Okay so today I am reviewing chapter six of Michio Kaku's Physics of the Future(ISBN 978-0-385-53080-4), and the topic is Future of Space Travel. Many space programs search the heavens for planets that can support life. They do this with robot rockets, and telescopes. But they dream of sending humans that far into space. The closest life supporting planet to Earth is Europa. Actually, Europa is a moon of Jupiter. Friction from gravity lets the ice on Europa melt into water.
Scientists also want to go on a mission to Mars. There is 2 problems with it. One weightlessness means loss of muscle and bone. This will make a person very weak to do any task on Mars. By spinning the shuttle really quickly, artificial gravity can be created, but will take a lot of energy. Another problem is it will take more than 2 years for the whole trip, so permanent Mars bases will have to be created. This is called terraforming or the turning of a lifeless place into something habitable.
Another possibility is melting the ice on Mars to create huge pools of water. Small plants like algae could live in this and naturally over a course of a decade, terraform mars into iron-rich nutrient soil. This would be enough to support small plants. Over a course of time the plants will produce oxygen out of the carbon-dioxide which would be our breathable air.
Private businessmen and billionaires have worked on create a couple of personalized spaceships for vacation in the highest atmosphere. They start out on an airplane, going on till there is not enough air for the airplane to fly on. Then the spaceship lifts off. This process conserves necessary fuel for the trip back.
Another idea uses a space elevator. This elevator would take you to space, just a little bit below the moon's orbit. To make an elevator strong enough to resist gravity and be higher than the strength of steel there has been one possible choice to make the cable wire out of. Carbon nanotubes. When you have carbon like charcoal or coal, and you compressed it into a cube lattice structure, it becomes diamond, super hard in its structure. But when you arrange the carbon into small circular nano sized tubes they become even stronger. This is one of the unique abilities of carbon. The process of doing this work is however, very tedious. In the end it will be worth it.
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| Europa at a Surface Level Animated Image |
Another possibility is melting the ice on Mars to create huge pools of water. Small plants like algae could live in this and naturally over a course of a decade, terraform mars into iron-rich nutrient soil. This would be enough to support small plants. Over a course of time the plants will produce oxygen out of the carbon-dioxide which would be our breathable air.
Private businessmen and billionaires have worked on create a couple of personalized spaceships for vacation in the highest atmosphere. They start out on an airplane, going on till there is not enough air for the airplane to fly on. Then the spaceship lifts off. This process conserves necessary fuel for the trip back.
Another idea uses a space elevator. This elevator would take you to space, just a little bit below the moon's orbit. To make an elevator strong enough to resist gravity and be higher than the strength of steel there has been one possible choice to make the cable wire out of. Carbon nanotubes. When you have carbon like charcoal or coal, and you compressed it into a cube lattice structure, it becomes diamond, super hard in its structure. But when you arrange the carbon into small circular nano sized tubes they become even stronger. This is one of the unique abilities of carbon. The process of doing this work is however, very tedious. In the end it will be worth it.
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| Carbon Nanotubes Thinner Structure than A Human Hair |
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