Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Augi
NASA is planning another system of X-Prizes to allow private companies to build the radical systems of space travel. Pop Sci released an issue about it. The new one is to create a reusable lander for on the moon. So guess what you need--a reusable craft to get to the moon really fast.
|
There going to keep making lots of X-Prizes, it keeps NASA's budget super low since they don't have to spend on research.
I wanted to try an idea my buddy and I were conceiving a plan for inner-system colonization. We call it the
David-Goliath Plan, named such since the plan's foundations are based on the space tether elevators, which are acting as sling shots. The first place to set up another tether would be the moon. It is obvious a key step to colonization since it is the closest gravitational body to the earth.
Given it's low gravity and proximity it makes a perfect launch way for the rest of the solar system. Since water is present we can establish long duration colonies and bases. Water can split through electrolysis, powered by solar arrays, into Hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) and Oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) gas, Oxygen could be used to make breathable air, and both H<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>2</sub> can be used as a cheap propellant. Also the moon is shown to have isotopes of hydrogen and helium which can be refined for fusion engines, the most probable first stage interstellar engines.
The next place would be Mars. It has a low gravity and makes it easy to launch vehicles into orbit. Colonies on Mars would be designed for the refinement of natural resources present and would make an excellent vehicular assembly station. Mars can also be terraformed through the next stages of the plan.
--The next stages in this plan would be the outer regions of our system, beyond the Asteroid Belt. If navigating through or over the belt prove uneconomical, then these places would have to wait for more efficient means to reach them.--
The next solar setup would be Jupiter's Europa. Europa's presence is not as vital but it is a valuable asset to this solar system since it also has water. The water again can be transformed into H<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>2</sub>. This basically becomes the next gas station for cheap clean fuel. However, Europa may not be geologically accessable to support a tether since its surface is ice.
The last step in this plan that we have conceived is the presence of a tether on Saturn's Titan. Titan has been recently explored via the Cassini-Huygen mission and shown to have flowing hydrocarbons present on the surface. These hydrocarbon fuels are not to be used back on Earth but would be an asset to terraform Mars. I believe that an automated setup can be established between Titan and Mars through the tether to launch large containers of fuel. I believe that there is enough O<sub>2</sub> in Mars's atmosphere to permit burning of hydrocarbon fuels.
This is what we got so far. It was just a cool idea again concocted in the commons area of our school.