800,000 subscribers and over 15,000 views today. Wow. And Paul Shillito managed to get the single most important piece of information concerning space radiation and Human Space Flight…wrong.
In 2006 Eugene Parker wrote an article for Scientific American that remains the best popular science guide to “Shielding Space Travelers” from radiation. Parker explains cosmic radiation much better than this YouTube video. The key fact for anyone interested in Human Space Flight Beyond Earth and Lunar Orbit (HSF-BELO) to understand is that 15 feet of water is required to provide a near-sea-level radiation environment in space. In the above YouTube video at 9:30 it is stated only a meter is needed when it is actually 4.5 meters. A small capsule will require around 400 tons of shielding while a crew compartment with any practical living space will need well over a thousand tons of water.
There is only one propulsion system that can push that kind of mass around the solar system at a speed allowing voyages to the gas and ice giants within 3 to 5 years. That system, as I have written about often on this blog, is nuclear pulse propulsion. H-bombs. They actually might be less powerful A-bombs in the first true spaceships since they will likely be “Medusa” ships using large parachute type devices to capture the plasma cloud generated by the nuclear device. https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/docs1/00189777.pdf The most efficient spaceships will use a large alloy plate and the greater the diameter the higher the Isp.
The Parker-Dyson-Spudis Continuum is derived from the reality of cosmic radiation, the only practical system to push the massive shield required, and the only place to acquire water shielding, assemble, test, and launch nuclear missions- the Moon.
The names are those of the scientists I have read about doing the research that will actually determine how humankind ventures beyond the Moon and into the outer solar system. Eugene Parker, who I have already cited, Freeman Dyson, who recently passed away and whose work validated bomb propulsion, and Paul Spudis, who also recently passed and was responsible for the first original work on exploiting lunar resources.
I wish these YouTube celebrities would drop me a comment and start corresponding with me. It is bad enough I have been banned from all the public space forums because I criticize SpaceX. I am like the Alex Jones of space enthusiasts…except I am actually telling the truth.
And welcome any Ars Technica forum commenters to Ice on the Moon:
The lunar gateway should be the eye-opener concerning Human Space Flight Beyond Earth Orbit (HSF-BEO). The problem that NASA and everyone keeps ignoring, the true elephant in the room, is cosmic radiation or, “dosing and debilitation.” Humans are simply NOT going into space until the basic prerequisite of a near-sea-level-radiation and one-gravity environment is met. An environment that causes permanent damage to humans means we are NOT going there to stay or in any significant numbers. NewSpace is going in the completely wrong direction with almost everything it is doing by ignoring this starting point.
A massive water shield and a tether system are the only way people can go on multi-year missions and actually live in space. The water has to come from the lunar poles simply because it requires 22 times less energy to bring it up from the surface of the Moon. A several thousand foot tether system is the only practical system to generate artificial gravity. Skylab type crew compartments and the SLS to transport them to the Moon to receive lunar water are the only practical option since they would already be stressed for launch from Earth and can be partially filled with water and spun. NewSpace fans do not allow discussion of this narrow path, having been programmed to follow “the flexible path.”
Anybody interested can search Ice on the Moon wordpress and there you will find that narrow path.
Please post your comments but understand I will not tolerate any blatant advertising of the NewSpace flagship company or any of the standard toxic borderline insults. I will delete them and you can try again. I will be spending my own precious time vetting them so if you post too many unacceptable comments in a row…you will be banned. Thanks. Before anybody posts a comment I strongly suggest you read the basic article any space enthusiasts should read and understand as a foundation for any views they present here: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~sshepherd/research/Shielding/docs/Parker_06.
Ice on the Moon 