Episode 35: Lift Off (00:45:40)
We love space. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s so exciting- it’s the final frontier, it’s the future of the destiny of humankind- and we all want to float around and eat space ice cream, right? But there is a big problem with space– getting there. For the past 50 years we’ve been pushing ourselves off the earth using loud, dirty, expensive bombs strapped to nozzles– and it’s made space travel a political, economic, and harrowing adventure.
We need new ways of getting into space, and there are a few new ideas floating out there right now. So in a Zipline Show nod to the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, we discuss a few- including ramjets, ion thrusters, nuclear propulsion, maglifters, space elevators, and beam propulsion. Sure we’re not rocket scientists (unless you count building and launching your own model rockets)– but we love this stuff, and hopefully our excitement shows!
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2 comments
Justin says:
June 10, 2011 at 11:21 pm (UTC -4)
Maybe Hollywood was right. We are a parasite and once we consume this world we will find ways to consume others.
Will says:
June 15, 2011 at 2:58 am (UTC -4)
That’s probably what we’ll do. I mean, unless we can find a way to make rare materials from abundant materials, it’ll be a necessity. Heck, even if we could use water to make steel or some such, we’d still run out of water eventually!