Schuetz

One of the biggest hurdles to travel in space will be preventing space radiation from killing our astronauts. Long-term space flight may be impossible because it might take many generations. If so, the space radiation will prevent the reproductive functions on the human body from working and therefore the spaceflight can not be longer than one human generation.

Worse off is that human life expectancy will be cut short due to the space radiation unless special care is taken to protect the space travelers otherwise we have to send robots instead of people. Either way due to space radiation, this will mean new materials and specially designed spacecraft will be needed at minimum.

Here is a thought I have been toying around with. Let's use Carbon Nano-Tubes and Graphene sandwiches in a composite sheet configuration as the space ship's skin and structure. Next let's put water molecules in the carbon nano-tubes. Of course with multiple layers of carbon nano-tubes, it could be a great space application.

First we send up some mice in a space lab and see if they survive a couple of times around the solar system or out of the solar system bubble and back again. Maybe we might use lead atoms or a lead based compound - molecules inside the carbon nano-tubes?

It is worth a try and we really must solve this problem if we are to send astronauts to other worlds or be successful in orbiting space colonies or space colonies on the surface of planets which have little or no atmospheric shielding like Earth does currently.

L. Winslow is an Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entreprenuer. Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.