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I’m increasingly of the opinion that nuclear for space should be mined and built in space. Just launch the infrastructure needed to bootstrap the process.

by ianai 7y ago

Bud 7y ago
Um, uh, um, uh...where to start? "Mined" from where? How?
- ianai 7y ago
  The moon? Asteroids? Or even just ship up unrefined ore such that a catastrophic failure can’t threaten the population.
  - cblades 7y ago
    What risks make that extraordinary cost worthwhile?
  - mitchty 7y ago
    Neither of the first two are options... at all realistically, nither uranium nor thorium exist in anything below a large planetary size body in any quantity: https://www.quora.com/Do-uranium-and-thorium-exist-in-significant-quantities-in-our-solar-systems-asteroid-belt https://www.quora.com/Do-uranium-and-thorium-exist-in-signif... And shipping up unrefined ore is also a bit of a ludicrous idea for mass reasons and the rocket equation alone. You do realize you can isolate a nuclear reactor core from explosions on rockets right? What catastrophic failures are you attempting to design your solution of avoiding a nuclear reactor around?
- BAReF00t 7y ago
  The moon's dust contains huge amounts of helium-3. Which apparently is an amazing power source. Also, why fission? We do have working fusion reactors. They are called hydrogen bombs. (The outer part, at least.) As long as you can keep the G forces low ...
  - JumpCrisscross 7y ago
    > Which apparently is an amazing power source Theoretically, for reactors we don't have.
joelthelion 7y ago
"just"
- steeve 7y ago
  i was about the type the same thing, have my upvote friend
Symmetry 7y ago
I'm all for that in the long run, but that's in the long run. Especially with Orion Drives they're too dangerous to fly themselves off the Earth but too heavy to launch on something else so they're entirely impractical right now. But it would be cool if we could be launching them from the Moon in the 2080s.

I’m increasingly of the opinion that nuclear for space should be mined and built in space. Just launch the infrastructure needed to bootstrap the process.

by ianai 7y ago

I’m increasingly of the opinion that nuclear for space should be mined and built in space. Just launch the infrastructure needed to bootstrap the process.

Bud 7y ago

Um, uh, um, uh...where to start? "Mined" from where? How?

ianai 7y ago
The moon? Asteroids? Or even just ship up unrefined ore such that a catastrophic failure can’t threaten the population.
- cblades 7y ago
  What risks make that extraordinary cost worthwhile?
- mitchty 7y ago
  Neither of the first two are options... at all realistically, nither uranium nor thorium exist in anything below a large planetary size body in any quantity: https://www.quora.com/Do-uranium-and-thorium-exist-in-significant-quantities-in-our-solar-systems-asteroid-belt https://www.quora.com/Do-uranium-and-thorium-exist-in-signif... And shipping up unrefined ore is also a bit of a ludicrous idea for mass reasons and the rocket equation alone. You do realize you can isolate a nuclear reactor core from explosions on rockets right? What catastrophic failures are you attempting to design your solution of avoiding a nuclear reactor around?
BAReF00t 7y ago
The moon's dust contains huge amounts of helium-3. Which apparently is an amazing power source. Also, why fission? We do have working fusion reactors. They are called hydrogen bombs. (The outer part, at least.) As long as you can keep the G forces low ...
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > Which apparently is an amazing power source Theoretically, for reactors we don't have.

joelthelion 7y ago

"just"

steeve 7y ago
i was about the type the same thing, have my upvote friend

Symmetry 7y ago

I'm all for that in the long run, but that's in the long run. Especially with Orion Drives they're too dangerous to fly themselves off the Earth but too heavy to launch on something else so they're entirely impractical right now. But it would be cool if we could be launching them from the Moon in the 2080s.