DailyDirt: Making Manned Space Travel More Comfortable...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Astronauts don't have an easy job. Getting up to space is an inherently risky trip, and then once they're up there, they need to be re-supplied with just about everything to continue to survive. But space agencies are at least trying to make things more comfortable for them. Here are just a few examples of some spaceships and amenities that could make astronauts' lives a bit nicer. By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
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Filed Under: astronauts, osteoporosis, space habitat, space shuttle, space stations
Companies: nasa


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2012 @ 5:57pm

    NASA should open source the space shuttle...

    just to slow down the advancement of other space programs! :P

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    AdamBv1 (profile), 1 Feb 2012 @ 6:40pm

    Inflatable habitats

    You know, if NASA needs ideas or help with inflatable habitats maybe they should be working with Bigelow Aerospace. They might be able to learn a thing or two from a private company that has two inflatable habitats that have been orbiting earth for half a decade.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace

    Personally I'm very excited for their planned 2014-2015 launch of their next habitat that should be going up on a SpaceX rocket. This could really kick off a lot of awesome things with an actual commercial space station in orbit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2012 @ 11:04pm


    1994: Kistler Aerospace K-1 Rocket Launch Animation, the exact same idea as Falcon-X reusable launch vehicles.
    1991-1993 Delta Clipper Experimental Advanced (DCXA), just impressive what it was possible 20 years ago, now seeing the Blue Origin's in 2012 doesn't feel that impressive yet.

    What is impressive is the Nautilus-X proposal the first spaceship for long duration flights that will never set foot on any planet just move between them.

    Just incredible what you can find in Youtube these days.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2012 @ 11:43pm

    Quote:
    Некогда символ космической мощи нашей страны, теперь превращается в груду металлолома. Знаменитый орбитальный корабль "Буран" брошен в промзоне на окраине Москвы. Несколько лет назад аппарат отбуксировали из заводских помещений на улицу. Как теперь выглядит гордость советской космонавтики?

    Google Translation:
    Once a symbol of cosmic power of our country, now converted into a heap of scrap metal. Famous orbiter "Buran" thrown in the industrial area on the outskirts of Moscow. Several years ago the unit was towed from the factory premises on the street. It now looks like the pride of Soviet space exploration?


    Последний "Буран" (The Last "Buran")

    Could open source people buy that?
    That would be fantastic an entire space shuttle to play around with.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Feb 2012 @ 11:57pm

    A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors

    The coolest thing I saw today, flying robot swarms!

    Thinking about it I thought how that would translate to a swarm of robots in space and it hit me that it would be like the Borg.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Feb 2012 @ 5:52am

    A treatment to preserve bone mass would be a start, but you'd also need to deal with muscle atrophy before long-term exposure to low/zero gravity would be safe. (Regular exercise isn't enough, unfortunately.)

    link to this | view in thread ]


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