DailyDirt: Moonshot 2.0

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

It's been a while since anyone has proposed and executed a plan as 'out there' as going to the moon in less than a decade. Sure, we have computers that can beat humans at Go, and we're on the cusp of using CRISPR for some amazing genetic modifications. However, we haven't really been serious about getting people off the planet -- and onto another planet -- for quite some time. Here are just a few moonshot-like projects for getting stuff into space, and perhaps making baby steps toward becoming a Type II civilization.

• A California startup, Moon Express, is almost ready to get approval for landing a 20-pound spacecraft on the moon in 2017. This company is navigating both the rocket science engineering challenge AND the daunting regulatory approval process at the same time, and it's also competing in Google's Lunar X Prize contest for $20 million. [url]
• A space elevator made from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) might not be practical because CNTs aren't as strong as previously thought. A single flaw in the structure of CNTs can reduce the material's maximum strength, rendering a CNT tether far from ideal for a space elevator. [url]
• If everything goes according to plan, Elon Musk's SpaceX will land human beings on Mars in less than a decade. That's an extremely bold goal that goes well beyond JFK's moonshot in the 1960s -- and regular cargo trips to Mars could happen every couple years or so to prepare for this venture. [url]

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Filed Under: carbon nanotubes, cnt, manned missions, mars, moonshot, space, space elevator, space exploration
Companies: moon express, spacex

DailyDirt: Lots Of Cool Carbon-Based Molecules

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The history of materials once correlated highly with the development of civilization: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, ... the Silicon Age.... However, we seem to have gotten away from huge advances depending on the discovery of new materials. Or maybe we just haven't discovered how to make the right materials yet (e.g., room temperature superconductors, nanotubes, etc). Here are just a few interesting materials that might change the world (if we can make them).

• Diamond nanothread is a stable form of one-dimensional diamond, and it could be a very useful material if we figure out how to make it reliably in large quantities -- with just enough defects to prevent it from being too brittle. Graphene is a similar "wonder material" that promises breakthrough properties, if only we could manufacture it correctly. So far, diamond nanothread can only be made a couple of cubic millimeters at a time, but it could someday make ultra-strong materials for space elevator tethers and other applications that currently remain in the realm of science fiction. [url]
• The potential of graphene has been held back by the expense of manufacturing it, but that might change in the near future. Researchers claim that large-area graphene sheets can be made about 100 times cheaper than ever before, using commercially-available copper foil. Billions are being spent to crack graphene production issues, so we're presumably going to see graphene-based products in our lifetimes. [url]
• A modified buckminsterfullerene molecule called a "buckybomb" (or dodecanitrofullerene) could be a new class of high energy nanomaterials. This stuff actually needs to be synthesized first to determine if it's actually as explosive as the simulations predict it will be, but if anyone dares to make this molecule in significant quantities, it could be many orders of magnitude more powerful than TNT. [url]

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Filed Under: buckybomb, carbon, diamond nanothread, diamonds, explosives, graphene, materials, nanotech, nanotubes, space elevator, tnt

DailyDirt: Listening To Muzak On A Long Space Elevator Ride...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Reliable space travel is slightly elusive. Sure, we have a few rocket systems that can take people up to low Earth orbit, but there's always the chance that those rockets will fail and explode in the sky. On top of that, re-usable rockets haven't quite lived up to their promised cost effectiveness, though some progress is being made on that front. A space elevator could provide a nice alternative, obviating the need for explosive chemical thrust to get to orbital altitudes. But where would we put it, if it's even possible to build one? (Maybe on Mars first....)

• The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) believes it will be possible to get a kilogram of payload into geosynchronous orbit for just a few hundred bucks... someday. There's still no known material that's strong enough to do the job necessary to build a space elevator, but there are a few promising candidates. [url]
• Graphene might be a suitable material for a space elevator tether, but no one has figured out how to make miles of it yet. Researchers are working on making large-scale amounts of graphene, but it's still in experimental stages. [url]
• There are more than a handful of significant challenges that need to be solved before anyone gets a working space elevator. The most obvious problem is creating the tether material, but there are also vibration issues on the tether, the problem of keeping the tether relatively stationary, possible collisions with all kinds of space junk, the environmental risk of an enormous tether to space, and all the unknown maintenance costs. [url]

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Filed Under: geosynchronous orbit, graphene, international space elevator consortium, isec, leo, space, space elevator, space exploration, space junk, space travel

DailyDirt: Flying Through Space With The Greatest Of Ease

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Space travel isn't exactly a routine thing just yet. In the 70s, some people thought we'd have shuttles going up to space on a regular schedule, but that didn't exactly happen. Rockets haven't gotten all that much cheaper or more reliable, but presumably they will someday if we continue to build them and improve upon them. Or maybe we'll figure out a completely different way to escape Earth's gravity with a space elevator or rail-gun system to launch vehicles at extremely high speeds. Check out a few of the links below if you think human space exploration isn't a complete waste of time.

• Thoth Technology has been granted a patent for an inflatable "space elevator" that's (only) 12 miles tall. Disregarding the fact that this design wouldn't actually reach space, it still seems pretty impractical barring an amazing advance in materials that allows such a tall structure to withstand all the forces it would need to in order to remain standing, much less support cargo and launch vehicles. However, this isn't actually the first patent on a space elevator, and everyone should know by now that patents don't actually need to correspond to actual functioning products. [url]
• If you haven't been following the progress of space travel, this WaitButWhy article might be a good starting point. It's a long, but good, read -- and outlines why/how Elon Musk's goal of creating a Mars colony is a good idea. [url]
• While Elon Musk might sound credible and non-crazy for talking about a mission to Mars, the CEO of Mars One doesn't seem to be getting much benefit of the doubt when he says his company's plan to go to Mars is "feasible" still. Bas Lansdorp's company has identified lots of space fans literally willing to die to go to Mars, but the time table and plans behind that project make Mars One sound more and more like a outright suicide mission if it even gets off the ground. [url]

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Filed Under: bas lansdorp, elon musk, mars colony, mars one, space, space elevator, space exploration
Companies: thoth technology

DailyDirt: Pigs In Space...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The space race has been over for quite some time now, and we're headed into unknown territory now -- without a singular mission for space exploration. There are a few manned missions still on-going, and there's also a lot of experimental spacecraft under development. Here are just a few space projects that use some interesting technologies.

• A Japanese construction company says it might be possible to build a space elevator by 2050 using carbon nanotubes to form a cable 96,000 kilometers long. There's no way to estimate the cost for this gigantic elevator to space, though, since the materials to actually build it can't be manufactured (yet?). [url]
• Ion propulsion systems have been under development for decades, and the Dawn spacecraft used an ion thruster to get a closer look at a big asteroid named Vesta. Ion thrusters can run for a long time, unlike chemical propulsion, and achieve velocities far greater than conventional rockets. [url]
• Masten Space Systems' Xombie suborbital rocket had a successful test flight, demonstrating vertical takeoff and landing maneuvers for NASA. This rocket uses a flight control system that could help land spacecraft on asteroids or other non-terrestrial bodies. [url]
• To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: ion propulsion, nanotubes, rockets, space, space elevator, vesta
Companies: masten space systems, nasa

Beam Me Up Otis: Teams Getting Set To Take Another Shot At Space Elevator Prize

from the To-the-moon dept

Despite the fact that it sounds like something straight out of a bad sci-fi novel, there are a number folks who believe that space elevator technology represents that best way for humans to cheaply and conveniently explore outer space. As with other "out there" ideas, NASA has started holding contests to promote innovations in the area. The challenge for the teams isn't to actually build a full-fledged space elevator (that probably won't be for a while), but to build a robot that can hoist itself up 100 meters in the air on a thin carbon tether in 50 seconds. Last year, a team from Canada failed to hit the mark by just two seconds. This October, teams will have another crack at it, and assuming there's been any innovation at all, some team is likely to take home the $500,000 prize. After reaching this goal, it's just another 384,402,900 meters to go before they get to the moon!

Filed Under: contests, nasa, space, space elevator

Calling Space Elevator Proponents: NASA Offering Prizes For Inventions

from the games-and-prizes dept

The concept of public contests to spur innovation has been gaining momentum, with successful results in both DARPA's Grand Challenge (unmanned vehicles) and the Ansari X-Prize (private space launch). Now NASA is getting into the game, launching a series of 13 challenges, with cash prizes to independent inventors in researchers, in areas such as self-assembled devices and, of course, space elevator technology. Given how much money has been spent on NASA, and the perception that much of it is wasteful, it's nice that they're exploring new ways of funding research. It could work very well in NASA's case as their enormous budget, compared to any other space-related enterprise, has a crowding out effect on the field -- sort of the way government issued bonds can draw money away from other investments. Some of the other benefits include distributing the costs among various institutions, avoiding groupthink, and getting the public excited about the area, all things that NASA could use right now. Besides, this is the age of user-generated content, why shouldn't it work for space travel?

Filed Under: space elevator

Space Elevator On The Fast Track

from the one-of-those-big-projects dept

I've been reading a lot about space elevators lately, and it seems to be the type of thing that is gaining a lot of attention from techies as a really cool "big" project to get excited about. I've seen some people argue that it's a bad idea, but plenty more seem to think the challenge can be met. Space.com is running an interesting article that summarizes a lot of what's going on in the space elevator world. My biggest fear is what happens if the "ribbon" breaks? It seems like the type of thing that if you screw it up, you could endanger, well, the entire planet.

Filed Under: space elevator