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Breakthrough: New aluminum alloy for radiation resistant spacecraft

Credits: Advanced Science Open Access / Wiley‐VCH GmbH

In space, conventional aluminum alloys tend to degrade when exposed to stellar-radiation such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections resulting in softening of the material to the point of dissolving over time. This property has ruled out aluminum as a lower mass material suitable for space structures…until now.

A new blend of aluminum has been discovered that may provide light weight radiation hardened material for protective hulls of spacecraft. The new research by Matheus A. Tunes et al.* was published in Advance Science. Using a metallurgical strategy called “crossover alloying,” the researchers combined 5xxx (AlMg) with the 7xxx (AlZn) alloy series obtaining beneficial properties of both such as high formability and high strength. The new amalgam was then age hardened to form a complex crystal structure of Mg32(Zn,Al)49 called a “T-Phase” that when subjected to heavy ion bombardment representative of stellar radiation, achieved a high degree of radiation tolerance. The results of the research show that the alloy is a promising candidate for applications in space.

* Authors of the Advance Science paper: Matheus A. Tunes, Lukas Stemper, Graeme Greaves, Peter J. Uggowitzer, Stefan Pogatscher.

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The Space Show fund raising drive

Credits: The Space Show

The Space Show – the nation’s first talk radio show focusing on increasing space commerce, advancing space science and economic development, facilitating our move to a space-faring economy which will benefit everyone on Earth – needs your help. The Space Show is hosted by Dr. David Livingston, who completed his doctoral dissertation in 2001 on the commercialization and expansion of space development. Take a moment to visit The Space Show website and read Dr. Livingston’s end of year message. Please give generously to ensure this valuable resource continues to promote, encourage, and support future global economic opportunities, scientific discoveries, and medical advances for all humankind through peaceful and cooperative ventures in outer space.

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Engineering analysis of a hybrid lunar inflatable structure

Illustration of a hybrid lunar inflatable structure. Credits: Rohith Dronadula

This month’s issue of Acta Astonautica features a rigorous engineering analysis of a hybrid lunar inflatable structure (HLIS), a habitat design that combines a collapsible rigid framework with an inflatable dome. The concept is based on a masters thesis by Rohith Dronadula under the direction of friend of SSP, Professor Haym Benaroya. Although the article is behind a paywall, SSP got permission to link a pdf of the article.

Dronadula took inspiration for the concept from the functionality of an umbrella. The design is simple in form yet robust in structural integrity. It can be autonomously launched from Earth and deployed through telepresence on the Moon. The structure is not only adaptable to most of the Moon’s habitable areas but also durable enough to withstand the extremes of lunar environments. The author recommends deployment within a lava tube and provides rigorous engineering calculations on the proposed materials and structures leading to a stable design with a safety factor of 6.

When humans go back to the moon in next few decades we will be able to survive and thrive in the harsh lunar environment by living in Dronadula HLISs.

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An interdisciplinary approach to shaping our space future

Artist’s rendering of settlements on the Moon. Credits: Taylor Herring/Samsung via Futurism.com

A melding of multiple disciplines is required for creating a positive human space future that will enable space settlement. In addition to aerospace engineering, architecture and the traditional physical sciences we associate with space exploration, the fields of sociology, philosophy, art, space law and may others will be needed. A method for integrating these fields and coordinating them across the private sector, universities and government has been developed in The Interplanetary Initiative, a pan-university venture created at Arizona State University. The innovative research model is described in a paper in the September 2020 issue of New Space. The program turns students into team leaders and collaborators, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to solve problems anticipated to be encountered as humans expand out into the solar system.

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What will it take to become a spacefaring civilization?

Artist’s concept of an O’Neill space colony. Credit: Rachel Silverman / Blue Origin

J. N. Nielsen has a theory…or four. Picking up where he left off in his previous Bound in the Shallows post on Centauri Dreams about the origins of a spacefaring civilization, Nielsen explores the possibility that the nuclear rocket or fusion power may be the indispensable transformative technology that will enable breakout of a spacefaring future. But even if we develop the capability of nuclear propulsion, it may not be sufficient. We need a “mythology” to enable humanity’s next central project. As Nielson defines it, a mythology “… is a kind of recapitulation in which the contributions of ages past—whether biological, psychological, social, or cultural—are each given their due, and these antecedents serve as a springboard to something authentically novel, something unprecedented that facilitates human beings to transcend their past and to accomplish something unprecedented.”

As happens every time, whenever I dig into Nielson’s rich writings I loose myself in a beautiful philosophical landscape of culture. Give yourself some time to ponder and absorb these insightful hypotheses on what is needed to settle the solar system and beyond…and visit his Grand Strategy: View from Oregon site for more politics, economics, warfare, religion, and philosophy with a focus on civilization which often leads to consideration of the future and space exploration.

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When will the first human be born off Earth?

Space baby. Credits: scienceabc.com

One of the biggest challenges of space settlement facing humanity is procreation off world. We simply don’t know if its possible for a baby to be carried to term in less then one gravity. There are obvious ethical considerations of simply going there and trying it out. NASA is studying the problem but until we have a variable gravity centrifuge facility in space that will enable us to determine the “gravity prescription”, it will be a while before we have an answer.

In an article in The Space Review, Fred Nadis discusses some of the medical challenges of human reproduction in space and why one company, SpaceLife Origin, who’s mission was to enable human reproduction in space decided to suspend its planned missions for “Serious ethical, safety and medical concerns …”

These medical unknowns about reproduction in any gravitational field less then 1g is the obvious attraction of O’Neill type free space settlements which provide Earth normal gravity. But the huge scale and investment necessary to build such large scale settlements puts this approach far in the future. Al Globus thinks a better way might be to start with smaller spinning habitats in low earth orbit.

Asgardia’s has a key scientific goal of facilitating the first human childbirth in space which they believe is a crucial step on humanity’s “path to immortality as a species”. In preparation for that goal, the organization is creating the first sovereign nation in space. A good introduction to their plans can be found in an interview with Dr. Lena De Winne, the Head of Administration to the Head of Nation of Asgardia, who appeared on the Space Show recently.

Artist’s impression of the first human born in space. Credits: Asgardia
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A map of the future of space enterprise

The Pathfinders’ Guide to the Space Enterprise. Credits: The Aerospace Corporation.

The Aerospace Corporation has created a visually stunning chart called “Pathfinders’ Guide to the Space Enterprise” in which they provide a glimpse into the nascent space economy based on hundreds of ideas from over 70 world-class space experts condensed into seven core themes about how the future could unfold. The analysis, which is both deep and thought provoking, identified two critical uncertainties shaping the the future of space development:

1. The degree in which space will be “commercialized.”
How much will space exploration and exploitation be designed to seed the commercial ecosystem?

2. The evolution and potential transformation of global power states.
What space-based leverage points could change the terrestrial power balance?

Their hope is to “…inspire your internal adventurer to think about how space can and will play a role in the future and how we get there.”

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The Ultraview Effect and it’s spiritual implications

Artist’s impression of the Milky Way as viewed from the Moon. Credits: Geoff Kemal Ruzgar / International Association of Astronomical Artists

Most space enthusiasts are familiar with the Overview Effect coined by Frank White which many of the astronauts who have made it to space have experienced: a spiritual cognitive shift as a result of seeing the Earth from space that increases some astronauts’ sense of connection to humanity and the universe. Now in a paper published in the journal Religions, Deana L. Weibel introduces the term “Ultraview Effect” which describes “…the parallel experience of viewing the Milky Way galaxy from the Moon’s orbit … that can result in strong convictions about the prevalence of life in the universe or even unorthodox beliefs about the origins of humanity.”

Weibel conducted extensive research based mainly on astronauts’ first-person writings, historical documents, and her own ethnographic interviews with nine astronauts conducted between 2004 and 2020. She explores a hypothesis that through space exploration, humanity’s increased awareness of “hyperobjects” such as our planet from space or our galaxy from the Moon, have the potential to be socially beneficial. This could lead to better collaboration, heightened creativity and set us on a more hopeful path for eventual space settlement.

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EBIOS: toward closed-loop life support for space settlement

Artist rendering of EBIOS Experimental BIOregenerative Station. Credits: Interstellar Lab

Interstellar Lab has a mission to help build a future full of life on earth and beyond. To get started, the company plans modular villages on Earth designed as sealed facilities with environmental control and life support systems. EBIOS space-inspired communities will combine architecture, engineering, product design along with international collaboration in environmental science, agriculture, biochemistry, psychology and other disciplines. Each EBIOS will be a hospitality science center open to the public as well as scientists to facilitate awareness and needed research for self-sustaining space settlements. The company is developing methods and simulation software for integrated food production, water and waste systems to support human life in any environment.

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NEO Robotic Friend for crewed asteroid reconnaissance

The crewed asteroid exploration vehicle NEO Robotic Friend in two different operational modes. Credits: Luca Levrino, et al.*

In a paper presented at the 65th International Astronautical Congress, Toronto, Canada in 2014 and posted to Acedemia.edu, a team of students* from Italy and Germany discuss an innovative small unpressurised vehicle designed for mobility and maximization of human agility for safe crewed exploration of near earth asteroids (NEA). They named their brainchild NEA Robotic Friend (NRF).

Though conceived when NASA was focused on the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) architecture with the emphasis on developing technology to expand beyond the Moon toward eventual missions to Mars, the NRF could have practical applications in the next phase of space settlement when humans have established a beachhead on the moon and are ready push out into the solar system.

The vehicle was designed to enable safe human proximity EVA operations around a NEA independent of the type of asteroid. Another primary design objective was to investigate, test and validate the use of key technologies for deep space exploration including the ability to collect surface and core samples storing them so that they could be analyzed on Earth. Finally, the platform was envisioned to have the ability to perform in-situ experiments, with real-time data analysis.

* The reference paper was the result of a project within the Alta Scuola Politecnica, joining together students from Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano. The authors are Luca Levrino, Chiara Gastaldi and Maria Antonietta Viscio from Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Alessandro Ciani, Margherita Censi, Alessandro Cingoli, and Paolo Maggiore from Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Ricardo Repenning from Technische Universität München, Germany