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"Human beings hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn; when they do, which isn't often, on their own, the hard way."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Orbiting Factories | ||
| Manufacturing centers in orbit around the Earth. |
Several engineers are discussing 1D diamond crystals, and how they are produced.
| "...What is it?"
"The result of two hundred years of solid-state physics. For whatever good that does, it is a continuous pseudo-one dimensional diamond crystal - though it's not actually pure carbon. There are several trace elements in carefully controlled amounts. It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories, where there's no gravity to interfere with the growth process." |
| From The Fountains of Paradise,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Ballantine in 1978 Additional resources -
|
The first efforts to implement (or at least experiment) with creating materials in orbit occurred in the early 1970's, during the Skylab mission (which was launched in 1973). The station was equipped with a materials processing facility that included a multi-purpose electric furnace, a crystal growth chamber, and an electron beam gun. A bit earlier, in 1969, the Russians experimented with welding in space during the Soyuz missions.
Compare to the automated space factories (1988), from Mona Lisa Overdrive, by William Gibson.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Fountains of Paradise
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
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Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
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- Jeff Bezos Wants Orbiting Factories (Clarke-style)
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- Made In Space To Manufacture Optical Fiber In Orbit
- Orbital Manufacturer 'Made in Space' Gets $73 Million NASA Contract
| Orbital Manufacturer 'Made in Space' Gets $73 Million NASA Contract |
| CNSILK Robotic Spider Builder |
| NASA 3D Printed Habitat Challenge Won By AI SpaceFactory |
| Superfast Replicator: Volumetric Additive Manufacturing |
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