High efficiency drives Forum: Spacesettlers
Thread: High efficiency drives
# 249 bytntucker@... on Dec. 28, 2000, 6:12 a.m.
Member since 2021-10-03
Mike,
Keeping alternatives on the table helps with comparative analysis later when more options are available.
Being more pragmatic, I think that we are many decades away from space colonization and asteroid mining due to critical "missing technological links" in the chain of tools that are needed. Chiefly, these are:
1) Reduction in cost to achieve LEO and beyond,
2) Advanced remote technology to mine and to maintain mining equipment on an asteroid that may be far far away. Neural net ethnology will be crucial IMO along with VR and machines able to repair themselves.
3) Design and test viable life support systems for space colonies.
The above steps will open the frontier to space colonization IMO. Am I missing any steps? Comments?
Cheers,
Tom
From: Mike Combs
To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2000 6:49 AM
Subject: [spacesettlers] High efficiency drives
--- In spacesettlers@egroups.com, "bill t" wrote:
> >
> The resource in the asteroid are vast, but so are the ones on
earth.
> The earth represents at least 9 orders of magnitude more material
than
> all the asteroid combined.
Yes, but here on Earth we're limited in how deep we can mine before
pressures and temperatures become problematic. Not so in asteroids.
> If you can effectively mine the first
> kilometer of the surface you will get everything you need, assuming
an
> energy source can be found.
Yes, but think about what's being said here. Imagine the
environmental disruption of even developing half of that. One of the
advantages of any kind of space mining is that it can take place at
any scale with 0 disturbance of the Earthly biosphere.
> Again, no. If you are looking for a continuous acceleration engine
for
> interplanetary travel, you can achieve this by using solar powered
> electric generators, to charge dust particles, then accelerate the
> dust using an electric field.
There are lots of proposals out there for all kinds of low-
thrust/high-efficiency drives. This writer happens to have a soft
spot for mass driver engines, but it might be too early to say that
it's definitely going to be this or that.
My only criticism of fusion drives might be that we don't know how to
do fusion yet, so it might be better to first concentrate on the
proposals which would use technologies already in hand.
So, what would you power your mass driver with? Nuclear fission? Chemical? Solar? What diameter projectile? What velocity do you anticipate achieving for the projectile?
Keeping alternatives on the table helps with comparative analysis later when more options are available.
Being more pragmatic, I think that we are many decades away from space colonization and asteroid mining due to critical "missing technological links" in the chain of tools that are needed. Chiefly, these are:
1) Reduction in cost to achieve LEO and beyond,
2) Advanced remote technology to mine and to maintain mining equipment on an asteroid that may be far far away. Neural net ethnology will be crucial IMO along with VR and machines able to repair themselves.
3) Design and test viable life support systems for space colonies.
The above steps will open the frontier to space colonization IMO. Am I missing any steps? Comments?
Cheers,
Tom
From:
Mike Combs
To:
spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent:
Wednesday, December 27, 2000 6:49 AM
Subject:
[spacesettlers] High efficiency drives
--- In
spacesettlers@egroups.com
, "bill t" <
qwerty172@e
...> wrote:
> >
> The resource in the asteroid are vast, but so are the ones on
earth.
> The earth represents at least 9 orders of magnitude more material
than
> all the asteroid combined.
Yes, but here on Earth we're limited in how deep we can mine before
pressures and temperatures become problematic. Not so in asteroids.
> If you can effectively mine the first
> kilometer of the surface you will get everything you need, assuming
an
energy source can be found.
Yes, but think about what's being said here. Imagine the
environmental disruption of even developing half of that. One of the
advantages of any kind of space mining is that it can take place at
any scale with 0 disturbance of the Earthly biosphere.
> Again, no. If you are looking for a continuous acceleration engine
for
> interplanetary travel, you can achieve this by using solar powered
> electric generators, to charge dust particles, then accelerate the
> dust using an electric field.
There are lots of proposals out there for all kinds of low-
thrust/high-efficiency drives. This writer happens to have a soft
spot for mass driver engines, but it might be too early to say that
it's definitely going to be this or that.
My only criticism of fusion drives might be that we don't know how to
do fusion yet, so it might be better to first concentrate on the
proposals which would use technologies already in hand.