So suppose we get into space — by space pier, new private launch capabilities, or whatever. Then what? LEO is halfway to anywhere, but only halfway. Unlike the Earth, which is matter rich but energy poor, the inner solar system is the opposite — energy rich but not much matter. This ought to be a… Continue reading Solar Sailing
Let’s look at what nanotech could do — could be doing now if Feynman’s path had been taken — to make space travel more achievable and affordable — and therefore useful. It’s widely understood how lighter, stronger structures can make rockets more efficient, but that’s of limited use. The rocket equation is still a huge… Continue reading Nanotech and space travel
It is, today, just 40 years since I sat glued to a grainy black-and-white TV set and watched the Apollo astronauts land on, and then step out on, the moon. If you had asked me then, I would have assured you that by the year 2000, much less 2009, I’d have my own spaceship, or… Continue reading Space travel: utter bilge?
Just Do It It’s the 20th anniversary of the first Foresight Conference this year. Over the intervening two decades, one of the most common questions of Foresight members and supporters has been, “What can I do to help with the development of nanotech?” Foresight has had many useful programs, and encouraged development in many ways… Continue reading Feynman’s Path to Nanotech (part 10)
Scaling KSRM Design Considerations There hasn’t been a lot of work on self-replicating workcells. There’s been plenty on robotic workcells that don’t replicate, but almost all of this falls into the “more complex than what it makes” category. The basic idea goes back to Waldo: imitate a machine shop and the person servicing the machines… Continue reading Feynman’s Path to Nanotech (part 9)
Where to Start? In the last post we suggested that finding the appropriate starting point was one of the critical items to address in forming a Feynman Path roadmap, and that is true. A thorough survey of available techniques should be made, and recent advances in machining, nanomanipulation, and so forth taken advantage of. However,… Continue reading Feynman’s Path to Nanotech (part 8)
Plan of Attack The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer. (Seabees motto) There are at least two major parts to a project to implement the Feynman Path. The first is essentially to work out a roadmap for the second. In particular, Design a scalable, remotely-operated manufacturing and manipulation workstation capable of… Continue reading Feynman's Path to Nanotech (part 7)
Open Questions Taking Feynman’s Path to nanotech, or even studying it seriously, would require finding answers to a number of open questions. These questions, however, are quite important and knowing the answers will be invaluable in understanding the envelope of possibilities for future manufacturing technology. Is it in fact possible to build a compact self-replicating… Continue reading Feynman’s Path to Nanotech (part 6)
Will the stars align for space-based solar power? – Ars Technica. Nice overview of the current status. Nanotech can only help… Update: economics of space-based solar follow-on article.
WordPress seems to be queueing comments somewhere in the system and I’m not seeing them for moderation till days later sometimes — even my own! Once you have a comment approved, tho, all further comments by you should be posted automatically. (A spam control measure, as you can imagine.) Josh
