This new explosive seems like it would be great for making better rockets of the project Orion type. Cleaner than nuclear fission but still with energy density 1000 times higher than chemical. Scalable to smaller explosions (So a smaller scale rocket could be taken up to orbit). Seems like a very finely controlled hafnium injection system could be made with X-Ray ignition.
The purchasing power in this specific case is how much the russians had to be paid to buy their Soyuz technology. The Russians have accepted payment in truckloads of Chinese produced products before, but I would guess in this case they wanted some hard currency. But probably not that much relative to the cost of development. I would guess in the range of USD500M to 2 Billion. For development that would have cost USD7-12Billion in the US (just for the launch system and more for the manned capsule tech and probably did cost the Russians more to develop)
The internal China costs are how much China pays for its own space tech engineers. Probably 1/2 to 1/5 the cost of Nasa engineers.
Here is a site with specs comparing different launch vehicles. http://www.spaceandtech.com/spacedata/e lvs/soyuz_s pecs.shtml
The new longmarch 2E and 2F http://www.cgwic.com/launch/vehicles-3.htm ar e comparable to the Atlas IV, Delta IV and Soyuz in launch capability. The costs for launching the Atlas and Delta have been 2-3 times more than the Soyuz and LongMarch. http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technolo gy / tlas_delta_020320-2.html
With the chinese program being a more robustly funded program than what the Russians have had. It appears that the Chinese have and will be able to use a combo of internal development to get a manned program and well funded Mir-like station (perhaps even a more advanced version) at a fraction of the cost of the ISS and Mir.
Yes, there are military applications, motivations and political reasons, but the Chinese appear to be close to getting the most economically obtained manned program.
If they can meet objectives they will get 100% time on on a 3-4 person new Mir like station in about 2005 for an estimated $4-6Billion. I think some of the ISS partners would be willing to make a trade their 0.5%-3% of ISS time for the same. Plus they have launch systems that are far more reliable and capable than what they had before. They will be able to launch there own and other business satellites (as well as their own military ones).
The main lesson should be that for space development a steady commitment, prudent economic choices and using what works is better than pushing technology and choices that do not make sense. (Shuttle - expensive tech for re-use when that re-use choice did not save money, ISS- making a station involving dozens of launches to assemble over many years).
A better managed program, steady long-term commitment and buying affordable tech is the way to go.
Read the PDF's at the institute for soldier nanotech.
The emphasis of the research program is on technology for enhancing the uniform and personal equipment. Communications, surviability, sustainability, mobility and lethality.
Currently soldiers carry about 92lbs of equipment and weapons, then add another 30lbs for food and water.
They are looking for lighter body armor with integrated sensors and built in air flow cooling. Yet that provides filtering to protect against biological and chemical attacks. Some of this will be nanotech materials (carbon nanotubes and ceramics for stronger, yet lighter armor) and other parts will be MEMS or regular radio, sensors and displays.
They want to be able to attack beyond line of sight and provide a further integrated group of soldiers (extending the communication and integration of todays soldiers, tanks, planes and satellites)
They want an integrated hydration and waste elimination system, so that the uniform, body armor would let the soldier keep fighting without being slowed to attend to bodily functions.
The midterm goals (5yrs) are to have body armor that is 5-10 times better than current armor, provide biological/chem protection and sensors, and have all the gear weigh about 30-60lbs instead of 90-120lbs, provide more comfort under harsh conditions, help reduce effect of injuries (detecting wounds and applying medication and reduce bleeding), helmet displays and better communications and info, better camoflage and reduced heat signature, light weight and lowre lasting power sources (micro-turbines, fuel cells).
They were also looking for ways to improve the mobility of the entire force (soldiers, lighter tanks etc...). Being able to deliver more soldiers more quickly to the target location and having them ready to fight right away.
They were also looking to make field bases mobile. Smart armored personal carriers moving at 40mph would replace stationary field bases.
For lethatlity, they are looking at direct and indirect engagement, less than lethal engagement, target detection/recognition, synchronization of fire, target handoff, ID friendly/enemy/noncombatants, target designation.
Midterm goal looks similar to but better than the marines in the movie Aliens. (video communication for everyone, protection from chem and bio)
The long term goals that they will also be researching are artificial muscles and other enhancements that have already been highlighted as having more anime-like characteristics.
It is about integrating advanced individual components into systems for maximizing the effectiveness of each soldier and the combined effectiveness of many soldiers.
The long term goals begin to look like some anime, comic book and star ship trooper concepts.
The current president and VP are the most receptive leaders to nuclear power that we have seen. But large scale use of nuclear power in space is still not likely for the US. China maybe ?
However, there are many interesting ideas for improved propulsion that are being funded and prototypes are being produced for some ideas that are doable with todays technology.
Quick summary: -Most of the better ideas involve solar and magnetic sails and beamed power. Some also use solar gravity assist maneuvers. -many interesting methods for making beamed power to achieve significant.1c possible with more achievable lasers (200MW) and sub-km size optics -magnetic sails can break against the solar wind of a target star. -close gravity slingshots to the sun, carbon-carbon shields to within 1.4Million km (4 solar radii), would provide speed boost of 100km/s. -Any deep space probe needs to use radioactive power sources
To see some studies of what is being considered as possible breakthroughs check out: http://www.niac.usra.edu/studies/study_master.j sp? action=Advanced_Propulsion&rsnum=null&lastDisp=nul l
The most promising near term possibility is M2P2. (It has cost less than $1M to demo the a system in the lab and could be Space Technology mission 7 for the New Millenium missions - less than $200M and within 3 yrs.) The M2P2 system utilizes low energy plasma to inflate a magnetic field beyond the typical scale lengths that can be supported by a standard solenoid magnetic field coil. In space, the inflated magnetic field can be used to reflect high-speed (400 - 1000 km/s) solar wind particles to attain unprecedented acceleration for power input of only a few kW, which can be achieved by solar electric units. Initial estimates for a minimum system could provide a typical thrust of about 3 Newton continuous (0.6 MW of continuous power, from intercepted solar wind), with a specific impulse of 10K to 100K seconds) to produce an increase in speed of about 30 km/s in a period of 3 months. Proposed optimization could allow the development of a system that increases the acceleration level obtained with less expenditure of fuel. The optimized system could enable a mission that would leave the solar system.
They have working prototypes in the lab. The follow on systems would likely use a nuclear power source to maintain the magnetic field for multi-year durations and acceleration to 1000km/s. Plus
Hoppy Price, manager of solar sail tech development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, sits on a committee that evaluates technology proposals for New Millennium missions. "It's a neat concept," he said of M2P2. "It has a lot of potential but it's also very early in the research phase." "Most of the solar sail technologies we are looking at now are at tech readiness level four, which means we have some laboratory demonstrations of the technology," he said. M2P2 is at a lower level of readiness for the moment, he said, although fast development of prototypes and testing could make it available for use in some of the approaching New Millennium missions, such as Space Technology 7. http://www.niac.usra.edu/studies/study_master. jsp? action=Advanced_Propulsion&rsnum=null&lastDisp=nul l http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technol ogy/m2p2_winglee_010621.html
ABC Nightly news (Nov 3 or 4) had video with interviews of Mark Reed and James Tour. They showed what looked like an animated video of the HP picture of a molecular wire shown in the Progress report article. They had the quote about making molecular computers becoming as simple as making photographic film. Transcripts may become available http://abcnews.go.com/onair/worldnewstonight/trans cripts/wnt_transcripts_index.html ABC news could also be contacted. Here is a link to a good paper by others working in the field of molecular computing. http://www.mitre.org/technology/nanotech/Arch_for_ MolecElec_Comp_1.html
Slashdot Mirror
This new explosive seems like it would be great for making better rockets of the project Orion type. Cleaner than nuclear fission but still with energy density 1000 times higher than chemical. Scalable to smaller explosions (So a smaller scale rocket could be taken up to orbit). Seems like a very finely controlled hafnium injection system could be made with X-Ray ignition.
The purchasing power in this specific case is how much the russians had to be paid to buy their Soyuz technology. The Russians have accepted payment in truckloads of Chinese produced products before, but I would guess in this case they wanted some hard currency. But probably not that much relative to the cost of development. I would guess in the range of USD500M to 2 Billion. For development that would have cost USD7-12Billion in the US (just for the launch system and more for the manned capsule tech and probably did cost the Russians more to develop)
e lvs/soyuz_s pecs.shtml
r e comparable to the Atlas IV, Delta IV and Soyuz in launch capability. The costs for launching the Atlas and Delta have been 2-3 times more than the Soyuz and LongMarch. o gy / tlas_delta_020320-2.html
The internal China costs are how much China pays for its own space tech engineers. Probably 1/2 to 1/5 the cost of Nasa engineers.
Here is a site with specs comparing different launch vehicles.
http://www.spaceandtech.com/spacedata/
The new longmarch 2E and 2F
http://www.cgwic.com/launch/vehicles-3.htm
a
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technol
With the chinese program being a more robustly funded program than what the Russians have had. It appears that the Chinese have and will be able to use a combo of internal development to get a manned program and well funded Mir-like station (perhaps even a more advanced version) at a fraction of the cost of the ISS and Mir.
Yes, there are military applications, motivations and political reasons, but the Chinese appear to be close to getting the most economically obtained manned program.
If they can meet objectives they will get 100% time on on a 3-4 person new Mir like station in about 2005 for an estimated $4-6Billion. I think some of the ISS partners would be willing to make a trade their 0.5%-3% of ISS time for the same.
Plus they have launch systems that are far more reliable and capable than what they had before. They will be able to launch there own and other business satellites (as well as their own military ones).
The main lesson should be that for space development a steady commitment, prudent economic choices and using what works is better than pushing technology and choices that do not make sense. (Shuttle - expensive tech for re-use when that re-use choice did not save money, ISS- making a station involving dozens of launches to assemble over many years).
A better managed program, steady long-term commitment and buying affordable tech is the way to go.
Read the PDF's at the institute for soldier nanotech.
The emphasis of the research program is on technology for enhancing the uniform and personal equipment. Communications, surviability, sustainability, mobility and lethality.
Currently soldiers carry about 92lbs of equipment and weapons, then add another 30lbs for food and water.
They are looking for lighter body armor with integrated sensors and built in air flow cooling. Yet that provides filtering to protect against biological and chemical attacks. Some of this will be nanotech materials (carbon nanotubes and ceramics for stronger, yet lighter armor) and other parts will be MEMS or regular radio, sensors and displays.
They want to be able to attack beyond line of sight and provide a further integrated group of soldiers (extending the communication and integration of todays soldiers, tanks, planes and satellites)
They want an integrated hydration and waste elimination system, so that the uniform, body armor would let the soldier keep fighting without being slowed to attend to bodily functions.
The midterm goals (5yrs) are to have body armor that is 5-10 times better than current armor, provide biological/chem protection and sensors, and have all the gear weigh about 30-60lbs instead of 90-120lbs, provide more comfort under harsh conditions, help reduce effect of injuries (detecting wounds and applying medication and reduce bleeding), helmet displays and better communications and info, better camoflage and reduced heat signature, light weight and lowre lasting power sources (micro-turbines, fuel cells).
They were also looking for ways to improve the mobility of the entire force (soldiers, lighter tanks etc...). Being able to deliver more soldiers more quickly to the target location and having them ready to fight right away.
They were also looking to make field bases mobile. Smart armored personal carriers moving at 40mph would replace stationary field bases.
For lethatlity, they are looking at direct and indirect engagement, less than lethal engagement, target detection/recognition, synchronization of fire, target handoff, ID friendly/enemy/noncombatants, target designation.
Midterm goal looks similar to but better than the marines in the movie Aliens. (video communication for everyone, protection from chem and bio)
The long term goals that they will also be researching are artificial muscles and other enhancements that have already been highlighted as having more anime-like characteristics.
It is about integrating advanced individual components into systems for maximizing the effectiveness of each soldier and the combined effectiveness of many soldiers.
The long term goals begin to look like some anime, comic book and star ship trooper concepts.
The current president and VP are the most receptive leaders to nuclear power that we have seen. But large scale use of nuclear power in space is still not likely for the US. China maybe ?
.1c possible with more achievable lasers (200MW) and sub-km size optics
:j sp? action=Advanced_Propulsion&rsnum=null&lastDisp=nul l
. jsp? action=Advanced_Propulsion&rsnum=null&lastDisp=nul ll ogy /m2p2_winglee_010621.html
However, there are many interesting ideas for improved propulsion that are being funded and prototypes are being produced for some ideas that are doable with todays technology.
Quick summary:
-Most of the better ideas involve solar and magnetic sails and beamed power. Some also use solar gravity assist maneuvers.
-many interesting methods for making beamed power to achieve significant
-magnetic sails can break against the solar wind of a target star.
-close gravity slingshots to the sun, carbon-carbon shields to within 1.4Million km (4 solar radii), would provide speed boost of 100km/s.
-Any deep space probe needs to use radioactive power sources
To see some studies of what is being considered as possible breakthroughs check out
http://www.niac.usra.edu/studies/study_master.
The most promising near term possibility is
M2P2. (It has cost less than $1M to demo the a system in the lab and could be Space Technology mission 7 for the New Millenium missions - less than $200M and within 3 yrs.) The M2P2 system utilizes low energy plasma to inflate a magnetic field beyond the typical scale lengths that can be supported by a standard solenoid magnetic field coil. In space, the inflated magnetic field can be used to reflect high-speed (400 - 1000 km/s) solar wind particles to attain unprecedented acceleration for power input of only a few kW, which can be achieved by solar electric units. Initial estimates for a minimum system could provide a typical thrust of about 3 Newton continuous (0.6 MW of continuous power, from intercepted solar wind), with a specific impulse of 10K to 100K seconds) to produce an increase in speed of about 30 km/s in a period of 3 months. Proposed optimization could allow the development of a system that increases the acceleration level obtained with less expenditure of fuel. The optimized system could enable a mission that would leave the solar system.
They have working prototypes in the lab. The follow on systems would likely use a nuclear power source to maintain the magnetic field for multi-year durations and acceleration to 1000km/s. Plus
Hoppy Price, manager of solar sail tech development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, sits on a committee that evaluates technology proposals for New Millennium missions.
"It's a neat concept," he said of M2P2. "It has a lot of potential but it's also very early in the research phase."
"Most of the solar sail technologies we are looking at now are at tech readiness level four, which means we have some laboratory demonstrations of the technology," he said. M2P2 is at a lower level of readiness for the moment, he said, although fast development of prototypes and testing could make it available for use in some of the approaching New Millennium missions, such as Space Technology 7.
http://www.niac.usra.edu/studies/study_master
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/techno
ABC Nightly news (Nov 3 or 4) had video with interviews of Mark Reed and James Tour. They showed what looked like an animated video of the HP picture of a molecular wire shown in the Progress report article. They had the quote about making molecular computers becoming as simple as making photographic film. Transcripts may become available http://abcnews.go.com/onair/worldnewstonight/trans cripts/wnt_transcripts_index.html ABC news could also be contacted. Here is a link to a good paper by others working in the field of molecular computing. http://www.mitre.org/technology/nanotech/Arch_for_ MolecElec_Comp_1.html