The BBC did a good write up on this a while back, My favorite part :

A lack of local facilities is hampering the project and I asked Chris how he plans to simulate zero gravity, for example, in Kampala.

"Easy" he said. "I've got a jet engine on order so I'm planning to build a tunnel, put the engine at one end and when I throw a guy in he'll float in a similar way to how he would in space."

I for one welcome our new Ugandan overlords.

error 303: The BBC did a good write up on this a while back, My favorite part :

A lack of local facilities is hampering the project and I asked Chris how he plans to simulate zero gravity, for example, in Kampala.

"Easy" he said. "I've got a jet engine on order so I'm planning to build a tunnel, put the engine at one end and when I throw a guy in he'll float in a similar way to how he would in space."

"Mitubi, I am sorry to tell you the engine was not strong enough. Nimbawa looks like a vat of beef stroganoff now. Rest in peace assured that he died for his country."

They best look out for the moon nazis from SPACE!

I am imagining their first launch will go something like this:

10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1

Gigantic explosion that destroys the space craft

(Disappointed trumpet; you know, wha wha waaaaaa)

AverageAmericanGuy: I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit?

1. airfoils (wings) need density to work
2. as altitude increases, you need to go faster and faster to generate any lift and not stall
3. as air gets thinner, you have less oxygen to use to burn fuel, so you need to carry an oxidizer in addition to fuel
3. at this point, you've made the transition from "airplane" to "rocket"

take the U2 for example, it's constantly on the verge of stalling at high altitudes

watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PmYItnlY5M (new window)

AverageAmericanGuy: Uh, good luck.

I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit? Would it require much more energy to push it into space that way than to blast it straight upwards? It seems like the slower lateral speed would make reentry safer, and the climb into space more comfortable, if quite a bit longer.

But back to Uganda, it's good to see someone there trying to do something grand. Even if they don't make it to space, they are bound to discover a bunch of things that can make their daily lives better. Tang and Velcro come to mind, for example.

Because there's no atmosphere to provide lift. There's a big zone between 'enough atmosphere to provide lift' and 'not enough atmosphere to cause drag'.

tlchwi02: Antagonism: For what reason?

look, nothing personal against the Ugandans because i would say this about anyone doing something like this... but building a glider/space ship in your back yard.... thats just not going to work

Why not? I'll bet dollars to donuts that there is no HOA in his neighborhood to stop him.

Good on them. Wasn't so long ago, that if you was black, and you was an astronaut... you was outta work.



1957, '58. Was a different time, you understand.

AverageAmericanGuy: I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit?



/wonder why no one ever thought of that before? Think of all the money we wasted with spaceshuttles, when all we had to do was tell a pilot to "fly higher".

Lord Dimwit: Exactly. It's the same reason why a boat can't just keep floating upwards after it hits the surface of the water.

But a dirigible can.

Can we just shoot them out there and leave them there?

AverageAmericanGuy: Uh, good luck.

I had a question that I couldn't find answered anywhere online. Why can't an airplane continue to fly higher using lift until it reached orbit? Would it require much more energy to push it into space that way than to blast it straight upwards? It seems like the slower lateral speed would make reentry safer, and the climb into space more comfortable, if quite a bit longer.

But back to Uganda, it's good to see someone there trying to do something grand. Even if they don't make it to space, they are bound to discover a bunch of things that can make their daily lives better. Tang and Velcro come to mind, for example.

"Orbit" is a place where air resistance is so low that you can basically keep looping around the planet for hundreds of years. It is about 200 km up from what I remember.

The part of the atmosphere that has enough oxygen for jet engines to be useful and enough pressure for wing-generated lift to be useful ends at about 10 km up.

So, sure, you can go ahead and attach big wings and breathing engines to your spacecraft, but all that extra weight and frontal area is only going to get you 5% of the potential energy (height) that you need and maybe 30% of the kinetic energy. You'll get a huge efficiency boost during that first 5%, and a huge drag on your efficiency for the next 95%.

I really, really thought the article was satire.
And was immediately reminded of the Mexican Space Program in South Park.

That said, while this is certainly a 'waste' of resources, it IS the kind of achievement that could give the Ugandans a sense of pride and accomplishment, so I can't help but hope for some sort of limited success, as extremely far-fetched as it seems.

halmot: [img52.imageshack.us image 441x400]

Came for this.

Godspeed Chris Nsamba, Godspeed....

Also, forgot to mention that lovely little story about the 18th century spacecraft in Planetary. That was a good one.

In the Ugandan guy's defense, and in defense of AverageAmericanGuy, the Scaled Composites spacecraft also started its flights as an airplane. There is a benefit if you're only going sub-orbital.

AverageAmericanGuy: Lord Dimwit: Exactly. It's the same reason why a boat can't just keep floating upwards after it hits the surface of the water.

But a dirigible can.

Boats are buoyant in water but not in air. Dirigibles are buoyant in both up to the altitude where air has the same density as the dirigible.

If you let go of a balloon filled with standard air underwater it may shoot a bit out of the water before falling back down because buoyancy is a force which will accelerate the balloon, but its equilibrium position is "below" the air, ie, resting on the surface of the water.

Lord Dimwit: I've often heard that Uganda's not a bad place to visit. Anyone have any personal experience with going there?


The Uganda Tourist Bureau spokesman welcomes you.

The good news is that when black men be burnin' up during' re-entry, they be lookin' all cool. 'Cause you know when a white man burn up on re-entry they be doin' like it THIS

PYROY: African Space Research Programme.

ASRP


I wonder how people will pronounce the acronym?

Ayh Ess Are Pee?

YixilTesiphon: AverageAmericanGuy: Lord Dimwit: Exactly. It's the same reason why a boat can't just keep floating upwards after it hits the surface of the water.

But a dirigible can.

Boats are buoyant in water but not in air. Dirigibles are buoyant in both up to the altitude where air has the same density as the dirigible.

If you let go of a balloon filled with standard air underwater it may shoot a bit out of the water before falling back down because buoyancy is a force which will accelerate the balloon, but its equilibrium position is "below" the air, ie, resting on the surface of the water.

And just how do you get that dirigible under the water?

/curious minds want to know!

Antagonism: tlchwi02: yeah... that is not going to work

For what reason?

From the pics I saw, it doesn't look there's any glass in the "portholes" on that thing. Meaning that once they get high enough they have no chance of success.

Now I Is!: Antagonism: tlchwi02: yeah... that is not going to work

For what reason?

Fingers crossed it does and wins him an X-prize.

/Why the hell not?

Nothing says that they couldn't strap some rockets to it and get it into orbit; the hard part has always been coming back. They'd burn up in the atmosphere in that thing. And I don't know how sound the hull of the "space craft" is. If you remember, it was one piece of rubber falling off that brought down one of our space shuttles.

It seems like a one way ticket; but that would be one hell of a ride while it lasted.

Sticky Hands: Why not? I'll bet dollars to donuts that there is no HOA in his neighborhood to stop him.

his plan to simulate weightlessness is to jury rig a jet engine in the bottom a hole, fire it up and toss someone in.

pretty sure the HOA is not going to be a principal party who would have an issue with that

Jon H: And just how do you get that dirigible under the water?

/curious minds want to know!

With great force.

If I had a boat building business, I'd be saying to myself "need to start recruiting some FRP workers out of Uganda"

so 80k on this thing, meanwhile how many of those starving marvins are within 5 miles of his mom's house?

Chris Nsamba says that at one time or another every successful scientist has been called a madman, and some think he is crazy about working to send the first Ugandan into space -- from the backyard of his mother's home.

They said Galileo was crazy! They said Edison and Einstein were crazy! BUT I'LL SHOW THEM WHO'S CRAZY!!! BWAHAHAHAHA! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The jig is up.