You know I like to keep track of space exploration and I am particularly excited about private space flight. While routine trips to space are a few years away, videos like the the one found here, keep my hopes up that the day will come sooner than later. This fellow, Steve Eves, created a 36 foot tall model rocket and broke the record for the largest model ever launched. It traveled between 3,000 to 4,000 feet up into the air and if you watch to the end of the video you will notice the motor part of the rocket landed upright. No word on how much it cost, but I suspect many thousands of dollars. I also suspect that the height of the launch was limited by government regulations. Judging by the size of the rocket, I would think it has enough fuel capacity to reach the edge of space. It was modeled after the Saturn V.

Private space travel to earth orbit, the moon, or Mars are achievable goals in the next decade or two, but what about the dream of traveling to the stars, ala Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica? That remains a dream. Highly speculative methods of travel such as wormholes may never pan out and that means a trip to the nearest start would take a few hundred years and require too much conventional fuel to be practical. What about nuclear powered micro satellites? Read about the suggestion here.These could be sent off into space and achieve speeds at a significant fraction of the speed of light. They still would not reach their target within a normal human lifespan but it would be a lot quicker than sending humans and we could still experience what other far off worlds are like through telepresence (the data that is sent back from the micro satellites). of course, these ideas are all based on the technology we have and can conceive of in the near future, but with the rapid pace of technological progress and scientific discovery, who knows what will be possible in 2040 or 2050. Just in case we don’t make any big space travel breakthroughs in the next 40 years or so, I say lets send one of these nuclear powered minis on a trip ASAP.

Now I have to get back to filing snowmelt entries. Tomorrow is the last day to enter (remember: only 1 entry per person, otherwise you are disqualified).

Have a fine Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space