Real Life Star Trek: DARPA Rewards VULCAN Engine Contracts
Filed under: Future Weapons, Outer Space, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Future
Right before the release of J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency kicks off their VULCAN Engine Program by rewarding four contractors with funding to begin first phase development of the proposed super engine system.
When we hear the word Vulcan, our thoughts wander to the Star Trek character Spock, his home planet, and his people. The VULCAN Engine Program is appropriately named since it is a “propulsion system demonstration effort to design, build, and ground-test an engine capable of accelerating a full-scale hypersonic vehicle from rest to Mach 4+.”
This could be our first steps towards a “warp drive” propulsion system like the one that propels the Enterprise across vast distances in space.
Read the DARPA News Release here (via DARPA’s news room.)
Why We Need a Space Elevator Now.
Filed under: Outer Space, Science, Science Fiction, Technology
Are Space Elevators the Answer to Economic Troubles?
Besides the obvious reason of establishing geostationary satellite space cities, we need a space elevator immediately to get rid of our bad debt.
Economist Sara Auffenbach states that currently there is no cost effective way to get our bad debt off of the planet, and as long as it is here we will continue a vicious cycle of deficit spending. “The proposed government bailout by the Bush administration is useless,” says Auffenbach, “as long as our bad debt remains on the planet.”
Space elevators, like the one proposed by scientists in Japan, will greatly reduce the cost of space travel. Therefore, Auffenbach is proposing that we use the $700 billion bailout to build space elevators all over the planet. People will then be able to literally jettison toxic assets into space so they might be forgotten for good.
Scientists say a space elevator could be built for as little as $9 billion. So, with the money from the proposed bailout we could build approximately 77 space elevators all over the globe. Besides ridding us of our bad debt, they’ll also lead to the economic development of outer space.
When Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin was asked for specific thoughts she had on the subject, she simply responded with this: “I’ll try to find you some examples and bring them to ya.” This is similar to comments she recently made in an interview with Katie Couric (which you can watch here.)
Read about plans for a space elevator at vnunet.com.