Next generation ships

[grooble]

Anyone want to speculate on what kind of ships we will be designing 30 years from now? Will cheap SSTO craft be possible, carrying 100s of passengers?<br /><br />What do you think it will be like?

 

[le3119]

By the mid 2030s, we should have lighter materials, some inflatable and self-repairing "skins" for our ships, nuclear drive systems, probably based on fission (like VASIMR), and maybe antimatter but still in the beta-stage. Lunar access should be relatively easy and cheap, I'm sure that robotic explorers will be doing most of the science in the outer solar system, leaving humans to focus on the Moon and Mars. If a nuclear drive can put humans on Mars in just weeks, instead of 6-12 months, then the vehicle may not need artificial gravity centrifuges, but deeper space vessels will. Overall, lighter, smarter and faster ships with small crews at first, and robonauts doing the hazardous duties of spacewalks and first-wave science recon missions to other worlds. Check out these:<br /><br />Self-healing Spacecraft: http://science.howstuffworks.com/self-healing-spacecraft.htm<br />Inflatable Spacecraft: http://science.howstuffworks.com/inflatable-spacecraft.htm<br /><br />

 

[kdavis007]

I think 30 years for now we will be talking ways in how do we go FTL....

 

[gunsandrockets]

"Anyone want to speculate on what kind of ships we will be designing 30 years from now? Will cheap SSTO craft be possible, carrying 100s of passengers?"<br /><br />A cheap LEO rocket transport is more likely to have a small payload, not carrying hundreds of passengers, and be two stages to orbit, not SSTO. Unless the wild ion-rocket propelled balloon to orbit system can be made to work.<br /><br />The biggest difference between now and 30 years from now is going to be nuclear rockets and ISRU. By building a fuel plant on the moon for refueling landers and the use of nuclear rockets a very efficient transportation system between LEO and the lunar surface is possible. Imagine something that would very closely resemble the Eagle spacecraft from the old TV show Space: 1999!

 

[mooware]

I think 30 years from now we'll still be trying to get out of Low Earth Orbit.<br /><br />I sure hope I'm wrong though.<br />

 

[spacefire]

30 years? you're overestimating NASA <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[mooware]

I read over on Space Daily about putting men on the Moon by 2018. Wow, if this is correct it's taken nearly 50 years to go back. <br /><br />You know there will be delays. Who knows, maybe it'll be 75 or 100 years since we first set foot, to when we return.<br /><br /><br />

 

[spaceinator]

"wild ion-rocket propelled balloon to orbit system"<br /><br />sounds interesting... what exactly is it?

 

[nacnud]

That'll be jp aerospace's, airship to orbit program.

 

[grooble]

I wonder what size rocket the 1 mile long ship could lift. <br /><br />

 

[soccerguy789]

I personally would like to see the venturestar program revived. It was a good idea, and the numbers worked. The only problem was really just the availability of the materials. once we've hade 30 years to work stuff out, it im sure those materials would be available. and, it could be built fairly easily. i think thats being after that (or maybe instead of it if we're lucky) I'd like to see those scramjet launchers make space-launche as easy as flying the concord used to be. of course, the holly grail would be a space elevator, and there is no physical reason they can't be built, but i dont believ one will for at least 50 years if ever, and by then, scramjets may make it obsolete, just like airplanes make trans-oceanic tunnels unreasonable.