The Case for Space
by Robert Zubrin · first published 2019
6mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2019–2024first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
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The Case for Space by Robert Zubrin. Puts recent developments by SpaceX in context, and shows how we really are about to settle the cosmos in an economically sustainable way. A call to action to anyone who wants to participate…
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗…interviews that touch on the space industry. Regarding books: - I really enjoyed Lift-Off by Eric Berger on the early days of SpaceX. - Shoot for the Moon is another good read on the Apollo program. - The Case for Space by Robert Zubrin - Ignition by John D. Clark for a history of liquid rocket propellants Godspeed (Edited formatting)
on “Ask HN: I want my next startup to be in space tech. Where do I start?” ↗…and healthy, and literal decades of preparation has been done on designs for early bases that exploit local resources to reduce external dependency. If you’re actually interested in this, Zubrin’s The Case for Space is a good introduction.
on “SpaceX Tender Offer Said to Value Company at Record $210B” ↗The atmosphere is fairly transparent to microwaves, so the loss shouldn't be much worse. The book The Case for Space Solar Panel cited net efficiency of 40% with the tech at the time it was written, with a theoretical maximum of 60%. It's a pretty good deal given that a panel in geostationary collects five times as…
on “US Navy wirelessly beams 1.6 kW of power a kilometer using microwaves” ↗…many nations decided to join forces and invest in ITER. After which it pretty much stalled. ITER was supposed to be the Manhattan Project of fusion ( * ). So there's that. Here's Robert Zubrin in "The Case for Space": "The national fusion programs progressed well during the Cold War because of fierce international competition. They have stopped moving forward since the late 1980s because the decision to consolidate…
on “Nuclear fusion is 'a question of when, not if'” ↗Here's what Robert Zubrin has to say about this graph in his latest book "The case for space" (p174): "The national fusion programs progressed well during the Cold War because of fierce international competition. They have stopped moving forward in the late 1980s because the decision to consolidate…
on “General Fusion to build demonstration plant in UK” ↗