NASA released it's next centennial challenge today. $250,000 to the group/company/guy in his garage who can "pull at least 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of breathable oxygen from a volcanic ash-derived lunar soil substitute called JSC-1 ... in 8 hours" -- -Tariq Malik Space.com
Now this is more interesting to me than the last two (for demonstrating power beaming and the strongest tether). This is directly applicable to living on the moon. If we are staying on the moon, we are going to have to get Oxygen locally.
Not to upset the Space Elevator people. Frankly, I hope that in a few years there will be many ways to get out of LEO. Tethers? Great. Rockets? Great. Whatever works and is affordable. But my goal is not to get out of LEO, but to get to a moon colony. However we get there, this prize helps us stay there.
Good going NASA. This was a good idea.
Not to upset the Space Elevator people. Frankly, I hope that in a few years there will be many ways to get out of LEO. Tethers? Great. Rockets? Great. Whatever works and is affordable. But my goal is not to get out of LEO, but to get to a moon colony. However we get there, this prize helps us stay there.
ReplyDeleteI am, I think, one of those space elevator people. Or at least Liftport thinks I am.
The thought of competition does not bother me. I like having a diverse infrastructure; whatever makes sense for the market and cargo.
~brian
Oh yeah I agree. I only meant that I think this prize is more important in the long run for human expansion into space than the first two, which were both slanted towards a space elevator concept.
ReplyDelete