Posted on 01/21/2018 2:49:21 PM PST by ckilmer
I don’t think so!
I used one of them once as a kid...and being a kid did it longer than I should have. All of the skin peeled off the bottom of my feet about a week later. Heard the shoe salesman died of cancer, too.
I am sure NASA has an attitude adjustment under President Trump. The problem is who is going to pay for space exploration.
They’ll have plenty of time to make a better reactor in the 60 or 70 years we have before we go to Mars. Anyone who thinks the current NASA is capable of doing it before then dosn’t know NASA.
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NASA is talking about doing it in the 2030’s.
More likely Musk’s team will get there first.
I think the plan is to send multiple reactors in case on gives out or goes bad.
Exactly. They are talking about it. Without a sustained major influx of talent and resources, particularly cash, talking is all they will do.
the lftr thorium reactors are walk away safe —however I don’t know how small they are are. I do know that they can be made small enough to fit on a flatbed trailer.
Last month President Trump told NASA:
“The United States will work with other nations and private industry to return astronauts to the Moon, developing the technology and means for manned exploration of Mars and other destinations in the Solar System,” the White House said in a statement.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-tells-nasa-to-return-to-the-moon/
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
Interesting. Had you heard about this?
The mini-nuclear power plant industry has reactor units about the size of a backyard tool shed producing about 25 MW of electricity; or enough for about 25,000 homes. They are designed to be able to be modular and as needed chained together to scale to the demand needed.
This concept is great for putting vehicles on the moon and Mars. More power means greater range and speed for the vehicles that explore the surface and more power for many scientific instruments of discovery. This is good.
At our present point of ability to lift huge payloads to Mars and the Moon I am very much opposed to manned flight. Much of the payload would be simply that to maintain the humans on board. Each pound lofted costs many thousands of dollars. With non human flights all this payload would be devoted to science.
In the far future as technology reduces the cost of lifting maned flight to the moon and Mars manned flight is a reasonable option. Today that is not a reasonable econmic option.
The Apollo program was a technological and engineering feat of greatness. There was nothing that we could not have done at a fraction of the cost with robotic missions. Apollo was a political mission and I am glad we did it. It was not good science. However to see the first footprint on the Moon from an American boot was worth the cost.
So do I at a Kenny Shoes Couth of Detroit. They were advertised as the smartest and best.
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