Skip to comments.
New Space Shield May Help Make Mars Mission Reality
National Geographic ^
| 03/23/07
| Richard A. Lovett
Posted on 03/25/2007 3:30:26 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Scientists working toward a manned Mars mission say they're closing in on a new, high-tech material that can shield astronauts from deadly deep-space radiation.
Known as graphite nanofiber, the new material would be much lighter than the dense materials used on Earth as radiation shielding in nuclear power plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: mars; radiationshielding; space
Next is getting there faster....
To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; anymouse; NonZeroSum; jimkress; discostu; The_Victor; ...
2
posted on
03/25/2007 3:31:16 PM PDT
by
KevinDavis
(?To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual ways of preserving peace? ?)
To: KevinDavis
"Of course, it's not possible to build spaceship walls from hydrogen. But it is possible to build superstrong materials from graphite nanofiber, then enrich them with trapped hydrogen" Interesting.
3
posted on
03/25/2007 3:51:20 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
To: KevinDavis
They had mentioned this miracle fiber shield a couple years ago, right here on FR.
4
posted on
03/25/2007 3:52:42 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Treaty rules;commerce droolz; Repeal the Treaty)
To: KevinDavis
An updated NERVA style drive with a big fuel tank. Mars has tons of water to refuel there.
To: nuke rocketeer; All
6
posted on
03/25/2007 3:58:08 PM PDT
by
KevinDavis
(?To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual ways of preserving peace? ?)
To: KevinDavis
Radiation is the challenge without a doubt.
To: KevinDavis
8
posted on
03/25/2007 8:54:51 PM PDT
by
Red Steel
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson