outer space exploration

[ghosthunter]

i thought you'd say that sir, it's not that absurd actually to build stargates but it's a good possibility when it comes to space-time distortion. it's not yet REALISTIC with our present technology. give it some 4 centuries and it may be possible enough. empty space imho is the ultimate testing ground for anything: no resistance, near-zero energy loss and everything is equational. hahaha{if only i could live to see a stargate by that time[sigh]}

the nearest possible theory to develop a stargate-like system is using artificial black holes or artificial wormholes. It would require mind blowing amounts of power to generate such and to keep it contained.

[ghosthunter]

One of the more novel ways I have come across to propel spaceships in interplanetary space is using steam. Basically the ship is a big water tank with a fusion reactor at one end and living quarters with a small cockpit or control room at the other end. The reactor is used to super heat the water into very high pressure steam and ejected out through the thruster nozzle. One of the reasons (in the storyline) such a propulsion system was employed was the relative abundance of water in space (in the form of ice). It would require very little processing before it can be used as propellant.

Of course the book was written in the time when ion thrusters wasn't even thought off and impulse drive was just found in Star Trek.

Such a system would be useful if employed in mining the asteroid belt for useful metals and minerals. No major requirement to have expensive chemical fuels shipped to the site to refuel the spaceships. Just extract enough water from some of the nearby ice asteroids or comets and there will be more than enough propellant for countless round trips.

The water can also be used in other ways. The power from the reactor can power water electrolysis to replace part of the ship's atmosphere lost to the vacuum of space. The water can also be used to human hygiene and growing food too. Blocks of specially frozen ice can be placed around the front of the spaceship to guard against small particle collisions too. Replacing the badly eroded ice blocks would require a spacewalk but not require major downtime at some sort of spaceborne dry dock.

[MAXBUWAYA]

So guys,

Is it safe to say that Women are from Mars, Men are from Venus?

[niky]

Steam... that's brilliant!

Imagine, having nuclear-powered boats that skim around the asteroid belt and between Earth and the Jovian system (Jupiter's moons may provide a good place to base human outposts... an abundance of raw materials for making interstellar ships out there...) puffing clouds of steam...

We actually already have ion drives. They're noteworthy for being fuel efficient (very little energy required...) but they're still pretty slow, at this point...

[mazdamazda]

Well, the problem with steam is that you need LOTS of water to make this work which is also inefficient since the bulk of the weight of the spaceship will be composed of fuel.

Although it would make sense, as you said it, if you mine asteroids for water and use it for fuel. Though "mining asteriods" isn't as simple as it sounds - and would still require complex spaceships and the like at first to make it feasible.

[BlueBimmer]

pano pag may dormant alien parasite sa mga ice asteroids or comets..and it takes over the whole ship crew :shocked2:

[kinyo]

^ kayang-kaya ni Ripley yan!

[niky]

With any propellant-based drive, you have to carry lots of propellant. This is a major obstacle for the Mars mission that's currently in the works (as if it'll ever get off the ground... but we can hope!)

With the steam drive, you superheat the water using the nuclear core... at those huge pressures, it'll give quite a bit of thrust. If you need to make high-powered "burns", just heat the water enough to turn it into plasma, and it'll act like a conventional rocket.

You won't need to burn continuously, just at the departure point and the arrival point. The nice thing about this form of propulsion is that you won't need to overly refine the fuel or go through expensive extraction processes on the spot, and you won't have to carry enough reactant for a two-way trip (like you would with conventional chemical rockets), you just pick up more water when you get to your destination.

[ghosthunter]

Well, the problem with steam is that you need LOTS of water to make this work which is also inefficient since the bulk of the weight of the spaceship will be composed of fuel.

... hauling tonnes of water as opposed to hauling tonnes of chemical fuel?

And if you can make your propellant at the destination, the spaceship will only require less than half the size of a conventional chemical propelled spaceship since you don't need to carry the fuel for the return trip.

Although it would make sense, as you said it, if you mine asteroids for water and use it for fuel. Though "mining asteriods" isn't as simple as it sounds - and would still require complex spaceships and the like at first to make it feasible.

No need for complex spaceships. Even an old last century sailing ship can mine ice. All the spaceship needs is a way to "refine" raw cometary ice to "clean" water. This could be as simple as melting the ice and collecting the resulting water. An onboard water purification system is still smaller than needing to bring enough fuel for a round trip.

Also "making your own propellant" would give the spaceship some degree of flexibility of its course & destination.

[ghosthunter]

pano pag may dormant alien parasite sa mga ice asteroids or comets..and it takes over the whole ship crew :shocked2:

if the alien is dormant in the ice... then it wold have a rude awakening when it is microwaved to a plasma by a nuclear fusion engine.