Although innovation is an important foundation for promoting space technology, some space ideas are so crazy that NASA refuses to try them. The reasons are that the cost is too high, the required technology is too tricky, or the idea is too weird. The following is a collection of space concepts compiled by foreign media that are impressive but only half the journey.
Low-cost transportation system to the moon
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TransAstronautics has proposed a project called AstraGate, which aims to establish a propellant-free transportation system between the Earth and the moon, relying solely on the energy and momentum transfer of inbound and outbound vehicles.
This project was submitted to NASA’s Innovative Advanced Program (NIAC) in 2018 and 2019, but was stuck in the second round and failed in both years. The concept and material application scale were quite large, and the feasibility was unconvincing. Set aside.
Mobile large laboratory
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In the early 1960s, NASA was preparing for the upcoming Apollo moon landing mission and was also considering various methods of exploring and investigating the lunar surface. One of the concepts was a large mobile laboratory referred to as MOLAB. In addition to being equipped with four wheels to provide mobility , can also be used as a temporary habitat and scientific laboratory for astronauts.
The MOLAB prototype manufactured by General Motors was tested in the New Mexico desert, but it weighed 3,720 kilograms and was bulky. It was not easy or cheap to send it to the moon. In the end, the prototype was loaned to the United States Geological Survey for use in mapping mineral deposits. Map and collect soil samples.
▲ Originally intended as a MOLAB mobile laboratory for exploring the moon, it was eventually loaned to the United States Geological Survey to map mineral deposits on the earth. (Source:U.S. Geological Survey）
NERVA Nuclear Thermal Rocket
From 1955 to 1973, the United States was keen on developing nuclear thermal rockets for long-term space missions. Among them, the NERVA nuclear thermal engine developed under the leadership of the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office (SNPO) once had high hopes from NASA.
At the end of 1968, SNPO completed testing of the latest model of the NERVA engine. The results showed that the NERVA engine was capable of manned missions to Mars, with a specific impulse twice that of traditional chemical rockets. The overall plan reached the stage of preparation for integration into the aircraft. However, in 1969, the NASA budget was blocked by Congress. After significant cuts, the Nixon administration further cut the 1970 budget, shut down the Saturn rocket production line, and canceled Apollo missions beyond Apollo 17.
The NERVA engine project, which lost ownership of the rocket, began to be delayed and was terminated by the Nixon administration in 1972 due to the huge cost before any flight tests could be conducted.
However, overall, the NERVA engine development process has successfully provided the basis for a nuclear propulsion system for space missions.
▲ NASA’s early attempts to develop nuclear thermal rockets. (Source:NASA）
space habitat
With the success of the Apollo mission, NASA began to turn its attention to the prospect of alien colonies, and the concepts that emerged were also very bold, such as a space habitat for 10,000 people to “work, raise families, and live a normal life.” This habitat concept will simulate gravity and allow the construction/plantation of residences, monorails, trees, grasslands, water sources and agriculture in space. It is a perfect idea, but a bit too much from a technical perspective.
Travel to the nearest star system
In 1988, NASA and the Universities Space Research Association proposed a preliminary design for a detector to explore Alpha Centauri. Nanmenmen is a three-star system 4.37 light-years away from the solar system.
In order to reach this neighbor system, it is necessary to develop an unmanned probe weighing 440 tons and spend 100 years to travel. It is also necessary to develop a number of new technologies, such as pulsed micro-explosion drives and long-lived reactors capable of outputting 300 kW power. The latter uses To transmit astrometric readings such as interstellar medium properties, stellar positions, motions, luminosity, etc.
As the name of the project emphasizes, this is a long-term goal, and the required technology is currently out of reach.
Titan Methane Sea Detector
Titan, also known as “Titan”, is the largest satellite of Saturn. It has a thick atmosphere and a liquid methane ocean, and is highly suspected of having life forms.
In 2009, Proxemy Research proposed to NASA a Titan Mare Explorer (TiME), a similar reconnaissance and pioneering mission. This proposal, estimated to cost $425 million, aims to measure Titan’s organic composition and methane cycle. , the target splashed down on the surface of Titan’s Ligeia Sea and drifted for 3 to 6 months.
▲ The Time probe to explore Titan’s methane cycle was proposed 10 years ago. (Source:Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Corby WastePublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons）
During the NASA Discovery Program entry process, the Time design entered the finals, but ultimately failed, and the InSight Mars lander stood out.
The good news is that after 10 years, the fourth mission of NASA’s New Frontiers program finally chose to explore Titan. The Dragonfly probe will be sent to land on Titan to study the extent to which the prebiotic chemical environment has evolved. It is expected to be launched in 2026 Launched, arriving in 2034.
(Source of first picture:NASA/Rick GuidicePublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons）
