Monday, October 8, 2007

Errata

Page 59 of Gaiome says that SpaceShipOne burned "solid rubber in liquid oxygen." Actually, it burned hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (a synthetic rubber) in nitrous oxide (N2O).

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Gaiome Cut-Away

Here's a screen shot from the book, just to give you an idea of what a gaiome might look like.

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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Gaiome Spreadsheet Available

Ever want to design your own rocket or space habitat? Now's your chance! I did all the calculations for Gaiome in Ruby, but to check them I also wrote a spreadsheet. It's in Open Office, a free alternative to MS-Office, and it includes:

  • Commercial passenger rocket designs
  • Asteroid and comet compositions
  • Space habitat designs—both spherical and ring-shaped
  • Population models

Warning! This is for serious nerds only! I'm offering it free, without warantee of any kind and I know of at least two minor undocumented errors that I may correct on my next slow day. For technical support and customization, please leave a comment with contact info and project details and I'll get back to you with a quote at my standard aerospace rate.

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