Germany | Colony Worlds

Solar Energy Plus Heat Accumulator Equals 24 Hr Green Power?

Posted by darnell on Nov 27, 2007 in Blog, Energy, Germany | 0 comments

(Image: Heat Accumulator, Credit: DLR/Markus Steur)

It looks as if the German Aerospace Center has made a breakthrough that may give solar energy an edge over its greener rivals.

(German Aerospace Center) So-called heat accumulators are needed so that power generation can be extended to the night hours or times when there is heavy cloud cover. Thanks to scientists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), it has now been possible for the first time for just such an accumulator to go into operation successfully. [...]

The steam accumulator is the result of the EU DISTOR (Energy Storage for Direct Steam) project started in February 2004. Solar Power Stations under the overall control of the DLR Institute for Technical Thermodynamics, a total of 13 partners from industry and research from five countries are working on the development of innovative storage systems for solar-powered steam generators. These storage systems will be designed to take the 200-300 degree Celsius steam generated by solar power, store it and release it again as required with a minimum of loss. So-called latent storage materials are used for this application. They are characterised by the fact that energy can be transported at an almost constant temperature from a solid to a liquid state and vice versa – a principle that has long been used in the low-temperature area with pocket hand-warmers, for example.

While the benefits of this device are fairly obvious on Earth, heat accumulators could enable future lunar colonists to settle anywhere on the Moon without limiting themselves to craters basking in eternal sunlight.

It would also help future Martian settlements maintain power within their colony outposts, which may reduce the need of humans relying upon a mini nuclear reactor in order to survive the frigid Martian nights.

If Germany is able to perfect this technology, they may end up securing their place among the heavens by allowing colonists to live off world–at least within the inner solar system.

Germany Wants A Piece Of The Moon

Posted by darnell on Nov 7, 2007 in Blog, Germany, Moon | 0 comments

Despite its late cosmic entry, Germany is planning on launching an unmanned probe towards the Moon in order to help humanity gain more understanding about Earth’s nearest neighbor.

(Reuters) Germany hopes to put an unmanned space craft into the moon’s orbit in the early part of the next decade, a senior German official said on Wednesday.

The lunar orbit mission will be useful for scientific research, Deputy Economy Minister Peter Hintze, the government’s aerospace coordinator, told reporters. “It is also a chance for Germany to prove its competence in this area.”

Germany previously mentioned that they intended upon using the probe to provide a detailed map of the Moon’s surface.

Hopefully Germany has plans on launching more than probes as the “Moon map market” is becoming increasingly crowded thanks to Japan and China.

Colony Worlds Round Up

Posted by darnell on Mar 13, 2007 in Blog, Germany, Health, Life, Random, Science, Space Elevator, Space Industry, Space Phenomena | 0 comments

Note: I have not been as faithful as I desired to in posting here (as life has been fairly busy) but these are some of the stories that may catch your eye regarding our future among the stars.

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Astroprof discusses the dangers of bone loss due to the lack of gravity in space.

Despite NASA’s attempts at reducing the loss, the percentage rate exceeds that of a woman with osteoporosis, leading I. Tenor (a commenter) to conclude that exile from Earth may be the price we pay for colonizing the stars.

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Jack Kennedy from Spaceports discusses Matsen Space System’s attempts at winning the Lunar Landing Analog Challenge later on this year.

There main competitors are Armadillo Aerospace and Blue Origin, who may put up some fierce competition.

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The Space Review has an article about finding life in the solar system. My views of this are fairly dim (as finding microbes does not help us reach the stars).

However, since scientists are looking for life near water ice, this research should prove quite useful in helping us locate future settlements as water is the main ingredient for life (at least carbon based life forms).

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Centauri Dreams has an excellent article discussing how the sun’s rays spin asteroids. Although this alone may not amaze anyone who is not a hard core space geek, this revelation does help put some weight behind the solar sail.

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Ted Semon from the Space Elevator Blog informs everyone that Germany is forming their very own space elevator competition scheduled for February of 2008.

This competition is not as ambitious as the Spaceward’s Space Elevator competition, however the fact that they are organizing it may help inspire other nations to follow suit.

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Hopefully I will have some time tonight to discuss some other issues on the back burner, including NASA’s paradox, Jupiter’s Ganymede, and the missing ingredient to call the Moon, Mars and Europa home.

Stay tuned.

Update: Corrected spelling of Ted’s last name (Semon it is! Curse the spell checkers!) Also, I should have some free time later on today (at last).

Germany To Provide Us With "Google Moon?"

Posted by darnell on Mar 2, 2007 in Blog, Exploration, Germany, Moon, Satellite | 0 comments

Despite the fact that Germany has no serious plans on putting a man in space (let alone on the moon) they are seriously considering launching robots into the heavens by 2013 in an attempt to understand Earth’s closest neighbor.

(Earth Times) “We aim to launch a national moon mission,” DLR Director Walter Doellinger said, adding that there was no intention to launch a manned mission.

The aim is to put a probe into orbit around the moon for four years with the aim of charting the entire surface for the first time. The survey is to be three-dimensional and in colour.

“The probe will examine the moon’s surface and provide indications of significant geological formations that could later be of interest for drilling,” Doellinger said.

There is no word yet on whether or not Germany’s lunar survey will be publicly available, or released commercially although they will hopefully consider the former.

Germany plans on using the probe to examine minerals upon the lunar surface, locate ice water (if any exists) and investigate the moons mysterious magnetic field which may enable us to actually build habitats above ground.