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Article: Not exactly rocket science: spaceflight.(Clifford Singer's ball-bearing centrifuge propulsion concept)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 12, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ROCKET engines are unwieldy things. The faster you want a spacecraft to move, the more fuel it must carry, and the less room there is left for useful payload. Which is why, over the years, a number of bizarre alternatives have been proposed: space lifts, for example, to hoist satellites into orbit, or solar sails to waft space probes along using the gentle pressure of radiation from the sun. Perhaps the craziest-sounding idea is that of Clifford Singer of the University of Illinois. His plan is to send spacecraft on their way by bombarding them with ball-bearings.
Several years after he originally floated the idea, Dr Singer has now worked out the practical details. ...
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