darthgently Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 8 hours ago, magnemoe said: Something like spinlaunch makes much more sense on the moon because lower gravity and no air. Main issue is how the counterweight handles on release, suddenly the thing who rotate very fast is unbalanced. Some ways to fix it is to simple release it too, has it hit an pile of gravel, dig out and attach again. More advanced has counterweight fall some cm then landing on rails or an plate around the center so you can slow it down. Or make the counterweight water and just let it go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 5 hours ago, darthgently said: Or make the counterweight water and just let it go Water is an valuable resource and you might still get issues then it hit downrange unless you trap it. Thinking of that, using gravel or sand and something like an shot trap who is used on some indoor gun ranges, an funnel who angled so bullets will only ricochet inward, have bottom tilt towards the rear to so stuff end up in the rear. Yes you need to build this solid but its an very simple structure. You could then reuse the sand or gravel for the next shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 On 8/21/2024 at 6:27 PM, darthgently said: https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-and-nokia-partner-to-develop-high-speed-wireless-communications-for-spacesuits/ Spoiler Everything good is already invented. 3 hours ago, magnemoe said: Water is an valuable resource and you might still get issues then it hit downrange unless you trap it. Spoiler Regolith. It rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 (edited) Here's a thing. You know drones? Little buzzy quadcopters that suddenly turned serious when they were used in an ongoing war? Turns out they vastly simplify installation of both solar panels and wind turbines. In the case of solar, having a camera drone inspect and measure the roof with a 4K camera and a bit of computer-vision jiggery-pokery is apparently consistently faster and safer than a man with a tape-measure. Not only that, the larger ones can carry up to 100kg, more than enough to do a local airlift of a panel or two onto the roof (or hillside) without winching it up or lugging it on your back up a ladder. One wind turbine company is testing using these HLDs to lift cargo up to the nacelles of off-shore wind turbines: https://maritime-executive.com/article/video-first-use-of-heavy-lift-drones-to-support-wind-farm-maintenance Quote In the traditional system, the [support] vessel would have had to sail to each turbine and using a crane lift the box containing the [safety] equipment to the transition piece on the turbine’s foundation. The box would then have to be lifted with the nacelle’s crane and then be moved to the top of the turbine. Ørsted said the operation could take up to six hours but through the use of drones, it has been able to complete the tasks at Borssele 10 to 15 times faster. Edited August 28 by AckSed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDE Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 14 hours ago, AckSed said: You know drones? Little buzzy quadcopters that suddenly turned serious when they were used in an ongoing war? Close-in aerophotography being available to the masses would be a gamebreaker? Who woulda thunk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 More wind turbine innovation. Wind turbines are growing bigger, with very long blades. One company thinks it has the solution to bring off-shore-sized blades to on-shore sites: a massive plane that makes the Antonov An-124 look small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrandedonEarth Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 2 hours ago, AckSed said: More wind turbine innovation. Wind turbines are growing bigger, with very long blades. One company thinks it has the solution to bring off-shore-sized blades to on-shore sites: a massive plane that makes the Antonov An-124 look small. Mount the wind turbine blades to a fuselage to provide lift, and fly it to the site. Truck the fuselage back to the factory. Or use the fuselage as the mast. The turbine can provide power for flight. Batteries become storage. Quite elegant, actually. But the devil is in the details… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 32 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said: Mount the wind turbine blades to a fuselage to provide lift, and fly it to the site. Truck the fuselage back to the factory. Or use the fuselage as the mast. The turbine can provide power for flight. Batteries become storage. Quite elegant, actually. But the devil is in the details… The "safe perimeter" around a very large mill makes their real estate footprint much larger than many realize. The "comfort perimeter" (vibrations, subsonics, shadows) is larger. Microplastic and disposal nightmares. imho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 They should tie long clothes on the blade ends to make it look like dementor, and make holes to make it whistle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 ACS3 solar sail deployed: https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/08/29/nasa-composite-booms-deploy-mission-sets-sail-in-space/ The booms that deployed it are the primary mission, so it could be said to have already completed it. But I'm more interested in the 'sail' part. Let's hope it keeps going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 Australian startup hoping to make the first off-the-shelf multi-environment EVA suit: https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/funding/spacesuit-startup-metakosmos-flies-high-with-2-million-pre-seed-raise/ https://metakosmos.com.au/ Seems they took inspiration from Doctor Octopus and Iron Man: Spoiler I mean, one of the designs has jump boosters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDE Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Ah, science by Netflix documentary. Never a good sign? https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-human-relative-really-bury-dead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 7 hours ago, DDE said: Ah, science by Netflix documentary. Never a good sign? https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-human-relative-really-bury-dead Adequate peer review is overrated. This kind of narrow "scientific" thinking is what led to the extinction of mermen and mermaids and ancient aliens. We must be better custodians of the whimsical. /sarc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 How are they sure that the ornaments weren't made 200 ky later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnemoe Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 2 hours ago, darthgently said: Adequate peer review is overrated. This kind of narrow "scientific" thinking is what led to the extinction of mermen and mermaids and ancient aliens. We must be better custodians of the whimsical. /sarc Now its an very interesting find, Homo naledi is also interesting and appear late for the small brain and I say just pulling the bodies deep inside an cave is an kind of burring. And since they went extinct around 250.000 years ago its no danger they share the fate of mermaids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Steam-treating seeds to remove diseases and pests without harmful chemicals: https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/09/04/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Documentary on Venus probes from DKiS 20 hours ago, AckSed said: Steam-treating seeds to remove diseases and pests without harmful chemicals: https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/09/04/this-chemical-free-method-for-treating-seeds-is-winning-over-sceptical-farmers-in-sweden-a This is awesome at first glance, looking forward to seeing it explored further Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSchmuckatelli Posted September 8 Author Share Posted September 8 Wendy Freedman, et.al. used Hubble data... And the Crisis of Cosmology continues. Reiss et.al. are publishing a flurry of papers to say 'nuh-uhhh'. From what I gather, the counter argument is that Freedman's data is not blurry enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted September 9 Share Posted September 9 BepiColombo flyby of Mercury short vid, nice pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AckSed Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 https://blogs.nasa.gov/smallsatellites/2024/09/05/nasa-evaluates-deployed-advanced-composite-solar-sail-system/ Have to say, even though I'm excited by the solar sail in orbit, the pace is glacial. They won't even bother correcting the attitude until their booms are straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmerben Posted September 13 Share Posted September 13 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/02/new-catalysts-steer-hydrogen-fuel-cells-mainstream Cheaper fuel cells, yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 (edited) On 9/13/2024 at 10:29 AM, farmerben said: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/02/new-catalysts-steer-hydrogen-fuel-cells-mainstream Cheaper fuel cells, yay! I’m lukewarm on the usefulness of HFCs for vehicular use: 1. Distribution infrastructure of hydrogen is not simple. Same issues with containment, embrittlement, valves, etc that hydrolox rockets deal 2. Fuel tanks in hydrogen powered vehicles are cryogenic and huge. Just as with rockets, the energy density sucks for mobile applications 3. Hydrogen boil off in parking garages is concerning, especially if the car parked in the next slot is a BYD But improving them with cobalt is an idea that, while very interesting, is running counter to efforts to reduce cobalt in Li batteries for example https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/supply-chains/lithium-ion-batteries However, if fuel cells get efficient enough then maybe hydrogen storage could make a better short and medium term storage for solar, wind, and other undependables Edited September 17 by darthgently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthgently Posted September 17 Share Posted September 17 (edited) I could see this taking out the electronics in drones or other craft, but the communications possibilities are enticing. I'm not sure it could be focused any tighter than existing directional antennas in the main lobe, but it might be more secure with fewer side lobes. The physical design with the cone reminds me of how shaped charges in penetration rounds work. Edited September 17 by darthgently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuke Posted September 18 Share Posted September 18 (edited) ^ thats pretty much project marauder from the '90s. Edited September 18 by Nuke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted September 19 Share Posted September 19 Now the Orion drive has never been as close as now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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