Reply To: What is the current state of the project?

[Brian H]

Aeronaut wrote: What does SLT stand for, Brian? The aerogel tube sounds like a great start. Especially if they can deflect most junk.

Breakable, I agree that the goal is to reduce the cost of getting a specified amount of freight to and from orbit- which can and should be interpreted as an orbit relative to at least our sun, to enable the system to initiate ballistic transfer orbits. But until a ship’s drive can eliminate the need for rockets and heat shields, I doubt they’ll be really useful for anything other than really heavy lifting and or 8 minute access to orbit due to the enormous mass handicaps that they leave the drawing board with.

SLT is web-acronymics for “Something Like That”. YCLIU (You Can Look It Up). :cheese:

Aerogel wouldn’t deflect, it would collect, absorb. One concern I have, tho’, is that it is gas-filled, and I wonder how it would fare in vacuum. Would the gas simply leak away, leaving it limp and flimsy? Would it expand hugely and burst? Perhaps if it was “inflated” in orbit with just enough gas to give it shape …

IOW (In Other Words) it may not be suitable for naked exposure, without being contained in some kind of sealant, etc.