06 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
We Must Think Outside the Rocket Equation
The rocket equation contains three variables. Given any two of these, the third becomes cast in stone. Hope, wishing, or tantrums cannot alter this result. Although a momentum balance, these variables can be cast as energies. They are the energy expenditure against gravity (often called delta V or the change in rocket velocity), the energy available in your rocket propellant (often called exhaust velocity or specific impulse), and the propellant mass fraction (how much propellant you need com... 1 
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notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Astrochicken
The basic idea of Astrochicken is that the spacecraft will be small and quick. I do not believe that a fruitful future for space science lies along the path we are now following, with space missions growing larger and larger and fewer and fewer and slower and slower as the decades go by. I propose a radical step in the direction of smallness and quickness. Astrochicken will weigh a kilogram instead of Voyager's ton, and it will travel from Earth into orbit around Uranus in two years instead ...Folksonomies: artificial intelligence space exploration
Folksonomies: artificial intelligence space exploration
1 notes
notes24 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
An Ape Reaches for the Moon
Of all the creatures who had yet walked on Earth, the man-apes were the first to look steadfastly at
the Moon. And though he could not remember it, when he was very young Moon-Watcher would
sometimes reach out and try to touch that ghostly face rising above the hills.
He had never succeeded, and now he was old enough to understand why. For first, of course, he
must find a high enough tree to climb. 1 notes
notesA scene from our primitive ancestors in the book 2001.
16 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Physiological Effects from Exposure to a Vaccum
Vacuum doesn’t have a temperature of its own,
so space is not really that cold. It’s a great insulator
too, meaning that your core body heat doesn’t get
sucked away. Without an atmosphere to transfer heat
away, the risk of exposure is somewhat mitigated. The saliva on your tongue may boil off, as it’s not
pressurized like your blood is, and you may get some
frost on your skin. Sunburn from direct contact with
the sun’s ultraviolet rays is a more immediate danger
than perishing from cold. You’... 1 notes
notesA good description.
28 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Turning Asteroids into Terreriums
With the hefty biomass created by a marsh, you can then build up land using some of your excavated materials, saved on the surface of the asteroid for this moment. Hills and mountains look great and add texture, so be bold! This process will redirect your water into new hydrologies, and this is the best time to introduce new species, also to export species you no longer want, giving them to newer terraria that might need them.
Thus over time you can transform the interior of your terrarium t...Folksonomies: futurism space exploration
Folksonomies: futurism space exploration
1 Instructions from a fictional booklet on hollowing out asteroids to fill them with biomes.
28 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
A City on Mercury Must Stay on the Dark Side
Terminator rolls around Mercury just like its sunwalkers, moving at the speed of the planet’s rotation, gliding over twenty gigantic elevated tracks, which together hold aloft and push west a town quite a bit bigger than Venice. The twenty tracks run around Mercury like a narrow wedding band, keeping near the forty-fifth latitude south, but with wide detours to south and north to avoid the worst of the planet’s long escarpments. The city moves at an average of five kilometers an hour. The sle... 1 notes
notesIt moves on tracks that push it along from the heat expansion of the rising sun.
25 DEC 2012 by ideonexus
Colonies Will be Built in Space
...the goal of planet colonization has been challenged by a radically different notion of the Final Frontier Created by Princeton professor of physics Gerard K.O'Neill, this new concept is based on one of those revolutionary propositions that are so simple they seem self-evident. The surface of a planet, O'Neill asserts, is not a very good place to house a post industrial society. Free space itself, he says, ist he natural ecological habitat for a high energy, high-growth technological specie...Folksonomies: space exploration
Folksonomies: space exploration
1 notes
notesIt doesn't make sense to fall down into the gravity-hole of a planet to colonize its surface after you have climbed out of the gravity hole of your homeworld.
08 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Case for Robotic Space Exploration
In a dispassionate comparison of the relative values of human and robotic spaceflight, the only surviving motivation for continuing human spaceflight is the ideology of adventure. But only a tiny number of Earth's six billion inhabitants are direct participants. For the rest of us, the adventure is vicarious and akin to that of watching a science fiction movie. At the end of the day, I ask myself whether the huge national commitment of technical talent to human spaceflight and the ever-presen... 1 notes
notesOnly a tiny percentage of Earthlings get to go into space, for the rest of us it's a vicarious experience.
07 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Human Space Exploration is Overrated
Perhaps what we should do is genetically engineer new forms of Intelligent life that can survive the stress of space yet still conduct scientific experiments. Actually, such creatures have already been made in the lab. They're called robots. You don't have to feed them, they don't need life support, and they won't get upset if you don't bring them back to Earth. People, on the other hand, generally want to breathe, eat, and eventually come home.
It's probably true that no city has ever held...Folksonomies: space exploration space flight
Folksonomies: space exploration space flight
1 notes
notesWe don't remember most of the astronauts, but we do have favorite space photos taken by all the robots we've sent out into the solar system.
25 APR 2012 by ideonexus
The Promotion of the Apollo Program
The success of Apollo was mainly due to the fact that the project was conceived and honestly presented to the public as an international sporting event and not as a contribution to science. The order of priorities in Apollo was accurately reflected by the first item to be unloaded after each landing on the Moon's surface, the television camera. The landing, the coming and going of the astronauts, the exploring of the moon's surface, the gathering of Moon rocks and the earthward departure, all...Folksonomies: space exploration nasa
Folksonomies: space exploration nasa
1 notes
notesIt was carefully choreographed and promoted like a sporting event.
