Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: space travel – Page 470

NASA’S STUNNING BREAKTHROUGH: It’s First Warp Drive…Is a TRUE Mindblower!

A few months ago, physicist Harold White shocked the aeronautics industry when he announced that his team at NASA was in the process of developing a faster-than-light warp drive. His design could one day transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks.

The idea originally came to White while he was considering an equation formulated by physicist Miguel Alcubierre in his 1994 paper titled, “The Warp Drive: Hyper-Fast Travel Within General Relativity. Alcubierre suggested a mechanism by which space-time could be “warped” and behind a spacecraft.

Michio Kaku dubbed Alcubierre’s theory a “passport to the universe,” which harnesses a quirk in the “cosmological code” that allows for the expansion and contraction of space-time. If proven true, it could allow for hyper-fast travel between interstellar destinations. In order to accomplish this, the starship would need able to expand the space behind it rapidly to push it forward. For passengers, it would look like a lack of acceleration.

3D Printing The Next Five Years

This is a guest post in our series looking at the future of 3D Printing. To celebrate 5 years of reporting on the 3D printing industry, we’ve invited industry leaders and 3D printing experts to give us their perspective and predictions for the next 5 years and insight into trends in additive manufacturing.

Brian O’Connor is Vice President, Production Operations at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

How lockheed martin is printing the path to mars by brian o’connor.

Our Future Space Colonies Could Be Built Using Super-Strong Martian Bricks

Scientists have created bricks harder than concrete by compressing simulated Martian soil. Hypothetically, this means we could significantly bring down the cost of constructing shelters when we finally reach Mars.

The world is intent on sending humans to Mars, but the feasibility of Martian travel is dependent on cost. That’s why staying within budget is potentially the biggest challenge facing NASA’s recently released five-year plan detailing how humans will get to Mars. It’s also the reason SpaceX is pushing to make reusable rockets.

China and Europe May Build A “Moon Village” in the 2020s

In recent years, multiple space agencies have shared their plans to return astronauts to the Moon, not to mention establishing an outpost there. Beyond NASA’s plan to revitalize lunar exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA), Rocosmos, and the Chinese and Indian federal space agencies have also announced plans for crewed missions to the Moon that could result in permanent settlements.

As with all things in this new age of space exploration, collaboration appears to be the key to making things happen. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the ESA’s respective plans for lunar exploration. As spokespeople from both agencies announced this week, the CNSA and the ESA hope to work together to create a “Moon Village” by the 2020s.

The announcement first came from the Secretary General of the Chinese space agency (Tian Yulong). On earlier today (Wednesday, April 26th) it was confirmed by the head of media relations for the ESA (Pal A. Hvistendahl). As Hvistendahl was quoted as saying by the Associated Press: “The Chinese have a very ambitious moon program already in place. Space has changed since the space race of the ’60s. We recognize that to explore space for peaceful purposes, we do [need] international cooperation.”

This robot can build a 50-foot-wide house all by itself in 14 hours, at MIT or on Mars

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a double-armed, laser-guided robot that can basically 3D print a 50-foot-wide house in less than 14 hours with almost no human intervention. The Digital Construction Platform, described today in Science Robotics, consists of a large hydraulic arm mounted on a platform with motorized treads, plus a smaller electric-powered arm for finer movements. The MIT team programmed the solar-powered machine to spray out foam construction material, layer by layer, to form a 12-foot-high, igloo-like structure big enough to house a family. The researchers hope such robots could someday be sent to the moon, Mars or Antarctica to build “print-in-place” habitats from the materials at hand … or at manipulator.