You are here:
- Home
- Science
- Physics
- Astrophysics
- Steve Nelson
Astrophysics/Expert Profile
Expertise
Fusion, solar flares, cosmic rays, radiation in space, and stellar physics questions. Generally, nuclear-related astrophysics, but I can usually point you in the right direction if it's not nuclear-related or if it's nuclear but not astrophysics.
Experience in the area
Currently a physics professor at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Doctoral dissertation was on a reaction in CNO-cycle fusion, worked in gamma-ray astronomy in the space science division of the naval research laboratory in the high-energy space environment branch.
Organizations
Physics professor at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in physics, research was on nuclear fusion reactions important in stellar fusion.
Average Ratings
Recent Answers from Steve Nelson
2012-02-09 speed of light:
You're invoking impossibility, traveling at the speed of light when you have mass and that would take an infinite amount of energy. So the question is just wrong to start with. If you could, as some
2011-12-07 deep-space exploration:
You should be concerned about energy expenditures, they're the primary consideration in spaceflight. And since the Earth's diameter is 6,380,000 m and orbital radius that's safe for astronauts to work
2011-12-06 deep-space exploration:
You still have to get the materials up to orbit to build the vehicle out of. That takes more energy than just getting the finished product up to orbit. And orbital construction is tricky under the best
2011-12-04 orbital bodies:
You'll be at higher speed if you do it instantaneously you'll enter an elliptical orbit which will slow down when you get further out. It has nothing to do with re-entry. Re-entry means that astronauts
2011-12-04 orbital bodies:
As you add energy, instantaneously you speed up. But them you go to a higher orbit, slowing you down more than you sped up. In order to keep the orbit circular, you have to fire the rocket engine in
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.