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
scienceengineering 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
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The carbon nanotube article isn't a big surprise
our current manufacturing technology is incapable of producing defect free carbon nanotubes... Hence the material is unsuitable for building a space elevator.
Frankly a non-issue. Just get the technology better and have QA of the product. When will this happen? I don't have the foggiest. Can imagine the fibers being produced and then being subjected to 80 GPa. Since a flawless fiber could withstand 100 GPa it ought to not break. But a single atom flaw would cause the fiber to fail at 40 GPa. More flaws would result in breaking at even lower tensions.
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