Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120223/14374817854/dailydirt-pigs-space.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120223/14374817854/dailydirt-pigs-space.shtml

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.

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