Author Topic: Technologies that will shape the future of aviation and space exploration  (Read 61585 times)

Offline Stormbringer

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When antigravity is outlawed only outlaws will have antigravity.

Offline CameronD

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https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/07/nasa-will-test-simple-nuclear-power-system-which-will-be-in-the-1-to-10-kilowatt-power-range.html

well that's that then. :)

That's what?  ???  Looks like JARP (Just Another Research Project) to me.. with zero application to the future of aviation and very little for space exploration anytime soon.
With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine - however, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are
going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

Offline Stormbringer

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https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/07/nasa-will-test-simple-nuclear-power-system-which-will-be-in-the-1-to-10-kilowatt-power-range.html

well that's that then. :)

That's what?  ???  Looks like JARP (Just Another Research Project) to me.. with zero application to the future of aviation and very little for space exploration anytime soon.
if we ever get to tool around the solar system or have permanent settlements on mars for example we will need to have matured a number of technologies or subsystems as a prelude. one route to making these things feasible is nuclear reactors. Fission is something we could ready very quickly as opposed to fusion which may or may not happen any time from 5 years from now to a century or more from now. solar becomes troublesome the farther away from the sun you go and beamed power takes infrastructure that some tout but which would take a lot of development and a lot of design and a lot of putting nuts to bolts in new construction enviroments and therefore a lot of lift and bob the builder construction dudes in space. none of that seems to be a near term thing. But space rating a fission reactor seems that it could be done like tomorrow if someone important (like a president or congress or a random rich egocentric billionaire dude or dudette)committed to it.
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Offline Stormbringer

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This sort of AI development is key to unmanned probes to deeper regions of space:

https://www.space.com/37326-curisoty-rover-picks-its-own-targets.html

direct real time control of a dumb probe will not be possible even in the outer solar system let alone interstellar space of around nearby stars. probes will therefore need to be able to make decisions and implement them on their own without deciding to laser spectroscope a random space cootie which might find the procedure objectionable.
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Offline guckyfan

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there's no chance a self-driving surface probe could effectively navigate Earth's frontiers, much less another Planet's.

I disagree. I have thought for a while on how new rovers could operate. Rovers with large batteries and plenty of power, but with the need to return to a charging station. Rovers could do exploration similar to how Curiosity operates. But when the charge gets low, it could self drive 20km back to the charging station quickly on a known path and then return quickly to its exploration location. Rovers with high power needs can not rely on RTG with 150W output and they can not rely on solar panels mounted on their back in the future.

Offline Stormbringer

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just send a roomba :)
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Offline Stormbringer

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Offline john smith 19

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BTW.

Current generation of Mars rovers already do a certain amount of autonomous route planning.  AFAIK the exact path is not sent to the rover. What's sent is the final destination. The rover then integrates data from its various sensors to plan the route to that point.

While the surface of Mars is very uneven and dusty it does have the advantage that there are very few moving objects on it to avoid.

This technology has (gradually) been improving. Slightly improving processor power (to run it) radically improves the amount of science collected, given the bandwidth constraints to Mars for instructions. Also the cost of the processor is a one time cost, while the DSN bandwidth costs are ongoing.
MCT ITS BFR SS. The worlds first Methane fueled FFSC engined CFRP SS structure A380 sized aerospaceplane tail sitter capable of Earth & Mars atmospheric flight.First flight to Mars by end of 2022 TBC. T&C apply. Trust nothing. Run your own #s "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" R. Simberg."Competitve" means cheaper ¬cheap SCramjet proposed 1956. First +ve thrust 2004. US R&D spend to date > $10Bn. #deployed designs. Zero.

Offline Stormbringer

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how to see stuff really really well.

https://phys.org/news/2017-12-breakthrough-sensor-photography-life-sciences.html

probably just totally buffed all telescopes so they can see exoplanets :)
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Offline Stormbringer

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bring me my armor!

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/12/two-layer-graphene-becomes-a-diamond-hard-material-on-impact-which-could-make-super-armor.html

A double layer of graphene turns diamond hard under pressure. could make ultralight bullet proof coatings. Or if you separate these in two layer units but in a composite you could maybe have something for space craft impact protection?

I wonder if borophene acts the same way? Borophene is stronger than graphene i think.
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Offline john smith 19

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how to see stuff really really well.

https://phys.org/news/2017-12-breakthrough-sensor-photography-life-sciences.html

probably just totally buffed all telescopes so they can see exoplanets :)
I think you'll find that level of capability has existed for large telescopes for decades.

Orbiting telescopes and ground instruments often have specialized imaging devices made by people like E2V and their counterparts around the world. Mult megapixel and quantum level imaging IE sensitivity in multiple photons, have been SOP for quite some time in Astronomy.
MCT ITS BFR SS. The worlds first Methane fueled FFSC engined CFRP SS structure A380 sized aerospaceplane tail sitter capable of Earth & Mars atmospheric flight.First flight to Mars by end of 2022 TBC. T&C apply. Trust nothing. Run your own #s "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" R. Simberg."Competitve" means cheaper ¬cheap SCramjet proposed 1956. First +ve thrust 2004. US R&D spend to date > $10Bn. #deployed designs. Zero.

Offline Stormbringer

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how to see stuff really really well.

https://phys.org/news/2017-12-breakthrough-sensor-photography-life-sciences.html

probably just totally buffed all telescopes so they can see exoplanets :)
I think you'll find that level of capability has existed for large telescopes for decades.

Orbiting telescopes and ground instruments often have specialized imaging devices made by people like E2V and their counterparts around the world. Mult megapixel and quantum level imaging IE sensitivity in multiple photons, have been SOP for quite some time in Astronomy.
i mean pretty much all institutional level telescopes even the smallest/oldest. perhaps even amateur scopes. plus there was an older article on making small scopes have an effective mirror size something like ten times their actual size without complex mechanical stuff.
When antigravity is outlawed only outlaws will have antigravity.

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