Space-based solar energy has a lot of potential, and could be the solution to the ever-growing demand for energy in the world. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62636746
How solar farms in space might beam electricity to Earth
Not a new material but is likely to be used for countless applications in the future. Great ideas will come out of these buckyball sheets I guess. Bring it on.
Cool. “Our biggest current challenge is embedding these smart sensors into a flexible and compliant material that can expand as the modules are inflated in space,” Kim says.
Sensors in Space: Keeping Astronauts Safe in Inflatable Habitats
At first, inflatable habitats in orbit around Earth may sound like a dangerous idea, given that the vacuum of space is littered with, as NASA says, “millions of pieces of human-made debris or space junk consisting mainly of fragmented rocket bodies and spacecraft parts created by 50 years of explo... Read more
Now that sounds like a good application for buckypaper. According to this it can be used as a lightweight heat shield that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds.
Carbon nanotubes key to next-gen heat shields for hypersonic aircraft
A team of scientists at Florida State University’s High-Performance Materials Institute is using advanced nanomaterials to produce lightweight heat shields that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds. Based on sheets of carbon nanotubes called “buckypaper,” the new experimental shield... Read more
The idea sounds great, but how safe is it? Besides increasing the amount of space junk, could beaming energy to earth be dangerous?
Space-based solar energy stations might be closer to reality than we think! Various countries around the world are already investing in such projects.
While a great idea in theory, there are many technical challenges involved, top among them being the cost of launching the solar farms into orbit.
Besides offering unlimited energy that can be harvested day and night, space solar farms can also lead to significant reduction in carbon emissions.
Space-based solar energy has a lot of potential, and could be the solution to the ever-growing demand for energy in the world.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62636746
Not a new material but is likely to be used for countless applications in the future. Great ideas will come out of these buckyball sheets I guess. Bring it on.
Cool. “Our biggest current challenge is embedding these smart sensors into a flexible and compliant material that can expand as the modules are inflated in space,” Kim says.
Now that sounds like a good application for buckypaper. According to this it can be used as a lightweight heat shield that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds.
Done! Got plenty enough crowdfunders and launched prototype a while back.
I saw this one too, it notifies you when you can see the ISS or at least it lights up when it is nearby. Looks good.
Not sure about the app but you can buy this lamp which lights up when the ISS is above you.