Artificial Gravity Via Space Elevator Stations

(Image Credit: David Mat, via LiftPort Gallery)

With humanity regaining their foothold among the stars, there seems to be much chatter regarding the possibility of orbital space stations circling our planet.

But in order for humanity to inhabit the heavens above us, we will need to find a way to create artificial gravity as the lack of it can have some nasty side affects upon the human body (thus banishing ourselves from large terrestrial worlds).

Constructing space elevator stations (provided that building space elevators is feasible) may not only be the answer towards us living among the stars, but also enable us to bring our animal friends with us as well.

One of the key elements keeping the space elevator "up" is centrifugal force. Often observed (or felt) when one rides in a car around a sharp turn, the centrifugal force at the top of a space elevator may provide enough "push" to simulate earthen gravity.

This would enable future space travelers to live within the space elevator station (which could also serve as a counterweight) for years without the fear of being stranded in space due to health reasons (via micro gravity).

Although some people have suggested building Goliath-sized rotating space stations, these space structures may end up transforming into an engineers nightmare as one would have to figure out how a shuttle could dock on the station without destroying it (let alone funding the project as space launches are not getting cheaper).

A space elevator station would probably provide a more reasonable approach as any space craft could dock onto the object without worrying about unnecessary twists and turns.

Despite the fact that current designs of the modern space elevator do not include a space elevator station as a counterweight, it would not be surprising to see one built on top of these future marvels. A space elevator station would definitely attract space tourists from around the globe as it would not only provide an impressive view of our own world, but also simulate earthen life within its environment.

Collecting Lunar Soil By Lunar Vacuum

One of the biggest problems with lunar dust is the fact that these small particles can not only damage robots upon the surface, but human lungs as well.

Since future colonists are going to need to get "their hands dirty" in order to build a home on this world, several researchers have proposed sucking up the dirt instead of creating a dust cloud through a dig.

(New Scientist Space) Future astronauts living on the Moon will need lots of water, oxygen and other resources that can be extracted from the lunar soil, or regolith.

But collecting the large quantities needed with front-end loaders and dump trucks could throw up a lot of dust. That could cause a host of problems, since the tiny, jagged dust particles could clog machinery and even harm astronauts' health if inhaled[.] [...]

The idea is to build a flexible tube with magnetic coils spaced at regular intervals along its length. Because lunar soil particles contain a lot of iron, the magnetic field produced by the coils would suck the soil into the tube and whisk it along its length.

Extracting the soil this way may not only prove to be far more effective, but less time consuming as well. Although humanity will eventually have to dig below the surface do to meteorite strikes, this technology should allow scientists and miners to quickly gather a large amount of lunar soil for either further analysis or potentially turning part of the dirt into breathable oxygen.

China To Lunar Real Estate Agents, Get Lost

It looks like future real estate agencies will no longer be able to solicit Chinese citizens within the country for lunar property. With the red dragon barring recognition of their efforts, (and the US ignoring their claims) where will they go to find legitimacy?

(Moon Daily) A Chinese company has been banned from selling plots of land on the moon, state media reported on Saturday. The company, Lunar Embassy to China, had sold a total of 49 acres (20 hectares) to 34 customers before authorities acted, Xinhua news agency said. An appeal court on Friday upheld an earlier ruling against the Beijing-based firm which had been selling the lunar plots. [...]

On Friday, the Beijing intermediate court rejected its appeal, saying no individual or country could claim ownership of the moon.

With the human race bound to revisit the lunar surface in the upcoming half century, property rights is bound to become a serious issue as businesses and nations begin mining the surface.

Until then, anyone laying claim to the Moon (for any reason) will probably have to wait until the private sector has an active presence on the Moon, as it would be hard to mail out property without a FedEx truck nearby.

Space Insurance, Anyone?

With various companies coming up with various ways of accessing the final frontier (whether through space elevators, rockets or Maglev launches) it is good to see an insurance company willing to help reduce the risk of travel, at least financially.

(Scotsman.com) Bupa Travel has decided to get on the act - it is to add space travel to its insurance policy line-up.

"We are looking into space tourism as a real market for the next generation of travellers," said Nick Potter, Bupa Travel's general manager.

When you begin to see more insurance companies adding space travel to their policies, it is a definite sign that "space culture" is quickly becoming mainstream.

Melting Martian Ice Caps Could Flood The Planet

With all the talk about terraforming Mars in the next Millennium, very few have mentioned what would happen to the Martian polar regions if the temperature increased.

Recently scientists have discovered that the southern polar region of Mars, composed mostly of carbon and water ice has enough water frozen underneath to flood the entire planet.

(Mars Today) New measurements of Mars' south polar region indicate extensive frozen water. The polar region contains enough frozen water to cover the whole planet in a liquid layer approximately 36 feet deep. A joint NASA-Italian Space Agency instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provided these data.

This new estimate comes from mapping the thickness of the ice. The Mars Express orbiter's radar instrument has made more than 300 virtual slices through layered deposits covering the pole to map the ice. The radar sees through icy layers to the lower boundary, which is as deep as 2.3 miles below the surface.

"The south polar layered deposits of Mars cover an area bigger than Texas. The amount of water they contain has been estimated before, but never with the level of confidence this radar makes possible," said Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena Calif.

Some scientists have even discovered what appears to be a "bright spot" underneath the ice which may be an indicator of water beneath the surface despite the freezing temperatures.

Mars it seems has more than its fair share of water frozen underneath, which may end up being its "golden resource" that future colonists can exchange for goods on other worlds (and asteroids). If humanity ever begins to colonize this world, they may need to watch how fast they raise the temperature on this planet as the last thing we need is another flooded world causing havoc for our species.

How To Lose Lunar Dust (In Three Ways)

Although not toxic, lunar dust can irritate an astronaut to death (or at least cause major harm), an unfortunate side effect that future colonists will have to deal with.

Some scientists have suggested melting the surface in order to keep the dust from causing potential harm, but others seems to have suggested more practical ways at keeping the dust out of future living spaces.

(New Scientist Space) So the agency plans to set up an airlock on the first lunar trips, which are expected to last just a week. That way, astronauts can take off their spacesuits and boots in a sort of 'mudroom' or entryway without tracking dust into their living quarters.

The airlocks on subsequent missions will become more advanced, with metal gratings outside them to collect lunar soil, or regolith. Inside, they may also be fitted with "air showers", wherein blasts of air from above whisk dust to a grated floor below – just like those used outside of cleanrooms on Earth.

These measures could help remove 90 to 95% of the dust coming into the spacecraft, Kennedy told New Scientist.

Despite being effective, NASA is interested in removing 99.99% of the dust (if not all of it) so other ingenious ideas have been suggested. One idea, is to take a magnetic wand and remove the finer grains of moon dust off of the astronauts suits. A more reasonable approach may also be using an air blower to force all of the dust off, which may be more effective than magnets and perhaps much cheaper as well.

A fourth suggestion was to simply coat the suit with liquid CO₂, which is used to clean telescopes and photocopiers. Despite its proven success on Earth, NASA is loathed to care on any more weight than necessary towards the Moon (as liquids can be heavy), so that idea will probably get shot down early on in the drawing boards.

How Does One Charge A Magnetic Sail?

Magnetic Sails hold much promise into allowing humanity to travel our solar system at not only an increased amount of speed, but reduced costs as well.

Unfortunately scientists seem to be pondering on which method is best to actually charge these theoretical crafts, as the details of either choice tend to be a "bit messy."

(New Scientist Space) But the amount of charge held by a sphere at a given voltage, a quantity known as its capacitance, is not very large. Long, thin filaments, on the other hand, have a lot of charge-holding surface area, so one possible design involves many filaments attached to the spacecraft. The setup would have a rather comical look – because of the static charge, the filaments would stick out in all directions, like newly brushed dry hair. [...]

A cylindrical mesh of fibres - resembling a stocking – could also be attached to the spacecraft. To charge itself up, the stocking could be coated with a radioisotope, and one of the most powerful would be polonium-210, the isotope used to poison former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. But it should be safe to use on the stocking, says Peck, "as long as people working on the spacecraft don't lick it".

Although polonium-210 would provide an excellent alternative to the thin filaments, scientists seem to be struggling with ways on "turning it off," a very important feature if one wants to actually slow down.

Regardless of the method scientist propose, one thing they were clear about was that Earth's magnetic field, although powerful enough to keep our planet alive from radiation may be too weak to be truly effective for travel towards planets like Mars.

They are proposing instead that these spacecraft head out towards Jupiter, whose field may be strong enough to launch these ships quickly to other worlds.