Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Overpriced Gas Stations IN SPACE

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/first-space-gas-station-launch-2015-servicing-geosynchronous-satellites

Today I was reading from Popular Science and found this article.  A Canadian company is confirming the launch of a space station designed for fuel ups and minor repair.  A giant arm will help initiate each fuel up as well as perform minor repairs.  The example given is "pulling open a jammed solar array" but if it is jammed, wouldn't pulling it open forcefully break the joints?

The video explains it is much like a servicing truck, able to refuel, repair, and even tow if necessary.  It takes quite a bit of time for it to get from place to place, but it should still be cheaper then having to launch people from Earth for each individual repair.  This will also keep billions of dollars from being wasted when fueless/dead satellites burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

This is very exciting for me as I am a huge fan of space travel.  This is a small, but essential step in the right direction for people to travel frequently from Earth to space to wherever past that. 

11 comments:

  1. We need to put some serious effort into a space elevator. It's possible and will be infinitely cheaper once established to get things into space.

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  2. Nice blog man. Space travel seems really cool. I'll be sure to check back often

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  3. Only problem I have with making it easier, is I do NOT want to see space become commercialized.

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  4. I completely agree with you, eXo, however the way the world is today with its slanted media and commercial heavy ads everywhere you look, I just don't see why they wouldn't. I personally can't wait till private vehicles are made that we can buy like you would a car so that we can take a vacation to the moon over the weekend, haha.

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  5. Space travel is going to be awesome ;D

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  6. i was hoping space would be more like hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, and less like eve, but it would be awesome nonetheless :D

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  7. I disagree about space being commercialized. I think it has many great assets that should be tapped, and would be of benefit to humanity. Let NASA and other space agencies work on the exploration and research portion while private industries can handle the freight work. It will happen eventually anyways, and even for exploring the Earth, it was commercial interests that lead the way, despite the despicable acts that may have happened. Also, the internet eventually boomed because of commercial interests, research is still done with the internet, but it owes the better part of its existence to commercialization.

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  8. We should fix the problems on earth before going to space.

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  9. Your blog is very interesting, I'd love to read more from you :)

    Hit me back if you want :)

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  10. I'm also a space travel fan, but I didnt know that before :D

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  11. Great article, thanks
    I'm fascinated by space technology like this

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