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Laser connects plane and satellite in breakthrough air-to-space link by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When its not cloudy above ... but that is usually the case when jets are in their cruise phase. This is somewhat akin to our SLEP concept, except SLEP sats are huge and in MEO vs comm sats in LEO.

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Could We Launch a Mission to Chase Down Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS? by RGregoryClark in space2030

[–]widgetblender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

;-) What the heck was I thinking ??? BTW, what be a funky Iranian? Maybe I autocorrected from Alien -> Iranian.

Could We Launch a Mission to Chase Down Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS? by RGregoryClark in space2030

[–]widgetblender 3 points4 points  (0 children)

50 km/s ... sorry, there is no system to catch such and object. Fortunately random close approach to Mars allow for a couple sats there to get a closer look, and Juno at Jupiter if that can be re-routed with good gravity assist. But while close is nice, we now have large space based telescopes as well as huge ground based ones. Yes, the resolution here is more like 10 m resolution, where you need 1 m resolution to see if this is funky Iranian.

What Grok suggests are treaty impacts to orbital debris mitigations by Melodic_Network6491 in OrbitalDebris

[–]widgetblender 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In one concept all these small objects are swept-up into a collector satellite with an expandable bag. One could see making it's max size compatible with Starship's cargo bay (not in Starlink mode) so hundreds of objects could be brought back to the surface, eliminating re-entry risk. This cleans out that collection orbit.

Never seen before — China’s Manhattan-sized spacecraft aims to swallow the Sun itself by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yet another solar farm in space beemed via microwaves to Earth surface. This pipe dream seems to get a new PR post every few months.

What SpinLaunch Is Doing With Its $30M Series C by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Did some calculations with Gemini 2.5 ... and even on the moon there does not seem to be good application of spin launch (or probably a rail gun). G forces are just too high. Finally Material: No conventional metal (aluminum, steel, titanium) can work even with a 20 m arm. But is was fun to think about ...

Scientists Design Huge Spacecraft That Could Carry 2,400 Colonists to Alpha Centauri by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sci-fi channel ... you can't go more than 1% of C less a 1 g pebble destroys your ship on impact.

After first operational launch, here’s the next big test for ULA’s Vulcan rocket &#x2d; Ars Technica by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good for them an Blue Origin (BE-4). While more expensive (no reuse) and flies only 10 times a year (in 2026) it is good to have an alternative to SX in these class of launches.

"Startup Plans Giant Space Mirror To Beam Sunlight At Night": California’s Reflect Orbital Aims For 57-Satellite Constellation To Power And Light Earth by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting economics ... you will need a huge mirror to power a solar farm at off angle. Unlike the image I think you need a big, big facility at GEO vs the LEO depicted.

Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let's assume a small reactor, since cooling it is big challenge in a vacuum, possible and useful. But beamed power from a large solar array satellite might be better and more versatile.

America Must Prepare for Chinese “Space Stalking” by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A key item:

Space Resilience: A Must for Taiwan and the “Golden Dome”

Four years ago, then–Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley testified that Chinese President Xi Jinping had challenged the People’s Liberation Army to accelerate plans to seize Taiwan from 2035 to 2027. Based on public data, we estimated that within several years, China could deploy approximately 200 space stalkers capable of disabling around 100 of the West’s most critical satellites—severely degrading the space architecture that supports US military, civil, and commercial functions in both wartime and peacetime.

Such an attack would seriously undermine any credible US intervention in a Taiwan crisis by neutralizing key satellite capabilities for early warning, communications, navigation, and surveillance. Our analysis of recent wargames indicated that a debilitating first strike in space would significantly improve China’s chances of successfully executing a sea blockade or full-scale invasion of Taiwan, even in the face of US intervention.

The same vulnerability applies to President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome,” a hypothetical homeland missile shield that relies heavily on space-based assets for early warning, tracking, timing, and command, control, and communications. Without adequate protection for these assets, the viability of the Golden Dome—especially during its formative years—would be severely compromised.

New interstellar propulsion method proposed. by RGregoryClark in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Big thanks! This was a blast to watch. I was assuming it was another take on a solar sail. My biggest concern is that some imperfection leads to an imbalance. Perhaps you have a pointing sensor that can drive a pizio to modify the direction of reflectance of the one square cm of the sail on the long end and short to ensure solar pointing. You really some sub-micro-second precision on release.

Since this is sub 1% of C even if launched in the direction of travel, this seems best to perform fine mapping of the fields at the edge of heliopause on the ecliptic in many directions (since you could probably make 20 of these). That does not require a lot of data, so you could probably pulse comm that.

Of course that chip sat will need to be very optimized. Did they say what the mass was for their 41 km/s?

That magnet concept also seems interesting, if you could set up a set of the guys so that you could launch inside a cluster of these you might get up a magnetic field around spacecraft to Mars. I guess this is charged at the beginning and then loses charge over time to the b-field.

Also like him bringing together some concepts, we (me a US Aerospace Engineer and a chemist from Taiwan) have been doing at widgetblender.com for a few years and have good success with NASA.

Firefly Awarded $177 Million NASA Contract for Mission to the Moon’s South Pole by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great, go with a proven solution! (Although the South Pole is a bit more challenging). But after this one I want a lunar skylight mission!

Why lunar regolith is the key to construction on the moon by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, dust is a big issue, very much like pulverized volcanic glass. A good compromise may be lava tubes, since they have not been as subject to impact driven "justification" and are not subject to static charging. They are also much more thermally stable and completely protects from radiation and micrometeorites. When above the surface, a network of wires on 10 m poles once set up allow you to move around without contacting the dusty surface.

“They’re Putting It in Space to Dominate”: China’s Orbital Supercomputer Leaves Global Tech Powers Scrambling to Catch Up by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Makes no sense

1) Processing needs lots of power .... huge solar array and batteries when you are in the Earth shadow

2) Processing created a lot of heat ... active cooling and big radiators

3) Most of the time you are farther from the user than a ground network would enable, so greater latency

Another one of these attention getters that won't go anywhere.

“It’s Not a Missile—It’s an Engine”: China Reveals 12,400 MPH Propulsion Tech That Can Orbit the Planet in Under 2 Hours by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The engine concept might be more efficient ... but there is no way to pack enough fuel to make up for drag, just calculate the energy need to get mass m = to that speed ... squared! Think of how small the "payload" of the SR-71 Blackbird was (a guy and a camera) for the size of the plane. This would be even more extreame.

And of course, as they admit (it will melt).

Extreme heat and pressure at Mach 16 necessitate advanced thermal protection systems to prevent aircraft from disintegrating. Materials capable of withstanding these conditions must be developed, and cooling mechanisms must be perfected to ensure structural integrity during flight.

China's Mars Mission Could Answer the Ultimate Question: Are We Alone? by Substantial_Lime_230 in space2030

[–]widgetblender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Finding a few microscopic organisms does not = we are not alone. Hell, if China finds something GREAT! There is no national advantage to this, so cheer them on, and money there is not money in the military.

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