Heavy Lifting
All well and good, but chemically fueled rockets have their drawbacks, notably the heavy mass of propellant that must be lifted into weightlessness. Even new heavy lift rockets like the Boeing Delta 4 shown above and the competing Lockheed-Martin Atlas 5 can get crews and cargo into orbit, not beyond. The next generation of space vehicles will use a range of propulsive drives, many of which were predicted by science fiction writers of the last century.
NASA’s Plasma Motors
One of these new technologies is plasma - often referred to as the fourth state of matter. Plasma is exceptionally hot and doesn’t like to be confined, making it an ideal thrust propellant. Its tendency to destroy any container it’s put into, on the other hand, requires a leap in tech know-how before it can be considered a practical, reliable space power source. NASA intends to test a prototype plasma motor at the ISS within just a couple of years.
Sailing the Starry Seas
Solar sails have played key roles in works of science fiction but new technology has made the sails very, er, salable to spacefaring nations. A spacecraft employing a solar sail rides on the wind - the solar wind. It may not be fast but it IS cheap. Solar sails can also be given a boost from laser stations on Earth (or any other convenient planet or moon).
Robert’s Ramjet
Dr. Robert Bussard sadly passed away in 2007 but he’ll be remembered for his radical theory of interstellar space propulsion, the eponymous Bussard Ramjet. This innovative rocket engine answers one of the great stumbling blocks to ultra-long-distance travel: what to use for fuel? Using powerful magnetic fields, the rocket motor acts as a scoop that collects and compresses far-flung molecules of hydrogen in deep space. Theoretically the ramjet has unlimited range and infinite speed.
Return to the Moon
With Bussard Ramjets, humanity can spread itself across the galaxy and perhaps, even beyond. Long before our species hits its full stride, however, we must take baby steps - to the Moon, Mars, then the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. What will those pioneering settlements be like? Above are some views of a future lunar colony, possibly at one of the poles where water ice may be found.
“The moon is a harsh mistress” but the accommodations appear very inviting! They would have to be - homesickness isn’t an option when home is several hundred thousand miles away.
Mars: The Future is Red
Mars is next on the horizon and the ships that carry the first human explorers will be bigger, more powerful and more costly to build than anything yet designed. Small sample-return missions (above right) will help mission planners back on Earth pinpoint optimum landing sites, possibly in regions of the Red Planet where water ice has been found inches underground.
Pathfinding missions will be followed by full-fledged landings leading to the establishment of permanent colonies. Settlers will have to depend on supplies from Earth at first but if the Martian soil is as fertile as NASA’s robotic explorers tell us, greenhouses will shelter plants grown for food.
After Mars? The solar system is a big pace and the nearest star is just a little over 4 light years away. Hibernation or multi-generational star ships may be required to travel great distances, or will technology provide another way? Time will tell… until then, we can only dream.
Top 15 Most Amazing Houses in the World
Little boxes on the hillside aren’t for everyone. While some
people might be content with a cookie-cutter home in a bland
suburban neighborhood, others create truly one-of-a-kind
homes with incredibly imaginative shapes and materials. In
addition to the 70 amazing houses
around the world that we’ve featured before, here are
15 jaw-dropping examples of architecture from a decaying
wooden skyscraper in Russia to a mushroom-shaped home in
Cincinnati that looks like it was custom-made for Dr. Seuss.
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