Space travel --not a dream trip into extraterrestrial land

[shootingstar]

http://www.robertabondar.com/documents/Globe_op_ed_May_23_2013.pdf

Waay more research since she wrote this on negative effects of space travel for astronauts.  This astronaut is a neurologist, etc.  I don't plan win lottery to go to Mars, Venus..Jupiter

[Wilbur ★]

I will pass.  I have had enough radiation over my career, both through airports and inflight.  A trans Atlantic flight at 45,000 feet provides the same radiation as 4 chest x-rays.  I have done that a lot of times. 

[MickinMD ★]

"For example: there is...radiation that can lead to chromosomal breaks..."

This is due to cosmic rays. Astronaut report seeing sudden flashes of light - which are due to cosmic rays hitting the retina.  The two Van Allen Belts surrounding the earth - charged particles resulting from the Solar Wind, mostly protect astronauts spending months in the International Space Station but there's concern about the effects of cosmic rays on human bodies during a trip to Mars or spending a long time on the Moon.

[late]

Everything about Space is hard.

People forget, but the odds on the first guy we sent to Space was 50/50. That was the track record of the rocket. That doesn't include all the other risks involved.

We've been experimenting with spending  a long time in Space. And there are problems. The reality of Space is that it is inimical to life. Yet there we are, learning, getting better at it.

If we ever get genuinely serious about this, the next step is building a rotating habitat, imitating gravity with centrifugal force.

[bikeman564™]

9 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I will pass.  I have had enough radiation over my career, both through airports and inflight.  A trans Atlantic flight at 45,000 feet provides the same radiation as 4 chest x-rays.  I have done that a lot of times. 

[late]

What we need to do is make a small mining base on the Moon. They'll  take Moon dust,  melt it, and cast it into segments. Prob be like a roman arch, real simple. They will get used to make a rotating base at L5. Like the ones you see in movies, but a lot simpler.

The shape will be like a tire, prob  be 10 feet thick, and taper down to half that at the edge. It will look like a bicycle wheel from a distance because doing wire rope will be easy, and adequately flexible.

The outside will be coated in a hi tech foam to slow down wear, the interior will get sheets of lead covering about half the interior. That will be backed up with water, because water stops some radiation. The water will be there as part of the heating system, and as an emergency water supply. There will be rooms with additional lead for when radiation spikes.

A good design goal would be to reduce radiation exposure by 90%.

This wouldn't be just for science, there will be business going on. But the opportunity for science is considerable. There is a telescope in South America, that uses computers to create a virtual telescope from 3 actual telescopes. We could put one outside the base at L% (Stuff at L% stays there), and one or two more in orbit, creating a virtual telescope thousands of miles across.

In Space, you don't need much of a push to launch hardware to anywhere in the Solar System. Which means you could deliver a package using those new thrusters, and then have the delivery vehicle come back to be re-used. Eventually that will evolve into mining the outer reaches of the Solar system for things we need more of, like rare earths.

 

[Wilbur ★]

58 minutes ago, late said:

What we need to do is make a small mining base on the Moon. They'll  take Moon dust,  melt it, and cast it into segments. Prob be like a roman arch, real simple. They will get used to make a rotating base at L5. Like the ones you see in movies, but a lot simpler.

The shape will be like a tire, prob  be 10 feet thick, and taper down to half that at the edge. It will look like a bicycle wheel from a distance because doing wire rope will be easy, and adequately flexible.

The outside will be coated in a hi tech foam to slow down wear, the interior will get sheets of lead covering about half the interior. That will be backed up with water, because water stops some radiation. The water will be there as part of the heating system, and as an emergency water supply. There will be rooms with additional lead for when radiation spikes.

A good design goal would be to reduce radiation exposure by 90%.

This wouldn't be just for science, there will be business going on. But the opportunity for science is considerable. There is a telescope in South America, that uses computers to create a virtual telescope from 3 actual telescopes. We could put one outside the base at L% (Stuff at L% stays there), and one or two more in orbit, creating a virtual telescope thousands of miles across.

In Space, you don't need much of a push to launch hardware to anywhere in the Solar System. Which means you could deliver a package using those new thrusters, and then have the delivery vehicle come back to be re-used. Eventually that will evolve into mining the outer reaches of the Solar system for things we need more of, like rare earths.

 

Jeff Bezos like your delivery plan.  Amazon Moon HQ is now being put to tender. 

[Kzoo]

2 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Jeff Bezos like your delivery plan.  Amazon Moon HQ is now being put to tender. 

Yeah, and somebody's not going to like that plan and then what's Jeff going to do?

[Dottleshead ★]

13 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I will pass.  I have had enough radiation over my career, both through airports and inflight.  A trans Atlantic flight at 45,000 feet provides the same radiation as 4 chest x-rays.  I have done that a lot of times. 

I want to say take care of yourself jet. But I am afraid you haven't been.

[Kzoo]

44 minutes ago, Dottles said:

I want to say take care of yourself jet. But I am afraid you haven't been.

Glow in the dark pork.