Jun 29, 2024
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Here is my concept animation for the first sport in space,,, FPV racing drones in space!

These drones would be flown by pilots on the ground, and would be in space after being launched by a sounding rocket for 3-6 minutes of micro-gravity. These drones would fly around a course that was also launched on the rocket, and that inflates once the rocket is in space.

Comparable cold-gas propulsion systems to those presented in my animation such as those used on NASA SPHERES or or the (https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4310/6/8/91) Adelis-Sampson nano-satellites have around 20 seconds of propulsion. This means that the average drone race time of 2-4 minutes for quadcopters would probably be what to expect from a space drone, and I would argue would be available with a sounding rocket offering 3-6 minutes of micro-gravity.

Although the players do not go to space, this makes the sport accessible to anyone who is capable of piloting the vehicle in a simulator. This also means that anyone who has access to a computer able to run a simulator can train for the sport. Sounding Rockets can be launched from any geographical area meaning that it would be possible to bring the sport to anyone who can travel within their local region. Although most people are more excited about the idea of sending athletes to space to compete in sports, there are no sports that have been well developed enough to justify the cost of sending humans to orbit. There is no safe vehicle for the task either. Each competitor would need to be a fully trained astronaut capable of handling any emergencies that might occur during the trip. Almost no one could ever expect to play the sport, it would be a novelty at best, and a humiliating waste of effort if the sport selected turns out to be lame. With small robotics on a sounding rocket, it is very safe. The cost is low. It can be done thousands and thousands of times for each single time that a team of human competitors could go to orbit. The simulator offers exactly the same training and coordination, meaning players can become experts right at home before competing. There is no orbit to be concerned with, no re-entry, and most of all, the sport of small vehicle racing is highly advanced with significant parallels between quadcopters and cold-gas thruster vehicles. What makes for a good race with quadcopters also makes for a good race with cold-gas vehicles. Not only could the players achieve mastery before competing, but the sport itself is already highly advanced and mainstream. No audience members have to learn anything, they already understand racing.

I have been working on a concept display animation. Here is the current progress:

View: https://youtu.be/P53eFwbmguA


I would love to know what people think of the idea! I believe in it very strongly, and because just as with normal space exploration, it leads with tiny robots because of their smaller mass and relative safety, it is certain to be the first actually competed sport in space! I would not argue that people will scoff and send humans first, but I will argue that in the future, when people think of sports in space, this is the one they will think of as the most important, the most accessible, and by far the most played.
 
Jun 29, 2024
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The idea is brilliant and must be put into reality!

Would you like to talk about my current plans? Technically I don't have much capability to pursue the idea but I am working on some things, maybe you have some ideas?

I am hoping to make some presentations/content/videos, etc. that properly explain the concept, as well as some arguments for sending small robots to sub-orbital trajectories for sport rather than a human to orbit. (cost estimates is one thing I should have for that for example) ... I mean I don't know how much it would cost to develop the RC equipment but most of it should be off the shelf in the price category of about 10,000 USD per unit (each drone, and also probably the RC controller would be that much) but the inflatable course I have no idea, I will assume 1000 times more expensive than the same kind of inflatable if it were a tent for camping.

Sending a human to orbit must be still tens of millions of dollars presently? (iirc around 80-90 million USD ??) ,, but sending a 25kg payload for 3-6 minutes of microgravity is ,,, 150,000 USD ? So some charts for example (how many races can be held per human to orbit for example)

Then of course once I have a reasonably beautiful presentation I would try to get some real eyes on it.
 
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Jun 29, 2024
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I am a Chess enthusiast, I guess Chess in space with modern variations is going to succeed. Let us have a good plan for this.
Well, in this case you just need extremely lightweight pieces that stick to the board, so I suppose velcro balloons is an option. Most likely, people will mostly play on tablets and computers, but you know there's something about having the board in front of you, so maybe some velcro balloons will do the trick.

But you know,, you don't NEED to be in space to play chess. That's one thing. But, you know, you don't NEED to be in space for space drone racing either, although the drone does.
 
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