Off-Topic Space, the final frontier, these are the voyages of NASA

[ddann]

Hard to believe. We don't even have Intelligent Life in all of Washington, DC.

 

[UMFarArcher]

View attachment 287837

If ONLY!

 

[JD08]

An Engineer Says He’s Found a Way to Overcome Earth’s Gravity

This new propulsion system could rewrite the rules of spaceflight—not to mention completely defy conventional physics.

news.yahoo.com

 

[ddann]

An Engineer Says He’s Found a Way to Overcome Earth’s Gravity

This new propulsion system could rewrite the rules of spaceflight—not to mention completely defy conventional physics.

news.yahoo.com

“The most important message to convey to the public is that a major discovery occurred,” Buhler told The Debrief.

 

[JD08]

 

[Tony4Canes]

Welp

 

[mcnaire2004]

I deeply regret not finding this thread sooner. CIS really takes care of all my needs.

 

[ddann]

I deeply regret not finding this thread sooner. CIS really takes care of all my needs.

It’s a bit of a one-stop shop.

 

[mcnaire2004]

View attachment 284694


@90scane @JD08

So basically an O'neill Cylinder?

 

[mcnaire2004]

Imagine inexpensive, abundant energy.

Nuclear fusion for the grid is coming much sooner than you think

Commercial nuclear fusion has gone from science fiction to science fact in less than a decade. Even well-informed members of the West’s political class are mostly unaware of the quantum leap in superconductors, lasers, and advanced materials suddenly changing the economics of fusion power.

news.yahoo.com

So lame. I mean it's the dream but lame our life times will miss it. ITER has yet to come on line(Any ********** year now) and it's been in the works since Reagan admin. The only plan to follow that up is DEMO in the 2040s. Then a rollout for widespread use. Beginning in the 2050s.

Fusion could solve so many socioeconomic problems in areas that almost seem unrelated.

I get the sense that all the cool **** will come out when I'm in my 70s or 80s.

Unless a near-future AI jumpstarts it I think.

 

[mcnaire2004]

I think most "futurists" agree that cheap abundant power will drive the future in almost all areas. Space travel is nice, but it is almost certain to be conducted by robots. The tech it spins off would be cool, but if there was cheap power on earth, there would be abundant water, food and shelter. That would end the need for most wars as everyone would have all they need and desire.

Agree with everything except the war part. I do not think humanity will come together unless there's is an AI overlord that forces it on us or aliens. The need for an "other" seems buried deep within our psychology.

 

[mcnaire2004]

As I’ve stated in here before, mankind’s effort towards colonizing Mars is a fool’s errand, and a total waste of time and resources. Not only does Mars have very little to no atmosphere(about 1% of earth’s), which means it’s constantly belted by solar winds and radiation, but there’s also no magnetic field(magnetosphere) which is a double whammy. I’m actually much more interested in Saturn’s moon, Titan. Titan actually has a very thick atmosphere which we now believe is similar to earth’s during its beginning stages. This helps protect it from harmful solar radiation which, as we know, sterilizes any chance of life thriving. While it doesn’t have it’s own magnetic field, Titan benefits from Saturn’s own field. I’d much rather we focus our efforts on Titan instead of Mars.

The main appeal of Mars is that it is in the zeitgeist. It's so ****(I don't know why) that it has hope for funding. Titan, enceladus, the clouds of Venus have infinitely more promise for scientific missions or colonization/visiting. They don't inspire governments to chase it though. We need a target people buy into so we can develope the technology which is it's own reward.