{"id":270141,"date":"2018-08-10T15:11:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-10T13:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=270141"},"modified":"2018-08-10T15:13:32","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T13:13:32","slug":"5-insane-space-projects-which-just-might-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/science\/270141-5-insane-space-projects-which-just-might-work.html","title":{"rendered":"5 insane space projects which just might work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Space exploration has captured the imagination of many engineers and scientists, with many dreaming up wild ideas to extend humanity’s reach beyond Earth.<\/p>\n

While some of these ideas are straight out of science fiction, certain ones stand a decent chance of working.<\/p>\n

Many of these ideas are being worked on, with scientists constructing prototype spacecraft and designing possible solutions to the problems with each idea.<\/p>\n

The best ideas are arguably the ones focused on decreasing the cost of launching payloads to space, as this would allow for faster development of space-based structures.<\/p>\n

Check out the ambitious space projects being worked on right now, below.<\/p>\n

\n

Martian colony<\/h3>\n

The colonisation of Mars is near the top for many explorers.<\/p>\n

Colonisation of the red planet is possible, but it is extremely challenging due to the high cost of launching cargo to the planet, long travel times, and communication delays.<\/p>\n

However, pioneers like Elon Musk are working to bring humanity closer to this goal.<\/p>\n

NASA is also attempting to solve the problem of sustaining human life on Mars and is considering the viability of 3D-printed habitats constructed ahead of humans landing on the surface.<\/p>\n

Additionally, recent evidence<\/strong><\/a> of an underground lake beneath the Martian icecaps improves the outlook for colonisation of the planet.<\/p>\n

\"Mars<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Space elevator<\/h3>\n

The concept of a space elevator seems insane, but it could be possible.<\/p>\n

A space elevator comprises a large cable which stretches from Earth into space.<\/p>\n

At the end of the cable is a counterweight which provides it with centrifugal force.<\/p>\n

This counterweight would be situated at or above geosynchronous orbit, and would keep the cable taut.<\/p>\n

An elevator could then be run up the cable to space, ferrying cargo and passengers cheaply into orbit.<\/p>\n

There are currently no materials which can handle the stress of swinging a counterweight around at the speed of the Earth’s rotation, however.<\/p>\n

\"Space<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Lunar mass driver<\/h3>\n

The concept of a lunar mass driver is popular in science fiction, but would also be useful in the real world.<\/p>\n

This mass driver would function as an electromagnetic catapult built into the surface of the Moon.<\/p>\n

The device would be extremely long and would use electromagnetic acceleration to rapidly accelerate payloads down a tube, ejecting them at orbital velocity and allowing them to fly straight into orbit around the Moon.<\/p>\n

A fixed mass driver on the Moon would be possible thanks to the lack of atmosphere and lower gravity on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

\"Lunar<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Space Catapult<\/h3>\n

A space catapult is similar to a mass driver, although this project is based on Earth.<\/p>\n

Silicon Vally-based startup SpinLaunch has designed a machine<\/a><\/strong> which it says can hurl rockets into space from the ground.<\/p>\n

The catapult will spin in a circle at up to 5,000 miles per hour and then release its payload, ideally throwing it to the edge of space – at which point the payload may travel into orbit on its own propulsion.<\/p>\n

The challenge of hurling payloads through Earth’s atmosphere is unique, as the faster the object travels the more resistance it encounters.<\/p>\n

\"Rocket<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Lightcraft<\/h3>\n

One of the biggest problems with spacecraft is that they need to supply their own propellant, increasing their weight and requiring more powerful engines.<\/p>\n

Researchers have tried to solve this problem by designing “lightcraft”, lightweight spacecraft which are driven by beam-powered propulsion.<\/p>\n

One of the most promising designs for this type of spacecraft is the maser-powered propulsion variant, which is driven by a ground-based microwave beam targeted at a reflective panel on its stern.<\/p>\n

This is reflected within the panel and ignites onboard gas to produce explosive thrust and move the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

The idea has been tested multiple times, but has not been applied to a live spaceflight.<\/p>\n

\"Lightcraft\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Now read:\u00a0Scientists discover underground lake on Mars<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have listed the most ambitious space projects ever proposed, which all have a chance of being implemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341028,"featured_media":209138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31750],"tags":[52797,35,42368,9565,10154],"class_list":["post-270141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-catapult","tag-headline","tag-projects","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341028"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271575,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270141\/revisions\/271575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}