Mia and I enjoyed Windycon 51. Once again, it was it was at the Doubletree Oak Brook, like last year and the year before. As at our previous Chicagoland conventions, it was good to catch up with old friends.
Windycon 51
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Tag Archives: space
Chicagoland: Capricon 45 and St. Luke’s
Mia and I enjoyed Capricon 45. It was held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, February 1-4, as it was when we attended last year and three years ago. As on those occasions, we were very happy to be at a con in downtown Chicago again, with an almost infinite supply of places to eat and drink in walking distance of the hotel. As in previous years, some of our Chicagoland fannish friends did not attend, but others did, and we enjoyed seeing them again.
Powering the Space Elevator
Notes from a presentation by Larry Bartoszek at Capricon 45, Chicago, Feb. 8, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The speaker is not responsible for any errors here.
A recent International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) study showed that a 20 ton Space Elevator climber needs tens of megawatts of electrical power to begin climbing from the surface of the Earth, but the power required falls off as 1/r2, as gravity does. This talk will look at options for delivering the large amount of power to get started and the design of a laser power beaming system to power the climber at higher altitudes. Non-laser options will also be discussed.
Windycon 2024
Capricon 2024
Mia and I enjoyed Capricon 44. It was held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, February 1-4, as it was when we attended two years ago. We were very happy to be at a con in downtown Chicago again, with an almost infinite supply of places to eat and drink in walking distance of the hotel. It is much more alive than downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis, and the people seemed friendlier. As happened in 2022, some of our Chicagoland fannish friends did not attend, but others did, and we enjoyed seeing them again.
Lucy’s Tour of the Trojan Asteroids
Notes from a presentation at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The speaker, Bill Higgins, is not responsible for any errors here.
Bill Higgins
The two swarms of frigid Trojan asteroids, circling the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter, have never been visited by spacecraft. NASA’s Lucy mission plans to change that. Launched in 2021, Lucy’s intricate trajectory will eventually fly by eleven asteroids, including eight Trojans of varying size and composition far beyond the main Asteroid Belt. Passing through the asteroid belt on her way to the distant realm of the Trojans, Lucy’s first flyby this past November held surprises—and if all goes well, the best is yet to come.
1970s Probes
Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.
Bill Higgins, Randall Roman, Henry Spencer
Our panelists discuss the flyby probes of the 1970s: the Pioneers, Voyagers, Mariners, etc. Where are they now and are we still getting anything useful from them?
Dust.. from… SPACE!!!
Notes from a panel at Capricon 44, Chicago, Feb. 2, 2024. Any mistakes are mine. The panelists are not responsible for any errors here.
Bill Higgins, Henry Spencer
The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampler has returned with a bounty of asteroid dust. Our panelists discuss what the findings have been so far, what is still to come, and what it all means.
Windycon 2023
Phosphine on Venus again
Phosphine on Venus: Another Look
Back in 2020 there was a report that Phosphine had been found in the atmosphere of Venus. Since Phosphine can be a sign of life that caused some excitement. I posted about this three times:
The last of these was in reference to Re-analysis of the 267-GHz ALMA observations of Venus: No statistically significant detection of phosphine? At the time that seemed like the end of the story.
However, there have been a lot more observations since then and some re-re-analysis of the earlier work, leading to Phosphine Confirmed Deep Within Venus’ Atmosphere, A Possible Sign Of Life. I am looking forward to seeing the technical details.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 