New Efficiencies In Space Travel We are beginning to see a shakeup in some of the space companies. Several have begun to lay off employees and one, Virgin Orbital has ceased operations. That was a big surprise to me, I had thought they would have become a big player in launching satellites. Anyway, this is how things go with a new technology. When automobiles first came out there were many brands which eventually disappeared. The same with airplane companies. It is just the natural way of things. It looks to me SpaceX is ahead in technology but many of the U.S. legacy aerospace companies are still making money. Many times, this is due to government contracts. I mean, after all, what private company who wanted something new designed and built would want to go to companies which seem to always go years over schedule and are usually well over budget? It has been a while since the last time I checked on the fascinating aerospace company Spinlaunch. They are working on a sort of centrifuge which they hope will be able to throw out a satellite at such speeds it will reach orbit. So far all I can find is they have been somewhat successful in launching objects up to thousands of feet but not into orbit. It is said the work is still continuing. The idea is to save on rocket fuel, which in turn adds a lot of weight to the rocket. One scientist commented and said the system is the opposite of a rocket launch in which the rocket travels faster as it moves further up, while the Spinlaunch object starts out at top speed and goes slower the higher it goes. When one considers how hard it is to start any technologically advanced company, it amazes me there are so many. SpaceX has been a standout company not only in advancements, but in reliability. Other companies are struggling to reach that standard and don’t seem to try and land rockets tail first but still go by splash down. The importance of SpaceX landing this way is the booster rocket can be used over many times and there is no searching for it in the ocean. There are a couple of areas space companies have to worry about. One is making money for their backers. Another is improving their technology and keeping their costs down. While this seems not to be as much of a consideration for government contractors to the extent it is for aerospace companies dealing with other companies, it is important. Lastly, they can’t keep falling behind with contract work. The government has been throwing some work to some of the smaller aerospace companies. I am glad to see that and hope the companies they choose are not being chosen for political reasons, but maybe this is too much to hope for. I remember when years ago there was a race between two aerospace companies to build a new fighter plane. The government ran all sorts of tests and many people agreed on one plane being the better one. The contract went to the other company because, that company was located a powerful senator’s state and he demanded it. In other words, the best interest of the United States was tossed aside for some sort of personal gain. Aerospace companies are beginning to advance in many ways thanks to new technology. That is not the only technology coming on line. New materials are being developed that will change the way they do things. We have all heard about artificial intelligence. A.I. has a big place in space technology as does nanotechnology and biotechnology. All of these things and others are important for exploring the universe and increasing the efficiency of our flights and even the lives of our astronauts. The shrinking of electrical components has helped us make incredible advances in satellite technology. Today we have cube sats which are small, the cubesats have an average size of roughly about 4 X 4 X 4 inches. Some of these cubesats have replaced satellites weighing hundreds of pounds or more. We are working on new forms of propulsion. An announcement was made by NASA. In it they said they were going to develop nuclear power for rockets. While this is a very old idea, this is the first time I know of when it has been taken seriously. It has been mentioned since the 1960s. A few years ago scientists had announced they had developed a rocket system known as rotating detonation. It is said this would allow upper stages of rockets to become lighter, travel farther and burn cleaner. NASA has announced this year it is going to be used to go back to the moon. It was announced recently scientists have found a way to use graphene in solid rocket fuel. The graphene would be in the form of foam. It is said the structures of graphene can even be reused. The graphene improves the combustion. Scientists have said they have found the burn rate is improved by about nine times. Plasma rocket engines started to be tested a few years ago. A company named Ad Astra is working on the engine and claims when perfected will allow for a trip to Mars in 45 days. The engine is named the VASIMR and is said to be a nuclear electric engine. The name stands for Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket. I like it when I see the idea of reducing times for space travel being taken into consideration. In the 19th century sailing ships took about the same time to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. I bet no one even thought of going to Mars then and in the same time span. Another area is energy storage, especially for space flight. We have to remember people on a spacecraft need energy to live because it will power all the systems on the ship such as instruments and functions necessary for the life needs of the crew. While satellites can use solar cells for power because they are near enough to the sun, some other sources of power generation and storage will be needed for spacecraft which go beyond the point where the solar cells work. If we succeed in portable fusion power it would be perfect for our spacecraft, but for now, fission power is probably the best, until we discover something else less dangerous.
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