21 Comments

1. Marc on February 18, 2007 at 9:21

   Exciting! I’ll be sure to watch it! I’m in CST, so would you happen to know what hour it begins? I’m guessing probably 7pm CST for Star Trek Tech.

2. Administrator on February 18, 2007 at 10:58

   The History Channel is listing ‘Star Trek Tech’ at 9 PM Eastern time Sunday night, with a repeat the next night at 11 PM EST. They’ll run ‘Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier’ at 9 PM EST on Monday night.

3. george scaglione on February 18, 2007 at 11:50

   paul some incredible irony here,right before i came up to the computer,the vcr was set for that very show! i look forward to finally seeing and hearing dr millis!! glad he’s on tv !!! thank you very much,your friend george

4. Eric James on February 18, 2007 at 12:49

   Cool. Let’s hope he has some interesting progress to talk about. The same old hypothetical concepts are losing their allure.

5. Marc on February 18, 2007 at 15:14

   Thanks Paul! I couldn’t get the History/show page to work. I’m with George here, I actually told a few of my relatives to watch tonight before you even posted this! I didn’t expect Marc Millis to be on there! I watched last night’s “The Final Frontier”, but it was mostly about conspiracy theories and UFOs, so I decided to watch something else instead. But anyway, thanks!

6. Dennis on February 18, 2007 at 17:08

   Glad to here about this! Any news about Tau Zero web-site? You have posted that it was in process of creation.

7. Administrator on February 18, 2007 at 17:37

   Dennis, yes, the Tau Zero site is being built and the parts I’ve seen look great. Some design work is still going on — I’m not sure what the estimated time for unveiling is but solid work has gone into it and I’m hoping for an early spring release. I’ll let Marc Millis chip in with a comment here when he can.

8. Marc on February 18, 2007 at 22:30

   Like I thought it would be, it was very exciting! However, I was expecting about 20 minutes of it to be about Mark Millis instead of about 5 minutes. :) But from what he showed, it was pretty fascinating work about ion propulsion. And in the process, he basically showed that warp drive isn’t credible. As for the rest of the show, I’d have to say I was amazed by that 21st century hologram of the brain.

9. Administrator on February 19, 2007 at 8:16

   Agreed! The art of TV editing often seems to consist of leaving 95 percent of an interview untouched…

10. george scaglione on February 19, 2007 at 11:50

    i had hoped for alot more from marc millis myself thought there would be a large segment of the show where he would be “lecturing” on warp drive! also,as i explained in a posting under a practical positron rocket afew minutes ago i messed up and came in at about the time dr millis was talking about ion propulsion – can anybody fill me in on anything important i may have missed in those couple of minutes? anyhow it was a good program all in all but i must admit as i said… they more or less told me things which i already knew.thank you my friends respectfully george

11. Marc G Millis on February 19, 2007 at 14:56

    When interviewed, I explained a variety of ways of thinking about levitation, using a model of the Star Trek Galileo shuttle and showing possible trajectories of rocks thrown in the vicinity of the shuttle, where the trajectory depends on the type of levitation being employed. Although strictly hypothetical, such demos introduce the thought process of coming up with ideas and testing them. That must have been cut from the final show. Oh well.

    The ion engines just happened to be where the interview was conducted, so I explained them too, even thought they’re existing technology… even –old- technology.

    I’m curious… You guys in the audience: what topics would you like to see explained on such shows?

    Marc Millis

12. X on February 19, 2007 at 16:27

    “I’m curious… You guys in the audience: what topics would you like to see explained on such shows?

    Marc Millis ”

    I’ve always been interested in propulsion technologies that are not yet technically feasible but could be before the century is out such as anti-matter/matter engines, beamed propulsion, space elevators, etc. I’m also interested in realistic technologies that could help humans survive forays into deep space both physically and psychologically.

13. Marc on February 19, 2007 at 17:41

    [q]can anybody fill me in on anything important i may have missed in those couple of minutes?[/q]
    It’s going to air again tonight at 11pm EST (10pm CST). ;)

14. Brian Wang on February 19, 2007 at 20:23

    I’m curious… You guys in the audience: what topics would you like to see explained on such shows?

    Marc Millis

    1. I would like to see a review of Project Orion and how we could be roaming all over the solar system if Apollo and the space shuttle had not been chosen. How we have nuclear weapons for war and had open air nuclear tests in the past, but chose not to land a few million tons on the moon where there is uranium and Thorium and we could then launch more Orions without effecting the earth by going from the moon. I would then like to see a look at minimag Orion and how metamaterials and Z-pinch could still be very good for those who irrationally feared the real Project Orion. Explain the power density difference between fission and the best theoretical chemical systems.

    2. I would also like an analysis of how huge the solar system is and the potential that is possible in developing the solar system (energy, resources). Quadrillion large rocks. How this could have larger civilizations than the Federation of Star Trek.

    btw: that is the 4th way to the stars. populate and develop everything in the inner to the outer solar system until you cross over to the outer material of the next solar system.

    3. Look at building large structures in space examining various proposals from NIAC. Magnetic inflation of superconducting wire, antimatter harvesting,

    4. Discuss what a serious colonization effort looks like. Examine the history of 16-18th century colonization and how much they were moving in people, materials and trade. How 3-8 people at time are tests and camping trips.

    5. Discuss industrialization and how when we have gigawatts of power in space we can start to power the construction of a real space infrastructure. Not the many terawatts of the enterprise but a good start. The naval and transport ships on the ocean have power levels of hundreds of millions of watts and they are moving hundreds and sometimes thousands of people (like the Enterprise’s)

    Boldly going. I would say that means going with the proper scale to do the job.

    If we were wanting to make a viable and sustainable colony here on earth out on a large desert area, then we would go with tens of thousands of people, heavy construction equipment, power plants, green houses, years of supplies, desalinization gear, minerals and chemicals to make the desert farmable. Plus there would be plan for business. I would think of Las Vegas as the example.

    For us in the solar system. Bolding Going means not just exploring new worlds but building and populating them.

15. Eric James on February 20, 2007 at 1:19

    Of course I’d like to see a show that explores the frontier of propulsion technologies, experimental physics, and hypothetical concepts. But more than that, I’d like it to examine current and past technologies, dead ends, and even crackpot notions (without being condescending). After all, the purpose of educating the public is to garner popular support. What better way to do that than to make it a story about people?

    I think a format similar to the old “Connections” series, that examines the evolution of propulsion concepts, would be ideal.

16. george scaglione on February 20, 2007 at 9:50

    thank you for the suggestion marc. and…brian and eric,good ideas above thank you too it was interesting to read those postings. all the best your friend george

17. Marc G Millis on February 20, 2007 at 12:23

    Thank you for your ideas. I hope that my cohorts and I can put something together to answer these ideas. I know that we’ve been thinking about it.

    Your patience and support is greatly appreciated.

    Marc Millis

18. george scaglione on February 20, 2007 at 15:14

    marc, thank you very much for that answer.and i do have something else to say – respectfully : today i was talking to one of my friends on line about the current state of our manned space program and how the orion/cev may in some cases not be as good as the shuttle.as my friends know,here is an idea i have esposed before,scrap the current plans,build more shuttles,with these construct the “real” orion,the one with the pusher plate. then we could have a grand tour of the planets and very likely on to the stars soon after.now i know that to do that it would mean that we would have wasted alot of time and money.in fact the crewed space program probably would have been set back afew more years than we would like,but the fruits would indeed be sweet! in my humble opinion…that…is what we should do. thank you george scaglione

19. george scaglione on February 23, 2007 at 17:44

    hi all, i was off line for about 3 days had a computer problem,tech just left about an hour ago and i came running back to check the e mails from my friends with whom i discuss space and quite naturally tau zero too….so… does anybody have a better idea about what we should be doing in space!? i think we should go for building the real orion project as originally described.sure alot of problems to work out – unfortunately – some of those more political than science and or engineering. but i throw the subject open…anyhow what does everybody think? i am currently re reading the great book centauri dreams by our administrator…a FUND of good ideas!! thank you,your friend george

20. Administrator on February 23, 2007 at 17:50

    Why thank you, George. A very kind comment, and much appreciated.

21. george scaglione on February 24, 2007 at 14:42

    dear dr millis,by the way in response to your last comments above – you have my support 100% and i am learning the patience part little by little too as time goes by. respectfully your friend george