Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Space Station Gets Shielding, Not Blasters
Russian cosmonauts climbed out of the International Space Station on Wednesday afternoon to install protective panels. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov completed the planned work five hours later. The spacewalk was delayed due to problems encountered during communication checks. The 17 protective panels, each about 2 feet by 3 feet and weighing about 20 pounds, were delivered to the station last December.
The plan is for Kotov to retrieve three bundles of Service Module Debris Protection Panels and then attach them to the Zvezda Service Module. Zvezda provides some of the station's life support systems, as well as living quarters for two crewmen with a treadmill and a bicycle for exercise. A second spacewalk planned for June 6th will complete the installation.
(SMDP installation locations on Zvezda)
NASA engineers are concerned that space debris, in the form of everything from rocket parts to Chinese ASAT test debris to dropped wrenches, will damage the ISS. It will be possible to turn the ISS slightly to present a shield to oncoming debris, assuming that the object is big enough to be tracked.
(Zvezda under construction)
Science fiction writers have been working on protection for spacecraft for generations now, and frankly, nobody's interested in those passive bolt-on panels. To paraphrase Han Solo, panels are fine but they're "no match for a good blaster at your side."
In his 1945 classic First Contact, writer Murray Leinster puts his money on blasters as the best way to deal with any object large enough to damage your ship.
The blasters are those beams of ravening destruction which take care of recalcitrant meteorites in a ship's course when the deflectors can't handle them. They are not designed as weapons, but they can serve as pretty good ones. They can go into action at five thousand miles, and draw on the entire power output of a whole ship. With automatic aim and a traverse of five degrees, a ship like the Llanvabon can come very close to blasting a whole through a small-sized asteroid which gets in the way.
(Read more about meteor blasters)
I know it's a lot of extra work, but it gives you a better ride than those deflector shields that George Lucas suggests. If you didn't mind using a bit of propellant, you could try the solution that George O. Smith suggests in his 1943 story Recoil - meteor-spotting radar:
Spacecraft were protected from meteors by means of radar that was coupled to the steering panels of the ships; when a meteor threatened, the ship merely turned aside by that fraction of a degree that gave it safety.
(Read more about meteor-spotting radar)
But then, of course, you don't get to use your blasters.
Read about the origin of the sf term "blaster." Read more about the space walk at ISS Mission Update and NASA.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/30/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
NASA 'Holoports' Doctor Onto Space Station
Star Trek Voyager Emergency Medical Hologram
Six Ships Are Now Docked At The International Space Station!
It's getting crowded up there!
Vast Cosmic Structures And Spooky Alignments
'This postulates a force-field of partly electromagnetic character, generated by gyromagnetic action within atomic nuclei near the center of the galaxy.' - Poul Anderson, 1953.
Superfast Energetic Electron 'Precipitation' Pelts Our Earth!
'On the three-dimensional map at weather headquarters on the planet Kaider III, the storm was colored orange.' - AE van Vogt, 1943.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Your Martian Dream Home, Made By Fungi
'... it was the cheapest building material known.'
The Dune Ornithopter, Movie And Book
'The wings were at full spread-rest, their delicate metal interleavings extended.'
100X Improvement In DNA Information Storage
'A record that wouldn't get lost and couldn't be destroyed.'
NASA 'Holoports' Doctor Onto Space Station
Star Trek Voyager Emergency Medical Hologram
Should We Train AIs To Imagine A Future Of Horrific Disasters
'LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.'
Mouth Haptics Invented By Frederik Pohl In 1965, CMU Now Has Prototype
'What he got was indeed a kiss. It was disconcerting. No kissing lips were visible.'
Two Towns Linked By Sculpture Portal In Real Time
'I am the Guardian of Forever.'
3D Printed Robotic Tentacles
'... articulate ropes of steel dangling'
Update: Musk Doubles Down On Optimus Prime Humanoid Robot
'I shall introduce myself. I am R. Daneel Olivaw... I am a robot. Were you not told?'
Elon Musk: Production Of Robotaxis In 2024
'How about the steering wheel... I don't need one.'
True Crime Live Podcasting In Fiction
'And loving it too, those millions. Bloodthirsty to the last one of them.'
AI Employment Decision Software Reconsidered By California Lawmakers
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna. They were back living with their parents or sleeping on the sofa with a friend.'
Six Ships Are Now Docked At The International Space Station!
It's getting crowded up there!
SUCHO Saving Ukraine's Libraries Digitally
'No human mind could ever hope to master even a small portion of what was being received every second, Sam thought, but it would all be there...'
Optimus Prime Tesla Robot Overall Humanoid Software Architecture
'I shall introduce myself. I am R. Daneel Olivaw... I am a robot. Were you not told?'
Vast Cosmic Structures And Spooky Alignments
'This postulates a force-field of partly electromagnetic character, generated by gyromagnetic action within atomic nuclei near the center of the galaxy.'
