Future plans for space exploration from the American space agency NASA are sometimes intertwined with very bizarre fantasies. Nevertheless, they are always backed up by specific science. We've written about almost all of them, but why not brush up on a dozen of the strangest projects that NASA is preparing?
Dextre
You've all seen footage of spacewalks - when astronauts cling awkwardly to the International Space Station, and supersonic space debris is already leaving to shoot them down. Specifically, this danger should be eliminated by a curious robot from NASA: Dextre, a mechanical handyman. The dexterous manipulator (dextre is the "dodger") will constantly stay on board the ISS, performing maintenance and protecting people.
Originally developed by the Canadian Space Agency, Dextre is quite large. It is 3.5 meters high, equipped with almost the same long tenacious arms and weighs about 1,700 kilograms. However, this should not seriously affect the space station, which itself weighs 450 tons. The robot can be controlled remotely by astronauts aboard the station, but the current protocol implies the control of Dextre by the forces of Earth scientists.
As long as Dextre does its job, astronauts won't have to risk their lives to retrieve a lost valve or replace a worn out wire. Plus, they will have more time to do space science.
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Supersonic bi-directional flying wing
Supersonic Bidirectional Flying Wing, as it sounds in the original language, is a funny plane that can turn your whole idea of flying technology upside down. This is the creation of Gacheng Za, a professor at the University of Miami. The concept of Za attracted NASA's interest in that it can develop unprecedented speed and rotate in an unprecedented range of altitudes.
In aeronautics in general, the initial phase of flight requires a large surface area to climb. This is why planes have large wings. But once the vehicle is released into the air, the large area produces additional drag, thereby slowing down transport. This dichotomy of aerodynamic efficiency has never been fully satisfied, but NASA plans to circumvent this issue with a bi-directional design, promising $ 100,000 to continue the insane concept.
This giant wing is truly versatile. Its wide body allows it to take off with ease. It can gain supersonic speed, reach high altitudes and rotate 90 degrees.
Vegetables in space
Feeding the astronauts is not a major problem, as it is fairly easy to replenish the powder reserves of "snacks" through regular visits to the ISS. But this refueling will be a question if we continue to explore space. Why not start a space garden?
This is exactly what NASA is trying to figure out, which is why the first astro-vegetables were delivered to the ISS in April 2014. An array of LED bulbs will incubate the salad, and for now, red romaine will be the only dish on the menu. The device of the salad garden contains six bags (pillows) with seeds, fertilizers and clay.
The mature plants will be quickly frozen and sent back to Earth aboard the Dragon capsule. If deemed safe to consume after a series of tests, crops of all kinds will be grown in microgravity, dramatically expanding the food list aboard the ISS.
Super ball pot
Tensegrity may sound like the name of a rock band from the 80s to some, but it actually means “connecting by tension.” Using this concept, NASA has developed a flexible, durable, segmented ball called the Super Ball Bot.
The design of the ball provides mobility and cushioning qualities as it transfers force evenly throughout the structure, just like the human body. It's so tough that NASA plans to drop these balls directly onto Saturn's moon, Titan, without a parachute. Its elasticity will soften the landing, removing the need for landing gear.
The ball looks like a jumbled mess of tent rods. But in fact, this complex thing remains stable and can serve as a transport on Titan - like a kind of metal tumbleweed. NASA will use it as a shell to transport robots and descent vehicles of the future. The ball is much easier to move than all those things with wheels, and it can roll over rocks, sand and other unfriendly terrain.
Drill Europe
A prime destination in the search for extraterrestrial life, the salty oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa have long made astronomers drool out of control. Nevertheless, it is well protected by a 30-kilometer shell of ice. Sounding at such a depth is an unprecedented task for earthlings.
However, this task may be more doable than it seems. NASA recently received $ 15 million to explore Europe, and this historic mission could begin as early as 2022. NASA has already developed a groundbreaking custom-made drilling technology that can penetrate Europe's ice crust - a nuclear ice cannon.
The technology is being tested at the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska. The Valkyrie is gearing up for use anywhere throughout the solar system. Conventional drilling tools could never break through a heavy ice crust, and supporting a giant drill would be a daunting task. The Valkyrie will use nuclear energy to produce boiling jets of water that can break through the ice.
Tiny satellites
The newest generation of NASA satellites will differ significantly from current models. The clumsy machines we are used to will gradually be replaced by smaller devices, some of which can easily fit in the palm of your hand.
One of these nanosatellites is CubeSat. As the name suggests, this is just a small cube with a side of 10 centimeters and weighing 1.3 kilograms. These satellites are easy to configure and transport, so NASA now allows even students and schools to develop their own projects. Selected cubes will go into space. They are so small that they can easily be taken aboard other missions as payloads.
They will soon become even smaller. A series of brand-sized satellites were launched into space aboard the shuttle Endeavor in 2011. They are completely invisible, slightly larger than a fingernail. If testing goes well, NASA will launch these tiny brands in droves. Once space is filled with chips that drift like specks of dust, the costly and laborious production of satellites will come to an end.
Mouse astronauts
To study the effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity, NASA is sending rodents into space. As Elon Musk called them, "muscle-astronauts" have an average life span of about two years, making them ideal animals to study aboard the International Space Station.
Mice will spend six months on board the ISS, which is equivalent to a quarter of their life or 20 years of human life. NASA will observe mice at different stages of life, noting the differences between space-grown mice and their terrestrial counterparts. Previously, mice have already flown into space more than once, but this particular mission will be the longest for their species.
The mice will live in "modules," artificial mouse habitats. Everything you need for life will be included, and each module will fit about 10 mice or 6 rats. Physiologically, we mammals are very similar, so this experiment will reveal a lot about how humans respond to long-term microgravity.
Travel without fuel
The newly developed space engine was taken up by NASA for one simple reason: it can create thrust in the absence of propelling fuel in the opposite direction. This engine seems like a blatant violator of Newton's laws of motion and conservation of momentum, but it seems to work.
Cannae Drive uses a special cone in combination with microwave radiation to propel itself through space. Instead of using fuel, its microwave cone produces pressure from itself, creating tiny thrust. A similar engine called EmDrive was produced in the UK.
As long as the generated energy is measured in micronewtons, it is comparable to the sneezing of a butterfly. But the very fact of its possible existence means that NASA may eventually develop an entire generation of new engines that will significantly reduce fuel costs and make deep space travel a more viable option in the long term.
OSIRIS-REx
NASA's New Horizons program is one of the best mission programs planned in our solar system. The Juno mission will provide a new perspective on Jupiter. New Horizons will give us the first real images of Pluto. OSIRIS-REx may be more ambitious, but this program will bring the first asteroid samples to Earth.
The target is the primitive and relatively close asteroid Bennu. The samples that return to Earth could shed new light on the formation of the solar system. This ancient rock is a rudiment of space debris that combined billions of years ago to form the planets and the Sun. It has been floating untouched for about four billion years.
OSIRIS-REx will be launched in 2016 and will stick a rod into Bennu. This is a feat when you consider that the diameter of the asteroid is only four football fields long, and getting into it through the solar system is like from a cannon to the moon. Bennu has a very good chance of visiting Earth in the 22nd century, so this mission could be important for collecting data on the asteroid. Suddenly it will need to be blown up.
Air traffic control for commercial drones
NASA has started a joint effort to develop control systems for the thousands of drones that will populate our cities.
The earliest drones will look at crops and pipelines in rural areas, but their applications will be virtually limitless in the future. The first commercial drones in the United States were approved in June 2014, and NASA's control system will open the door to a whole host of such vehicles. The initial tests, of course, will be carried out far from the centers of civilization so that waste debris does not accidentally fall on the cities from the sky.
In the future, devices will be hovering over our heads at an altitude of 120-150 meters, but we have nothing to worry about: this does not frighten people at all. In any case, earlier than five years from now, such a future will not come yet.