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"I went [to the top of] Vehicle Assembly Building and looked down, and tears burst from my eyes. The size of this cathedral where the Rockets take off to go to the moon is so amazing."
- Ray Bradbury
 |
| Orbiting Factories | ||
| Manufacturing centers in orbit around the Earth. |
Several engineers are discussing 1D diamond crystals, and how they are produced.
| "...What is it?"
"The result of two hundred years of solid-state physics. For whatever good that does, it is a continuous pseudo-one dimensional diamond crystal - though it's not actually pure carbon. There are several trace elements in carefully controlled amounts. It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories, where there's no gravity to interfere with the growth process." |
| Technovelgy from The Fountains of Paradise,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Ballantine in 1978 Additional resources -
|
The first efforts to implement (or at least experiment) with creating materials in orbit occurred in the early 1970's, during the Skylab mission (which was launched in 1973). The station was equipped with a materials processing facility that included a multi-purpose electric furnace, a crystal growth chamber, and an electron beam gun. A bit earlier, in 1969, the Russians experimented with welding in space during the Soyuz missions.
Compare to the automated space factories (1988), from Mona Lisa Overdrive, by William Gibson.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Fountains of Paradise
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
Tech news articles related to The Fountains of Paradise
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
Orbiting Factories-related
news articles:
- The Dawn Of Orbiting Manufacturing In 2020?
- First 3D Printer In Space?
- Students! NASA Wants To 3D Print Your Tool Design In Space!
- Jeff Bezos Wants Orbiting Factories (Clarke-style)
- Archinaut Orbiting Robotic Factory
- Made In Space To Manufacture Optical Fiber In Orbit
- Orbital Manufacturer 'Made in Space' Gets $73 Million NASA Contract
- 3D Printed 'Blisk' Manufactured In Orbit
- Space Construction Tools For Large Structures By OAC
| DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures' |
| Robot Bricklayer Or Passer-By Bricklayer? |
| Organic Non-Planar 3D Printing |
| Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories |
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'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
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