Post by uforn on Jun 30, 2011 12:16:24 GMT 1
Space travel for masses
Space architect Susmita Mohanty talks about the future of space travel for masses.
Her imagination runs far ahead of science. Thoughts of space travel, exploration of extraterrestrial life and possible future habitats of man such as the Moon, Mars and possibly elsewhere on the solar-system, are things that have always fascinated space-ship designer and architect, Susmita Mohanty.
She holds a master's degree in industrial design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad and Ph.D in architecture from the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. The former NASA aeronautical engineer presently runs three companies located in San Fransisco, Vienna and India. She leads a team of young space professionals who build innovative future systems for space exploration and habitat. At a presentation, titled The Final Touchdown, at The American Centre, audiences will be taken through images of a space shuttle by Mohanty.
As the space shuttle Atlantis, takes its final flight in the month of July and will be grounded thereafter, her presentation will highlight and focus on the improvements for the future of spaceship designs.
Think tank
Her latest fixation is that of building 'intelligent spaceships' which would be capable of thinking independently. "Other than the actual mission of research, astronauts spend more than half their time in space, repairing and servicing spaceships," says Mohanty. "It will take space travel to another level if we can build 'intelligent' ships that repair by themselves and take important decisions regarding the space mission."
For example, in Alien Planet, a docu-fiction created by the Discovery Channel, features a similar concept of an imaginary unmanned ship travelling at 20 per cent the speed of light to a fictional alien world called Darwin IV. Many light years away from Earth, the ship is able to launch probes on the planet and research data sent by them on its own discretion.
Present day space shuttles have not travelled higher than 600 kms above the surface of Earth. Moreover, they look like capsules and have just about enough space for astronauts to pack in tightly. Inspired by science fiction, Mohanty has come up with the idea of designing spaceships that will be saucer shaped. "Such ships will have more space for manoeuvrability, will travel at faster speeds and probably have their own gravity.
Source:
articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-28/travel/29711848_1_space-shuttle-space-mission-design