The most important issue that must be solved in space exploration area

[teodor88]

What are the most important issues we have now in the space exploration area? As we can see now space explorations are developing very rapidly and doing this, it causes a lot of issues to solve. Humans have a lot of stuff to figure out to get closer to a particular purpose and which one do you consider is the most important and must be solved the first?

 

[K9Buck]

If memory serves, humans are not built to stay in a zero-gravity setting for long. Physiological things begin happening and not in a good way. I believe this is a challenge that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

 

[there4eyeM]

The enormous expenditure of energy and capital to leave the atmosphere begs the question of benefit as a result. Until revolutionary advancements in this area are achieved, doing any more than launching essential satellites and such is ridiculous.

 

[K9Buck]

The enormous expenditure of energy and capital to leave the atmosphere begs the question of benefit as a result. Until revolutionary advancements in this area are achieved, doing any more than launching essential satellites and such is ridiculous.

I think you're right. It's sort of like how people tried to fly before the invention of the combustion engine.

 

[candycorn]

What are the most important issues we have now in the space exploration area? As we can see now space explorations are developing very rapidly and doing this, it causes a lot of issues to solve. Humans have a lot of stuff to figure out to get closer to a particular purpose and which one do you consider is the most important and must be solved the first?

Not sure if it is the "most important" issue but one huge hurdle I see is the same issues we had during westward expansion. The Pony Express had way stations to aid riders along it's route across the continent. We have no such infrastructure in our galactic continent. We need to put some up there. Once you have the infrastructure in place; then you can seriously think about going to Mars and setting up some sort of commercial presence in outer space.

 

[alang1216]

What are the most important issues we have now in the space exploration area? As we can see now space explorations are developing very rapidly and doing this, it causes a lot of issues to solve. Humans have a lot of stuff to figure out to get closer to a particular purpose and which one do you consider is the most important and must be solved the first?

We need to develop a Space Elevator before we can get ourselves off this planet in any numbers.

 

[K9Buck]

We need to develop a Space Elevator before we can get ourselves off this planet in any numbers.

You guys go ahead. I'll stay behind and guard Earth.

 

[teodor88]

I wanna say that space agencies all around the globe faced with one significant issue related to space debris. We now close to cascade effect that means a high chance of collisions with spacecraft. The big number of space junk can damage expensive spacecrafts

 

[james bond]

I was disappointed to find we can't travel fast enough to get very far into the future, i.e. travel to outer space and come back to Earth very fast near speed of light.



How about colonizing space and vacationing in space stations?

 

[teodor88]

Also it be known as ‘Kessler syndrome’, which represents a state where the object density is so high that one collision is enough to generate a cascade effect, leading to further collisions. That is why it would be rather significant to deal with the space debris issue. The Clearspace-1 satellite, or ‘The Claw’, represents the first step towards a clean space environment. It`s the first space debris removal dedicated mission. I guess such kind of mission and space technology must be developed in order to clean Earth` orbit from different kinds of junk. You may find more information by using this source

 

[sear]

t8 #1

It seems the premise, explicit or not, is interstellar space travel. Even if there were an Earth-sized globe out there, free floating in space, even if we sent a mission there, not much point. It would be too cold without a star. The mission would have to bring with it all the food & fuel it would need. And over such distances that would be years worth. That's not practical. And why bother? We already have it here. What benefit to sending it out there, to planet Frick-in-Freezin'?

K9 #2 is correct. BUT !!
Einstein himself opined: the forces of gravity & acceleration are indistinguishable, and therefore identical.
Two spheres tethered to one another by cable, rotating about the cable mid-point at 1G could solve that. Other configurations, a dog-bone design, with a tunnel connecting them. Ring or wagon wheel designs have also been proposed.

BUT !!

Due to relativity, & the vast distances of interstellar space, such journey would take a long time.
A thrust / fuel combination to enable constant 1G acceleration to the half-way point, and 1G deceleration the second half might seem sensible. But we have no such technology, and none expected.

There are additional issues.
Space debris is a substantial issue. A tiny fragment from an exploded star the size of a grape might skuttle such mission. But fragments the size of a golf ball, brick, or Buick may be nearly as common.
Smash into an SUV-sized chunk of iron at half the speed of light (SOL) and a roll of duct tape isn't going to help.
For localized space such as low Earth Orbit (LEO) we can & do map debris.
That may not be practical over interstellar distance.
But even if we could identify them sufficiently in advance to avoid them, maneuvering thrust would take fuel, likely to be in critically short supply on such voyage.

The sanity check of course is, if such travel were possible, why haven't we found any E.T.s boasting about it?
It doesn't mean their civilizations are not out there. It may mean such mission would simply be too $costly, with little to any pay-off.

Nope.
For the foreseeable future, it's a nonsense sci-fi scenario. A fantasy.

 

[rightwinger]

If memory serves, humans are not built to stay in a zero-gravity setting for long. Physiological things begin happening and not in a good way. I believe this is a challenge that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

The answer is to not send humans into space for extended periods.

The answer is R2D2 not Buck Rogers

 

[alang1216]

We need to develop a Space Elevator before we can get ourselves off this planet in any numbers.

You guys go ahead. I'll stay behind and guard Earth.

You yes, humanity, no. I think it will play out like the colonization of the US. Adventurers will go first but return. Religious groups that want complete control of their lives will go next (e.g., Mormons or ISIS) but not return. Merchants and miners will be next followed by the disenfranchised and disenchanted who will stay for long periods.

 

[teodor88]

I was disappointed to find we can't travel fast enough to get very far into the future, i.e. travel to outer space and come back to Earth very fast near speed of light.



How about colonizing space and vacationing in space stations?

If we could travel in space with the speed of light, we would open a lot of stuff. For example, we could travel in other galaxies and probably find ``the second Earth`` or some forms of life ( probably even intelligent ) But still, we can only assume and dream( It will take decades and decades to invent such a space craft. Our space technologies are so far back from inventing it.

 

[james bond]

If we could travel in space with the speed of light, we would open a lot of stuff. For example, we could travel in other galaxies and probably find ``the second Earth`` or some forms of life ( probably even intelligent ) But still, we can only assume and dream( It will take decades and decades to invent such a space craft. Our space technologies are so far back from inventing it.

e=mv2 (squared) doesn't seem as interesting. It's our upper limit for now. We'll have to see if human exploration of Mars leads to anything interesting.

 

[alang1216]

e=mv2 (squared) doesn't seem as interesting. It's our upper limit for now. We'll have to see if human exploration of Mars leads to anything interesting.

I wouldn't bet on it. Space is no place for man, it is man's machines that will explore and find the things of interest. Man went to the moon and found little that was not already known.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Speed is the biggest problem.
That and suspended animation.

 

[sear]

The answer is R2D2 not Buck Rogers

Totally

What was the question?

 

[sear]

the biggest problem ... suspended animation.

Indeed.
I consider suspended animation as a means to render a non-survivable journey survivable, will forever exist only in sci-fi.

I agree with you it would be a gargantuan benefit to such enterprise.
But in practical terms even bears can't stay in hibernation long. Not long enough to get them to Proxima Centuri.

I believe the major obstruction is public funding. It's simply too expensive for one planet to afford. And in most scenarios, there's negligible pay-off for those left behind.

 

[Wuwei]

I think if we are to put a small group of scientists on mars it would probably be for a few weeks. Why go all that way just to collect a few rocks, plant a flag and leave, as was done in the first Apollo mission.

I would think it best to send one or more unmanned flights to drop off enough food, water, minimal housing and also a return rocket. Then the manned trip would not be burdened with all that heavy equipment and could go at a much higher speed. There would be a lighter safer landing and they would have everything they need.

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