Technologies we could have now.

Tefal · 24 Dec 2011 at 22:35

PermaBanned said:
So what makes you think that Skylon, which is probably a smaller program, will be able to do it?

Skylon has a 350 million investment coming up after demonstrating it's precooler, and it's going to start taking commercial orders in the next few years.

Hotol had about £2 million and only made it to design stage with major flaws.

Radiation · 24 Dec 2011 at 22:47

Strife212 said:
So basically, what is physically possible?

Yeah but more what's realistically possible now or the near future if money wasn't an issue a lot of research and development was done, nothing that requires some huge discovery from scifi, so i don't know why anyone has suggested hoverboards and holodecks unless they mean something quite simple in comparison to what we know them from.

You could have limited hover boards i guess, only superconductors strapped to a board with some magnetic floor panels beneath or something, nothing like back to the future, same with the holodeck, we lack the needed forcefields, projectors and processing power, not to mention replication technology if they include that.

Radiation · 25 Dec 2011 at 10:41

What about nanotechs potential?

Tefal · 25 Dec 2011 at 10:46

Radiation said:
What about nanotechs potential?

congrats on possibly the vaguest question since "so what about physic's potential?".

Trifid · 25 Dec 2011 at 10:49

Hydrogen fuelled cars.

Nuclear fission reactors to provide our electricity and we can fill up our cars at home if we wanted.

PermaBanned · 25 Dec 2011 at 11:13

Tefal said:
Skylon has a 350 million investment coming up after demonstrating it's precooler, and it's going to start taking commercial orders in the next few years.

Hotol had about £2 million and only made it to design stage with major flaws.

Once it's demonstrated it's precooler... that it needs these new alloys for?

At the time of cancellation (which is questionable in itself, i've heard stories about people ransacking the offices in the middle of the night) HOTOL had answered all of the design criticisms.

Glaucus · 25 Dec 2011 at 11:47

The report this year said there was now no technical problems for the design. So I'm not sure what these new alloys are, or it's an old issue that no longer is.

The precooler wast tested in June.

ESA press release Interesting but short
http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/downloads/Confidence_in_SKYLON_24.05.2011.pdf

edscdk · 25 Dec 2011 at 11:56

Thorium reactors should have been used from the start.

Tefal · 25 Dec 2011 at 12:16

PermaBanned said:
Once it's demonstrated it's precooler... that it needs these new alloys for?

which have already been developed and the pre cooler built, it's been in testing for much of this year.

At the time of cancellation (which is questionable in itself, i've heard stories about people ransacking the offices in the middle of the night) HOTOL had answered all of the design criticisms.

HOTOL had aerodynamic issues, which is why Skylon looks so different.

utajoker · 25 Dec 2011 at 12:30

ipad 3 and an iphone6 prob.