Space Forum / Space Flight / August 2006

Hard drives on 'Deep Space' missions: any idea why they are never used?
4 x 100 Gb drives could store enough data such that it could take up to 6
months to trickle the data back at 24,000 kbs (assuming high power downlink
and turbo codes).

I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will
essentially explode due to lack of pressure.
Out of curiosity, is this true?
Thank you.

Has anyone done any research on launching very small probes
electrostatically from space? So, for example, launching an
electrostatic 'gun' with a tiny probe on a sounding rocket and firing
the 'gun' once the rocket leaves the atmosphere?

Has anyone done any work on electromagnetically launching a nano-probe
from orbit?
Jim

I propose a subcritical fission fragment rocket where the fuel assembly
is never of sufficient density to undergo a self sustaining reaction.
It would be necessary to use a pulsed neutron beam to start fission
which would then "pulse" and die out.  Thus the fission fragments would