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Originally posted by Larryman
How about Solar Wind Sailing? I think that would be within current technology capability.
Originally posted by Astyanax
but ideas that respect the laws of physics and the limits of current technology.)
I say not bad at all.
We never know what we might find along the way.
I'm actually very optimistic and I say we have been doing a fantastic job with already known off the shelf technology. I just wish the Pentagon would let loose with more of the exotic technologies they have been hording for decades all in the name of national security.
Originally posted by The_Modulus
We need a space-rail gun! Screw the space elevator, we need to make an 80-100 km electromagnetic railway gun system leading up a mountain
Originally posted by SLAYER69
...My big question would be how would it be powered and what type of engine would it be?...
Originally posted by justwokeup
In orbit yes. However, to go anywhere else its going to run into the same limitations as current NASA vehicles. it takes an age to get anywhere.
Its just a small robot shuttle. The x-37 is cool and has great utility as a space weapon/espionage tool. Its not a space exploration tool though. Which is what i thought the thread was about.
Originally posted by justwokeup
Its still hobbled by the fact its using chemical propulsion. If something has a transit time measured in years to anywhere theres little point making it a spaceplane.
WASHINGTON -- NASA will launch the first human-like robot to space later this year to become a permanent resident of the International Space Station. Robonaut 2, or R2, was developed jointly by NASA and General Motors under a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they are astronauts in space or workers at GM manufacturing plants on Earth.
The 300-pound R2 consists of a head and a torso with two arms and two hands. R2 will launch on space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-133 mission planned for September. Once aboard the station, engineers will monitor how the robot operates in weightlessness. Throughout its first decade in orbit, the space station has served as a test bed for human and robotic teamwork for construction, maintenance and science.