Gaussjammers NOW!(WasRe: SPACE: New propulsion technologies) (fwd)

Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Mon, 16 Aug 1999 19:34:57 -0700 (PDT)

> Dennis Roberts <droberts@netvectors.com> wrote:

> This might be the one folks ! Cheap ! Effective !

Cheap? The phase 2 studies come in at $500K each. That doesn't way anything about what a spacecraft would cost.

Effective for what? So we can visit the outer planets?

> And We can do it without a massive new infusion of scarce Govt dollars.

And just where praytell is the evidence for that?

> http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/uwsh-nsp081699.html

If you want additional information it is at: http://www.niac.usra.edu/Topics/Summary_Pages/Robert_Winglee.html

The problem with most of the NIAC proposals/grants is that their construction/launch times straddle the probable singularity time. (Making them pointless IMHO).

I've already had one proposal for the "Study of Supercomputers in Space" turned down by NIAC. I'm thinking about submitting another proposal: "Feasibility of Dismantlement of Small Solar System Bodies to Construct Sun-envoloping Solar Collectors for the Suppression of Solar Wind Power Sources for Plasma Propulsion Methods".

Perhaps that will get their attention enough to factor in nanotech... :-)

Robert