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Category: space travel – Page 384

Tiny granules can help bring clean and abundant fusion power to Earth

Beryllium, a hard, silvery metal long used in X-ray machines and spacecraft, is finding a new role in the quest to bring the power that drives the sun and stars to Earth. Beryllium is one of the two main materials used for the wall in ITER, a multinational fusion facility under construction in France to demonstrate the practicality of fusion power. Now, physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and General Atomics have concluded that injecting tiny beryllium pellets into ITER could help stabilize the plasma that fuels fusion reactions.

Experiments and computer simulations found that the injected granules help create conditions in the that could trigger small eruptions called edge-localized modes (ELMs). If triggered frequently enough, the tiny ELMs prevent giant eruptions that could halt fusion reactions and damage the ITER facility.

Scientists around the world are seeking to replicate fusion on Earth for a virtually inexhaustible supply of power to generate electricity. The process involves plasma, a very hot soup of free-floating electrons and , or ions. The merging of the nuclei releases a tremendous amount of energy.

NASA’s New Space Engine Is Powered by Nuclear Fission

From returning to the Moon to establishing outposts on Mars, NASA has the need for more power than ever before. Could nuclear fission be the solution they’ve been searching for?

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Demonstration Proves Nuclear Fission System Can Provide Space Exploration Power
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/demonstration-proves-nucl…tion-power
“NASA and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have successfully demonstrated a new nuclear reactor power system that could enable long-duration crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond.”

NASA to Test Fission Power for Future Mars Colony
https://www.space.com/37348-nasa-fission-power-mars-colony.html
“As NASA makes plans to one day send humans to Mars, one of the key technical gaps the agency is working to fill is how to provide enough power on the Red Planet’s surface for fuel production, habitats and other equipment. One option: small nuclear fission reactors, which work by splitting uranium atoms to generate heat, which is then converted into electric power.”

Ideas for new NASA mission can now include spacecraft powered by plutonium
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/19/17138924/nasa-discovery-p…tonium-238
“Discovery proposals can now incorporate a type of power system known as a radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs. These generators are powered by radioactive material — a type of metal called plutonium-238.”

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How to Track the LightSail 2 as It ‘Sails’ Around Earth

Last week, the LightSail 2 officially made its first contact with Earth. The solar-powered spacecraft will be sailing around Earth’s orbit for the next year, all part of a mission to prove that solar sailing is a viable mode of space exploration.

If successful, the hope is that solar sailing could be used in other spacecraft going forward, something that could allow us to explore further in space at a lower cost than is currently possible.

Everyone’s going back to the moon. But why?

There are other reasons to return to the moon, however. For many space enthusiasts, its exploration and exploitation is necessary if we are to make the next giant step in space: sending people to Mars. “That is the real goal for humanity,” says Parker. “However, getting humans there safely is going to be an incredibly difficult undertaking. We will have to learn first how to conquer the moon.”

As the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo landing approaches, a host of countries are undertaking lunar missions. What’s behind the new space race?

How Will We Govern Ourselves in Space?

A new golden age of space exploration is upon us, with growing numbers of countries and private enterprises eager to establish themselves in space for the sake of scientific inquiry, national prestige, adventurous tourism, billionaires’ bragging rights, mineral riches, and even as a hedge against any future calamity that might devastate our home planet.

Our motivations for exploration may vary, but the spaceward rush raises questions about how we will govern ourselves beyond the bonds of Earth. Cold War-era space treaties, vague notions of how legal frameworks on Earth might migrate to settlements in space, and cautionary tales from both history and science fiction offer some guidance, but we could benefit from a larger conversation about how we want to govern them.

Join Future Tense and the JustSpace Alliance to consider how we might ensure that our “next frontier” is one that reflects our most humane and democratic values. Stick around after the event to continue the conversation with a happy hour reception.

This artificial gravity machine is right out of 2001: A Space Odyssey

You know that spherical ship from 2001: A Space Odyssey that generated its own gravity by spinning around in the cosmic void? We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.

Microgravity can be detrimental for the human body, because our species just wasn’t made to survive in space without high-tech help. Now aerospace engineer Torin Clark and his team from CU Boulder are turning the artificial gravity tech from movies like 2001 and The Martian into a reality. While an entire ship that makes its own gravity is still light-years away, the team has managed to design a revolving contraption that could save astronauts from too much zero-G exposure.

On future space stations, these revolving machines designed by Clark and his team could occupy their own rooms, which would be ideal for astronaut time-outs. It’s kind of like a space spa — astronauts could spend several hours in these rooms recharging from the effects of microgravity. If these machines can eventually prove that they hold up somewhere like the ISS, they could be the answer to deep space missions that take us to Mars and beyond.

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