It is amazing how many things that were science fiction just a few short years ago are now a reality!! I also wonder if the sci-fi writers were really smart and could figure out what would lie ahead in the future, or if today's scientists and technicians were avid reader of science fiction and had the dream of making it come true, or if the development of technology just took that route on its own. But to me, it is ironic how many things from some of the old sci-fi TV shows and movies have come to be a reality. I have told you about a lot of them in the past, but today I would like to talk about the ion engines that powered space craft in the old movies, like Star Wars, Battle Star Galactica, and Star Trek. Am I bringing back any memories? This "ion engine" was fiction but today it is a reality. In fact, the Dawn space craft is powered by one. Dawn is on its way to visit a couple of asteroids, Vesta first and then Ceres. But first, it will swing past mars for a gravitational boost. It will travel 1.7 billion miles before reaching Vesta and 900 million more miles to reach Ceres.
This trip would be near impossible if using conventional fuel where a flammable fuel is combined with oxygen and burned and the exhaust pushes a craft through space. A space craft with conventional rockets would have to be enormous just to carry the fuel needed, and thus, a lot more expensive and heavier to launch. The ion engine solved this problem, although it was launched aboard a conventional rocket and then turned loose to go on its own. It carries 937 pounds of Xenon gas on board as its fuel. If it would have been powered by a conventional rocket, it would have needed to carry two and a half tons of rocket fuel. Dawn's ion engine uses solar panels to obtain the energy to create electric fields that accelerate a beam of positive Xenon gas ions that shoot out the rear of the craft at 90,000 mph. It is 10 times more efficient than regular fueled rocket engines. It will take a long time to reach both of the largest known asteroids, but Dawn is up to the task with its Sci-Fi ion engines working just fine. BTW, it was launched in September of 2007 and reached Vesta on July 2011 and sent back wonderful pictures. It should reach Ceres by February 2015. Aren't ion engines wonderful? Now you all have a great day now, you hear?
At a conference some years ago I got to meet some of the crew working on the ion engines. They gave a darn interesting talk.
ReplyDeleteWow, to be a mouse in the corner to listen in on that conversation!!!
ReplyDeleteA few months ago there was a series on the Science Channel about sci fi writers from the past, and how their ideas have become reality. Jules Verne, Arthur Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, to name a few.
ReplyDeleteThey all had a way of looking past today and into the future.
ReplyDeleteI like their ideas about how to make a sail that will catch the solar wind. Imagine the viking ships that could sail to new worlds.
ReplyDeleteJimdabob, solar sails work well also. I suppose that a combination of both would give a lot of free power.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the early Sci-Fi writers were really visionaries! Many things in the comic books are slowly becoming everyday items!
ReplyDeleteRemember Dick Tracy's wrist radio?
The ion engine is still just a reaction engine that throws stuff out the back to go forward. It's a high tech version of standing on ice and throwing ice cubes. I'll be impressed when the use of gravity or interstellar magnetic fields is harnessed.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I saying, I'm still pretty impressed with the oversized fireworks we use now.
Was gonna say the same things as HJ.
ReplyDeleteGonna throw a marble in with a bunch of quarters....who is pay'n for all this stuff and what good is it gonna do. I mean, 4 years to get to a planet or what ever...for what?
ReplyDeleteWell Billy Bob, most of our economic problems can be traced back to resource depletion. In other words we are running out of stuff ,to make other stuff. The asteroid belt is chock full of possible useful raw materials.
DeleteProblem solved.
Or we can leave for our children, nothing...
Now if they could just make cars that don't use electricity, which costs a lot to make, or gasoline, that costs a lot to buy!
ReplyDeleteHappy Tails and Trails, Penny
HJ, yes I remember the wrist radio. You are correct that it is all coming true.
ReplyDeleteOldfool, We have to leave something for them to work on. You have some great ideas there. I will have to wonder about them.
Trouble, OK, then read reply to his comment (grin).
Billy Bob, I guess it is something like a red-neck or hill billy saying "watch this". Actually, other than gathering more knowledge of our solar system, the spin offs of these projects help make our lives better in different ways.
Penny, Actually this craft uses electricity, but has solar panels to supply that. I saw pictures of a car covered with solar panels and loaded with batteries that made it across the US without using gas.
Hi DD, I guess I should have specified man-made electricity, not that generated by solar panels. But then the batteries and panels have to be manufactured, too, and that takes more fuel. Seems like we will never be completely 'off-grid'.
DeleteThe "ion engine" is frankly above my head and I am ashamed to admit this is the first I hear of it.
ReplyDeleteI remember back when I was a kid that they said we would one day have a camera attached to the phone and could see the person we were talking to.
Well never saw it on a phone but now we can can use Skype and other programs and carry on a face to face conversation with someone clear across the other side of the world in our computers.
MsB, isn't technology wonderful? Well, the answer to that question is both yes and no. Good subject for a future blog.
ReplyDelete