Comment solar sails and such (Score 1) 124
Wow. You get a NASA grant and people start paying more attention :) I'm an undergraduate grunt working with Dr. Winglee, and, of course, I'm also an avid slashdot reader. I'm computer science, not space physics, but I may be able to answer questions any of you might have. Also, I've been waiting for an excuse to post something on slashdot.
One quick note on tethers, though (the sky-hook/elevator idea). That's a very promising new development, and a lot of research is going into that. It's totally different from magnetic sails, though, and it gets things off the ground and into earth orbit, and magnetic sails go from a bit away from the earth (I think we have to be outside the bowshock of the earth's magnetosphere). So, tethers could be used to get us off the ground, and a magnetic sail could then take us up, up and away.
One quick note on tethers, though (the sky-hook/elevator idea). That's a very promising new development, and a lot of research is going into that. It's totally different from magnetic sails, though, and it gets things off the ground and into earth orbit, and magnetic sails go from a bit away from the earth (I think we have to be outside the bowshock of the earth's magnetosphere). So, tethers could be used to get us off the ground, and a magnetic sail could then take us up, up and away.
