Nuke rocket concepts

Alpha-Tech YouTube

You can breed Thorium in space, and then use it for your nuclear thermal energy. Seeding it into some molten salts will keep it under control, as per demonstrations done at Oak Ridge decades ago. But those in Oak Ridge were not for rockets, but possibly for airplanes.

The use of ammonia seems interesting. I would wonder about how to get the most out of it.

The concepts below aren't the only ones. There are many ways to do the same thing. The need is for a definite plan, and then to execute it.

Part II: The initial unmanned landings

Given what the previous post says, the first Starships will be unmanned, and will be equipped with semi-autonomous robots.

These bots must build out a habitat that the first humans can actually live in. That would opposed to dying in the ships, because the ships are not a place where they'd like to live for the rest of their lives.

Preferably, it would employ the strategy of in-situ resourcing. So, how does this get accomplished? Let's start with the Starships themselves. They each have a lot of interior room, but what if you want much more? You'd have to build something on the surface of Mars, and that means you don't have a lot of materials or machines to work with.

We could still use the Starships. How? Let's keep in mind that Musk wants to bring 1000 ships into service. Therefore, he can spare a bunch for this idea. That idea would be to use the Starships to build out a large space for humans to live in. How many? Let's say less than hundred of them could be used in-situ to make an enclosed area as tall as a Starship, and as thick as its diameter. The Starships would be placed around a circle that would be almost 600 feet in diameter. This would enclose an area of 50k square feet and about 150 feet tall. You can make a super large enclosed structure out of these things. But it would need a roof.

It would also need to have the gaps filled in so that it could be pressurized. It may be a challenge to get a roof on top of it. A blimp like structure that could be inflated could go over the top of the structure, and be attached to it. All gaps would be filled in, and the structure could then be pressurized.

A procedure could be employed that would allow this to be accomplished with as much speed as could be brought to bear. A number of Starships would have to be scrapped and used as metal to fill in the gaps. No more than 40 Starships could be scrapped to fill in the gaps on the outside and inside.

For good measure, an inner liner could go on the inside so that there would definitely not be any leaks.

Over time, the structure could be modified so as to improve its durability and longetivity. Once the interior is built out, then interior could be built out next. You could scavenge the remains of the Starships used for a substantial amount of metal that could used in order to complete the task.

In summary, a hundred Starships could be employed to do the job of adding millions of square feet of potential floorspace for a megabuilding the size of a sports stadium on Earth, but with many floors. It could be built out inside with materials obtained from the Martian environment. Bots could do the work before any people arrived.

A single Starship on Mars.  I forgot about the control surfaces.  They won't fit together tightly, so they'll have to be removed first.  That would complicate things a bit.

Musk's first manned missions to Mars

This post is made without the benefit of any inside knowledge about Elon Musk's plans.

In fact, it is being made without studying over his talks all that much. It is mostly speculation about his approach that isn't being talked about. Also that, it is one that some folks that haven't grasped one important point. That is this: the first settlers won't be coming back home at the earliest launch window to Earth. There is a strong possibility that they won't come back at all.

This wouldn't necessarily be a failure. It is an intention. The problem that Musk is trying to solve will be such that there cannot be a return trip, because this will impose a requirement that will complicate the process of creating a permanent presence there.

As it is being pointed out in some quarters, the need to return back will be a huge effort in itself. The removal of that as a goal will simplify their task. It will be enough for these settlers to survive for at least two launch windows on Mars. By that time, the will be so acclimated to space that the return back to Earth may be impossible physically.

For five years away from Earth will change their bodies permanently. That is, if they survive that long.

A return trip to Earth would entail a much faster ship. If it could be done with enough speed, it could be done within one launch window. This will necessitate completely different launch parameters.

So a return trip home is not going to be feasible. But a trip there in order to stay will be feasible. Or at least, more feasible.

If there's not going to be a return trip, and there will be unmanned trips, what will those first trips be like?

He will be sending his robots there to look for resources. A water source will be needed. Besides that, shelter will be needed. Living in a rocket for months at a time is enough. They need some shelter outside their spacecraft.

The first shelters may be included on the unmanned ships. The robots will set up the shelters. Those shelters will need plenty of radiation shielding.

The settlers will need to able to breathe. Some machinery will be needed to produce oxygen for breathing.

There will be a need to detoxify their immediate environment. Mars has a lot of perchlorates in its regolith. These could find their way into their living space. These will have to be removed.

Mars is very cold. There will be a need for a heat source.

The list is long. A lot of ground work will be done in this first mission. The work may not be finished before the first humans arrive. It will be a race to finish the work before the newcomers die off.

It won't be easy. In fact, it may take several attempts to get people to survive long enough to keep the enterprise going. Something to think about, eh?

With respect to solving the world's biggest problems ( by using AI)

Quote:

"An amazing future, as long as it doesn't destroy us first"

Veritasium YouTube

 

 

February 10, 2025 Quick space links

Behind the Black blog

Of these, one stands out for a post on this here speculative blog, maties.

 

There's one about high energy particles trapped in the Earth's orbit.  My speculation is in the form of a question:  Can these be mined in any significant way, such that it can be a source of water?

 

Re-purposing old aircraft carriers for launching and recovering Starships.

 

This is an interesting speculation, but not by ME. So, I'll embed it here on me speculative blog, maties.

 

Aircraft carriers are frickin' HUGE. They also stand tall above the water. Perhaps he could fasten a catch mechanism at the end of the deck, and off the side. It's tall enough to clear the water. The flames from the rocket would hit the ocean water, and just steam back up. No need to use water, cuz it's all around.

 

The retired one they are talking about is diesel powered. The nuclear powered Nimitz class carriers are getting old, so that may be a possibility in the future. Imagine using the nuclear power units to make methane out of sea water. Then, they could be self-sufficient in terms of fueling their ships.

 

 

 

 

 

The first few landings on Mars could be different

If the first few landings of Mars involves machines and not people, then that will mean that those Starships are expendable. More cargo capacity could mean that a different landing approach could be employed. Why would you need the mostly empty Starship with all those engines and fuel tanks?

The Starship's lower sections could be jettisoned, which means less mass to soft land. That means less fuel, and less powerful engines. If the idea is to land 150 tons, with a gravity well of less than 40% of Earth's, then you'd need somewhere above 60 tons thrust to set the rump Starship down gently on Mars.

A battery of SuperDracos could the job.

The fact is, I don't really like the idea of landing the Starship in the manner in which the current plan envisages. Neither do some other folks who comment upon Musk's plans. There is a suggestion for a smaller lander, but to enclose a smaller lander would make the concept less efficient. Therefore, the idea for ditching the main engines and tanks before the final approach to landing.

The current plan has already been tested on Earth. The final flip maneuver preceeds the restart of the Raptors, with the final burn down to the landing. I say that the flip could be kept, but the Raptors could be ditched, with a brief burn to get the jettisoned part out of harm's way. The SuperDracos could take over to set the ship down on the surface.

Perhaps more than 150 tons could be landed. Future manned ships could keep the flip maneuver with an entire ship setting down. The first few manned ships would be not be prepared for returning either, so a different landing technique could be prepared for that too. Perhaps the same maneuver!

If there's some infrastructure already built up, then it wouldn't be necessary to keep the lower portion of the ship anyway.

The biggest icebergs in the world

 

Are as big as some small countries. They may exist for a few years before they break apart. In the spirit of what I mentioned just recently, if you were to melt these things for water, and then send the water to areas such as Southern California, you just might be able to do it profitably. Maybe. Or maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

 

If you cannot do this, then what sense does it make to go to Mars?

 

 

Elon Musk's 66 Trillion Dollar Plan for Mars

He doesn't even need to mine Terbinium in order to pay for it.

What happens when AI knows too much?

 

Beeyond Ideas YouTube

 

Summary: Unraveling the consequences of rapid AI growth. Reaction: My hunch is that it won't happen quite the way this video says.

 

 

 

 

What resource does Greenland have that we could use?

7:23 AM:

Water

The climate doomers say that if Greenland were to melt, it would raise the level of the oceans. Why not put all of that melted ice ( aka "water") to good use? It sure seems like it could come in handy in some places, like Collyfornia.

How to do all that? Well, if you can mine the North Slope of Alaska for oil, then you can move a crap load of ice off that giant ice sheet. Melt it down, or just load it up on tankers and cruise on down to the good ol' US of A. By the time the tanker got there, the ice should be melted. Pump it out, and send it to those empty reservoirs in Collyfornia. Maybe they could put out a few fires, or something.

You can move a lot of mass with supertankers. It says that each of those things can move 550k tons at a time. That's mucho agua, senor. The cost? To move it about 2 or 3 cents per gallon. You could bottle it and sell it for a profit at that price.

8:52 AM: A supertanker can hold 500k tons, which is enough to fill the empty reservoir near the Palisades fire near L.A.

Tiny home

Would you live in one, he asks. Shoot, I lived in a travel trailer for 7 plus years. It wasn't this big.

Testing Amazon's 3 cheapest welders

Still got that 5'x8' trailer, which I could possibly use on a trip way out to yonder and back. The idea is to make it portable. There would be some welds of attach points for some boards to install at the destination. Putting it all together on site and then taking it back down when departing.

Making it portable would also make it easier to move around. I don't like the idea of putting a trailer together and then finding out that it can't take the trip.

Besides, a trailer like this needs some welding done to it anyway. Just never got around to it. Besides, I never did welding before, so I wonder what kind of job I'd do. Probably not the best, as this tends to be the pattern.