As one of the most exciting discoveries in recent scientific history – some would claim the biggest this century, at least – gravitational waves have been discovered. That’s right, scientists can finally prove that they exist! The term “gravitational wave” refers to vibrations within space and time which allow us to literally see further into  [ Read More ]

SpaceX is one of the top space companies, which was founded in 2002 with an aim of revolutionizing the space technology to allow for the travel and settlement of human beings on other planets. SpaceX specializes in the design, manufacture, and launch of rockets and spacecraft.

While it is just one of the several space companies that does this, there a number of things that make SpaceX’s marketing and maufacturing processes, as well as their amazing vehicles stick out from the rest.

This solution proposes that payloads might be launched into space by means of magnetized cables that are contained in sheaths. In essence, the device would consist of a sheathed cable that is attached to Earth at both ends, but with the middle part, which can be as long as 2000 km(1 240 miles), suspended above the  [ Read More ]

Another version of the space gun involves air pressure to launch a payload in to space through a barrel. While this system is certain not to be as violent a timed explosions, a major problem involves the compressibility of gasses, which will have serious effects on the rates of acceleration that could be obtained. One  [ Read More ]

Here Michael Kelzenberg contributes his ideas and opinions on the newer, better ways to get to space in the future. See what he has installed for us… “Very few things inspire us like space. It can be easy to forget what’s over us as we go about our daily lives, but then every night the  [ Read More ]

One proposed tether system, the Kinetics Interchange Tether (KITE), seems to have more merit than any other. In simple terms, the idea involves towing an aerodynamic payload behind a large subsonic, or low supersonic aircraft with a very long (20 km+) cable. At high altitude, the aircraft executes a change of direction, and the resulting  [ Read More ]

Based on the space cannon envisioned by Jules Verne, this version of a space gun employs rings of explosive material along the length of the barrel. Instead of relying on one single detonation to propel the payload along the entire length of the barrel, the wave accelerator will use precisely timed detonations to drive the  [ Read More ]

In its simplest form, a mass driver is nothing more than a long, linearly-arranged electromagnetic motor, along which metal-encased payloads can be accelerated to escape velocity. Just as a normal electric motor uses electro-magnetic forces to produce a rotating motion, so can a mass driver be made to accelerate a payload by the sequential activation  [ Read More ]

This method proposes that ram jet combustion processes be employed to launch a payload into space through a long barrel. In simple terms, a ram jet is nothing but a cone surrounded by a cowling. At very high velocities, the air that passes between the cone and the cowling is compressed, and once adequate compression  [ Read More ]

The pressure exerted by lasers has been shown to be effective in moving small pieces of space debris into safer orbits, but the attempt took 48 hours, and the mass of the piece of debris was only a few pounds. However, in this application, it is proposed that lasers are substituted for chemical rocket engines,  [ Read More ]