Whoa! New type of space drive discovered

[Fanatical Meat]

I wonder if we will have one of those times where two items meet and change everything. Will this work and will we see viable fusion power soon?

 

[Paratus]

I wonder if we will have one of those times where two items meet and change everything. Will this work and will we see viable fusion power soon?

Even without Q-Thrusters and fusion in my own opinion, (not speaking for my employer now), we could still do meaningful interplanetary exploration with VASMIR and a light weight space rated version of a modular nuclear reactor.

http://www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/VASIMR

I've actually been meaning to make a post that covers some of the more advanced space systems that are in use or being investigated. I'd call it " State of the Art Starship"

Anyway here's a few of the technologies:

Guidance and Navigation
Deep Space Pulsar "GPS" Navigation
http://www.popsci.com/technology/ar...uses-distant-pulsars-determine-position-space

Gravity Probe B IMU-Gyroscopes able to detect relativistic frame-dragging
https://einstein.stanford.edu/TECH/technology1.html

Communications

LADEE 600mbit laser communications
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Atmosphere_and_Dust_Environment_Explorer

Radiation Protection

Spacecraft Magnetic Shielding for charged particle Radiation
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/magnetic-bubbles-could-shield-astronauts-radiation

Inflatable "transhab" style modules with improved secondary radiation shielding
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_space_habitat

Environmental Systems

ISS advanced ECLSS Systems
http://www.astronautical.org/sites/default/files/issrdc/2013/issrdc_2013-07-17-1600_carrasquillo.pdf

 

[Bacstar]

Now when are scientist going to make their artificial gravity and shield technology annoucements?

 

[Fritzo]

uh, yeah, until we find the relay around pluto in a few weeks.

obviously.

Who knows- we may find a way to affect Higgs fields at some point and that Mass Effect stuff may become real too

 

[z1ggy]

Saw the updated article today but couldn't read it at work.

Has the experiment been independently verified? Is skepticism fading?

 

[Harabec]

It is basically done and verified, they're looking into *why* and *how* it works now.
Historically speaking, this is huge, and far more important for mankind than 99.99% of the "news" everywhere in the world. But, sadly it has little effect on the billions currently living on Earth.
Our grandchildren will thank the few bright, hated and ridiculed scientists that made it happen.

 

[ImpulsE69]

This is pretty cool, but I keep waiting for the "oh we missed this, and it's all false" announcement.

Related, I know they are doing all these tests about the effects of radiation that humans would be exposed to in space travel. Has there been any work/breakthroughs on creating a magnetic field similar to what the Earth has?

 

[norseamd]

Our grandchildren will thank the few bright, hated and ridiculed scientists that made it happen.

For all the leaning and knowledge most "STEMS" even today are more society than science. Thus even in work that is not popular culture but concerning the scientific community, most of their attitudes and actions are supporting underlying sociological phenomena instead of pure science.

 

[Ruptga]

This is pretty cool, but I keep waiting for the "oh we missed this, and it's all false" announcement.

Yeah I'll believe it when there's an official NASA/JPL/whoever press release. I'd love for this to be real, but I'm not going to take some guy's word for it.

Related, I know they are doing all these tests about the effects of radiation that humans would be exposed to in space travel. Has there been any work/breakthroughs on creating a magnetic field similar to what the Earth has?

Look up about 5 posts.

For all the leaning and knowledge most "STEMS" even today are more society than science and thus even in work that is not popular culture but concerning the scientific community will most of their attitudes and actions be supporting sociological phenomena instead of pure science.

wat

 

[Ichinisan]

wat

Norse has a lot of trouble conveying his thoughts. If you ask for clarification, he calls you "stupid" and ridicules you.

 

[norseamd]

Norse has a lot of trouble conveying his thoughts. If you ask for clarification, he calls you "stupid" and ridicules you.

The one who came up with the word stupid is you. Hence the reverse name calling of you implying I am dumb.

 

[norseamd]

wat

Fixed now.

 

[werepossum]

Sounds like Chinese have more talent than NASA.......

How does any of this help human's I don't really know. Space travel is the stuff of the 60s and 70s.

OK fine, it will enable us to find and get to other planets and destroy them as well.

GREAT

What exactly have we accomplished by traveling into space (mars missions, moon etc).

It's just bunch of dick waving.....

Look at the bright side. Maybe this is your ticket off this ruined planet.

Even without Q-Thrusters and fusion in my own opinion, (not speaking for my employer now), we could still do meaningful interplanetary exploration with VASMIR and a light weight space rated version of a modular nuclear reactor.

http://www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/VASIMR

I've actually been meaning to make a post that covers some of the more advanced space systems that are in use or being investigated. I'd call it " State of the Art Starship"

Anyway here's a few of the technologies:

Guidance and Navigation
Deep Space Pulsar "GPS" Navigation
http://www.popsci.com/technology/ar...uses-distant-pulsars-determine-position-space

Gravity Probe B IMU-Gyroscopes able to detect relativistic frame-dragging
https://einstein.stanford.edu/TECH/technology1.html

Communications

LADEE 600mbit laser communications
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Atmosphere_and_Dust_Environment_Explorer

Radiation Protection

Spacecraft Magnetic Shielding for charged particle Radiation
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/magnetic-bubbles-could-shield-astronauts-radiation

Inflatable "transhab" style modules with improved secondary radiation shielding
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_space_habitat

Environmental Systems

ISS advanced ECLSS Systems
http://www.astronautical.org/sites/default/files/issrdc/2013/issrdc_2013-07-17-1600_carrasquillo.pdf

Thanks! Us knuckle draggers seldom have the time to hunt out good links or the knowledge to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

[Ruptga]

Fixed now.

You're going to need a hell of a lot more than some punctuation and caps. For starters, that exact argument could be applied to you just as easily as your stems. What kind of scientist are you, and what's your degree in? Or are you even less qualified than the pseudo-intellectuals you're railing against?

I think we would all like to see this thruster proven true, but until something rigorous (like testing in a vacuum, for starters) is published and given time for peer review, there is no good reason to believe this works. You can take this NASA employee at his word if you like, but that's faith not science.

 

[norseamd]

I think we would all like to see this thruster proven true, but until something rigorous (like testing in a vacuum, for starters) is published and given time for peer review, there is no good reason to believe this works. You can take this NASA employee at his word if you like, but that's faith not science.

This technology may or may not be possible or even just feasibly implementable. However I get tired of those who yell that something is impossible instead of improbable or very hard to work out.

Excessive skepticism leads to paradox and related problems.

 

[Ruptga]

This technology may or may not be possible or even just feasibly implementable. However I get tired of those who yell that something is impossible instead of improbable or very hard to work out.

I can't really take issue with that.

Excessive skepticism leads to paradox and related problems.

wat



Don't answer that.

 

[Paratus]

You're going to need a hell of a lot more than some punctuation and caps. For starters, that exact argument could be applied to you just as easily as your stems. What kind of scientist are you, and what's your degree in? Or are you even less qualified than the pseudo-intellectuals you're railing against?

I think we would all like to see this thruster proven true, but until something rigorous (like testing in a vacuum, for starters) is published and given time for peer review, there is no good reason to believe this works. You can take this NASA employee at his word if you like, but that's faith not science.

As I've said in this thread before, I've been to their lab, the setup in their papers was as I saw it. What I'd say is you can trust what they are reporting are the results of the tests they performed. Whether there's enough evidence to rule out experimental error, I can't say.

What you should take from it is further testing has failed to rule out a workable thruster. So the investigation continues, next time at higher power levels. Which I find exciting.

 

[Paratus]

Look at the bright side. Maybe this is your ticket off this ruined planet.


Thanks! Us knuckle draggers seldom have the time to hunt out good links or the knowledge to separate the wheat from the chaff.

No problem.

The ISS is going to be trying out one of the inflatable modules (BEAM). It'll be small since it has to come up on the external stowage platform on a SpaceX but it'll be an honest test of the technology.

VASMIR also has a contract with NASA. We may see that tested at some point as well.

 

[norseamd]

The ISS is going to be trying out one of the inflatable modules (BEAM). It'll be small since it has to come up on the external stowage platform on a SpaceX but it'll be an honest test of the technology.

At first I was against how much the agencies and companies were wanting to use this technology in lunar colonies and space stations. Because they were inflatable I thought they were less reliable, solid, and durable than traditional rigid space structures like pods. However it seems that inflatable space structures are actually as hard as concrete.

VASMIR also has a contract with NASA. We may see that tested at some point as well.

Thought it was a technology? There is also a company with the same name?

 

[Harabec]

The ISS is going to be trying out one of the inflatable modules (BEAM). It'll be small since it has to come up on the external stowage platform on a SpaceX but it'll be an honest test of the technology.

Wow.
When?

EDIT: Heinlein wrote (as Lazarus Long):

When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.

I'm waiting. Deranged religious fanatics and other maniacs can kill each other over sand. I'd like to go elsewhere - even if only the next generation actually gets there

 

[William Gaatjes]

No problem.

The ISS is going to be trying out one of the inflatable modules (BEAM). It'll be small since it has to come up on the external stowage platform on a SpaceX but it'll be an honest test of the technology.

VASMIR also has a contract with NASA. We may see that tested at some point as well.

I wonder how they inflate them. I wonder if they use a technique similar to how airbags in automobiles work. A small amount of chemicals that when activated form a gas. Would be easier to carry up there in space.

http://www.thechemicalblog.co.uk/how-do-airbags-work/

The chemistry behind airbags

Under room temperature, sodium azide is a stable compound. However, when heated by an impulse it disintegrates to produce sodium (Na) and nitrogen (N2). It only takes about 50-100 grams sodium azide to produce enough nitrogen gas to fill a normal air bag for the driver (it takes a little more for the passenger).

 

[Ichinisan]

The one who came up with the word stupid is you. Hence the reverse name calling of you implying I am dumb.

No. I'm paraphrasing here, but you have have called people "stupid" on multiple occasions after being told that one of your statements was incomprehensible. I don't want to go back and find examples right now.

I didn't say you were stupid. I said you have difficulty conveying your thoughts. That much is very clear to those of us that are familiar with your posting history.

If I was in your position, I'd want to recognize the problem and try my best to make comprehensible posts. At the very least, clarify what you meant with the post in question. Attacking people is not the proper response.

 

[Ichinisan]

Fixed now.

:hmm:

For all the leaning and knowledge most "STEMS" even today are more society than science. Thus even in work that is not popular culture but concerning the scientific community, most of their attitudes and actions are supporting underlying sociological phenomena instead of pure science.

I hope this helps.

The upper-case "S" at the end of your "STEMS" acronym is confusing. Most people will have no idea you're talking about "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." Saying "STEM fields" would have added enough context for people to figure out the acronym.

For all the learning and knowledge most "STEM fields" even today are more society than science. Thus even in work that is not popular culture but concerning the scientific community, most of their attitudes and actions are supporting underlying sociological phenomena instead of pure science.

 

[Murloc]

:hmm:

I hope this helps.

The upper-case "S" at the end of your "STEMS" acronym is confusing. Most people will have no idea you're talking about "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." Saying "STEM fields" would have added enough context for people to figure out the acronym.

probably should have went with STEMs. If you're making a plural out of an acronym, you're treating is as a noun. The s is not part of the acronym so it's lower-case.

I still don't understand what he wants to say.

 

[CZroe]

probably should have went with STEMs. If you're making a plural out of an acronym, you're treating is as a noun. The s is not part of the acronym so it's lower-case.

I still don't understand what he wants to say.

"STEM fields" is much clearer and closer to what norseamd intended to say.