a new Babel?

[tom]

from "The New Scientist"
A giant inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable based space elevator.

Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15 km high tower, if built from a suitable mountaintop it could reach up to 20km and provide a launch pad for atmospheric research, telecoms, tourism and space launch.

It would be constructed from Kevlar-polyethylene tubes made rigid by inflating them with a lightweight gas such as helium (or Hydrogen)

In addition to the modular structure the tower would require active stabilisation to cope with wind forces


so...worlds most awesome base jump ever?


:edit:
Noone else thinks this is awesome?

 

[Tyria]

I think it is awesome. I hope either this or an orbital elevator are completed within the next 15-20 years. I've always wanted to go into space and sleep among the stars. The view wouldn't be too bad either

 

[Razare]

I don't think the states will do this, if anyone does it. We've lost our ambition for trying new things like that. We'd have to see another country working on it, then we'd get all defensive and try to build our own before theirs was complete.

There needs to be a practical reason for having one for them to make any sense. Mining the moon could be such a practical reason.

You would probably do it like this:

1. Lunar surface mining module collects helium-3 and docks at moon station
2. Station rockets moon orbital module into orbit with payload
3. Transport ship picks up orbital module and receives the helium-3, it distributes fuel to the orbital module
4. Moon orbital module lands back on the moon
5. Transport ship flies back to earth and docks with the space tower, delivering the helium-3 and receiving adequate fuel supplies, then it flies back to the moon and you repeat the cycle

This system could accomplish moon mining with only having to launch a an orbital module from the moon, which would be a lot cheaper.

If we were really ambitious we could put a space tower on the moon as well, to rid ourselves of the fuel cost of launching from there. With a tower on each globe, the only fuel needed would be that from the earth to the moon and back.

------------------------

Here's a quote about He3:

"About 25 tonnes of He3 would power the United States for 1 year at our current rate of energy consumption. To put it in perspective: that's about the weight of a fully loaded railroad box car, or a maximum Space Shuttle payload."

 

[Razare]

Oh and that link doesn't really explain it, but helium-3 is very rare on Earth. What you use it for is a special type of fusion reaction that is more efficient. According to this show I was watching on TV, the moon could be covered in gold and it wouldn't be cost effective to mine it. Helium-3 is actually worth more than gold weight-wise because it's so rare, it's one of the few things that would actually be worth going to the moon for. It's actually kind of ironic.

Helium-3 Energy:
http://www.asi.org/adb/02/09/he3-intro.html

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Ironic because if the moon was covered in gold people would already be mining it.

Now if Helium-3 was called something more exciting like Phlebotinum and was some sort of shiny metallic rock or crystal, everyone would be after it.

 

[Ermine]

The tower concept is really awesome. It would totally revolutionize spacecraft.

So far as I'm concerned, the moon is just a rock. Great place to build a more permanent space station. What I'm really excited about is getting people to Mars, as it has more potential, especially if we were to purposely start a greenhouse effect and grow some plants there.

 

[Razare]

Problem with moon mining is figuring out a way the governments of earth would agree on how it would work. About the only thing I can think of is splitting it by surface area ratios by country. If you have 4% of the surface area on earth, you get 4% of the surface area on the moon. Then have some sort of lottery to determine what parcel you end up with.

This would be a huge hassle and I doubt it could even get through the UN or any international treaty.

 

[RubberDucky451]

I agree with Razare, people are fed up with this economy. The last thing we need is another project that yields little result besides discovery.

 

[walfin]

Considering the moon isn't stationary, the tower'd have to shift constantly, making it impractical.

And if you're going as far as Mars, I don't see how this tower can help.

Well, about splitting the moon. I suppose we could always do it the way the Europeans split America up. Once enough people figure out how to get there the law will have to catch up.

 

[Razare]

Why no moon towers? Earth's gravity is too great and it would tug it around too much?

The same lunar surface always seems to face planet Earth each night... so even if it's orbiting and rotating, its sort of constant gravitationally speaking.

 

[Kuu]

I agree with Razare, people are fed up with this economy. The last thing we need is another project that yields little result besides discovery.

What can be more important than discovery?

Inflatables in space are the future. I read the other day that there's a company who bought a lot of nasa patents from a cancelled project for inflatable space station modules and they're planning on building a space station sometime soon (2012 ish)... they're already prototyping.

I don't think government projects will spearhead space exploration and mining. Too much bureaucracy. It will be private investments. As history has shown us before.
(I can't wait for there to be space pirates )

 

[tom]

I would totally be a space pirate


gah new smilies!!!!!!!


a tower would greatly assist all space travel from earth as it would drammatically cut down the fuel requirements for take off, allowing more space for transportation and probably making the whole thing less costly.

 

[Xel]

Problem with moon mining is figuring out a way the governments of earth would agree on how it would work. About the only thing I can think of is splitting it by surface area ratios by country. If you have 4% of the surface area on earth, you get 4% of the surface area on the moon. Then have some sort of lottery to determine what parcel you end up with.

People have already bought moon property. Its of questionable international legality but if the UN doesn't stop it...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4264325.html

 

[Razare]

What can be more important than discovery?

Inflatables in space are the future. I read the other day that there's a company who bought a lot of nasa patents from a cancelled project for inflatable space station modules and they're planning on building a space station sometime soon (2012 ish)... they're already prototyping.

I don't think government projects will spearhead space exploration and mining. Too much bureaucracy. It will be private investments. As history has shown us before.
(I can't wait for there to be space pirates )

Yeah, it'll be private industry, I think that's why I like the idea of moon mining so much, rather than exploration for the sake of exploration. Once capitalism is involved progress occurs at an exponential rate.

 

[Tyria]

I never understood how people can own moon property; no one is even on the moon to begin with. What if some government went up and deployed a miltary base on the moon and claimed that the entire moon belonged to them? What would happen to all that private ownership?

I think you have to be able to defend what you claim to own; and the legal system does enforce things in most industrialized countries. But it becomes a different story when the offending party is camped out on your 4 by 4 acre moon plot. You can't exactly send the police to tell them to get off.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Moon property is a scam, unless it's officially recognised by the UN it's worthless, and even if it was there's nothing stoping an existing nation from claiming sovereignty.

The tower of Babel theme is interesting, of course if an inflatable tower falls over I doubt anyone will be too concerned.

Also I'm not so sure about space piracy, sure if someone were to invade the ISS it wouldn't be too difficult to get control of it, but what then? A pirate needs someone to steal from and someone else to trade with, but when you steal the International Space Station, finding the latter tends to be difficult.

 

[tom]

im sure i could find a suitable fence for a massive space station...

but yeh if someone tells you that you can own a part of the moon, they're lying...

 

[uth]

I would imagine that a trip up a space elevator would be rather slow. Will you have to listen to elevator music the whole time? :P

Taking off in rockets was a great way to inspire kids to be astronauts, when astronauts have to start taking the elevator to work, will that kill the romance and glamour of the profession?

 

[tom]

But it may open up new vistas of romance and glamour in the wider solar system.