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Low budget spacecraft

 Modular low budget spacecraft
  (+23, -5)(+23, -5)
(+23, -5) 		  [vote for,
against]

Ok, first of all, I must confess this came to me in a dream last night....

I was in outer space, and we were constructing and inflating our spacecraft. The process basically consisted of wrapping clear polyethelene sheet around the already constructed framework, and gluing the seams together.

Granted, the framework had been banged together out of two-by-fours, and I'm not sure how we applied the glue, I just remember rubbing the seams so the glue would bond.

Probably only suitable for temporary habitation....

—normzone, Oct 14 2003

(???) Online Bubblewrap http://localhost.ee/pop.swf
Testing facility [thumbwax, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

"We could float among the stars together..." http://www.stlyrics...ary/upupandaway.htm
Up, Up and Away! [Amos Kito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Mar 10 2005]

It's about time...... http://www.cnn.com/....approve/index.html
......I can't believe how slow we are in exploring beyond this rock.....glad to see we're making a little progress. [normzone, Nov 26 2004]

Locations in Las Vegas, Houston, and Washington D.C...... http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/
......but I see no mention of 2x4s [normzone, Mar 10 2005]

Araldite http://www.huntsman...dex.cfm?PageID=4590
[normzone, Mar 10 2005]

Foam Hulled Spacecraft Foam Hulled Spacecraft
Low Budget Spacecraft MkII [zen_tom, Nov 18 2007]

Build it out of space-grown bamboo Gilligan_27s_20Orbital_20Island
[FlyingToaster, May 21 2011]

BEAM inflatable http://bigelowaerospace.com/beam/
[normzone, May 27 2016]


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Annotation:







       //rubbing the seams so the glue would bond//
You'd save a lotta time with duct tape.		   

       There's probably a roll of spacecraft-strength Saran wrap in the 'bakery. But one little pinhole or tear will definitely make your habitation temporary.
—Amos Kito, Oct 14 2003
   

       Yeah, I'd use bubble wrap to avoid micrometeorite problems. Then you can run around with more duct tape every time you hear a pop.   

       I wonder if it's difficult to swing a hammer in space. There's really nothing to keep your structure from flying away with every strike.
—Worldgineer, Oct 14 2003
   

       Worldgineer: If you somehow attached yourself to the structure, the spacecraft won't move when you strike it. If you and the spacecraft are one body then you can't cause a net change in velocity without some kind of force external to you both.
—vp, Oct 14 2003
   

       I tried to build one not unlike this one in my father's shed when I was six or so. [+] for bringing that memory back.
—Helium, Oct 14 2003
   

       Sounds like you could build this for less than $100, a remarkable improvement on current spacecraft costs. +.
—lintkeeper2, Oct 14 2003
   

       [UB] - In Red Dwarf (the books, anyway) it mentions that Red Dwarf is about the size of a small island nation, and slightly less aerodynamic (due to it never being intended to enter any atmosphere).
—Detly, Oct 14 2003
   

       In the auto industry, we use a specialty 3M tape for some body panels that sticks like mad, especially when you use an adhesive promoter solution with it.   

       The problem you'll run into is that space is so darn cold; most plastics don't have very good low-temperature properties. Another will be static discharge. Dryer sheets?   

       Polyethelyne is much too permeable. Mylar would be a better choice, but then again, they already do that.
—RayfordSteele, Oct 15 2003
   

       [normzone] lay off the cheese!
—po, Oct 15 2003
   

       plastics on plastics seal pretty well, so adopt [Unabubba]'s thick polyethene to shield from radiation, but add in interspersed perspex windows.

These can be sealed together using a clean soldering iron to melt the two together. Failing this, duct tape but for extra safety, smear in some plumbers' mate to the gap. +
—jonthegeologist, Oct 15 2003
   

       Could I use tin foil to protect against the heat of re-entry? Also how about "pressure treated" two by fours, for durability after splashdown? (showing my age)
—BritUSA, Oct 15 2003
   

       Oh, for sure this a bun. +
—k_sra, Oct 15 2003
   

       Make a suitable underwater version to do the necessary testing and what-not in ... "low budget" next to "submarine" is scary too ...
—Letsbuildafort, Oct 15 2003
   

       I've got a deck chair and some spare bungee cords if you need them.
—sufc, Oct 15 2003
   

       // Oh, for sure this a bun. //   

       Okay, I need that explained to me. I think you've all lost your minds again.   

       Two possibilities exist: either it's satire or serious. If it's serious, the author is an idiot. If it's satire it should be funny, but it's not. Neither situation is worthy of a plus vote, that I can see. So I don't get it.   

       I am frequently mystified by the crap that gets buns here lately. I don't think it is a good thing for the bakery.
—waugsqueke, Oct 15 2003
   

       I nominate [waugsqueke] for the test flight.
—lintkeeper2, Oct 15 2003
   

       [waugs], call it a collective sigh of relief from the rigours of 'professional halfbaking.' It's merely funny as an image.
—RayfordSteele, Oct 15 2003
   

       WTASYMIIBANWTABOSAW (wasn't that a silly yet mildly intriguing idea by a newbie, with the added benefit of seemingly annoying waugs)
—Worldgineer, Oct 15 2003
   

       Definitely way outside the box here, but I like it in a weird way. (WTAGIPBAN)
—krelnik, Oct 15 2003
   

       // call it a collective sigh of relief from the rigours of 'professional halfbaking. //   

       Rigours? Bah. There hasn't been rigorous halfbaking here in months.
—waugsqueke, Oct 15 2003
   

       Kirk: "I'm not sure...but I think we've been insulted."
McCoy: "I'm sure."
   

       Star Trek, "Mirror, Mirror", Oct 6 1967
—krelnik, Oct 15 2003
   

       ....humbug!
—RayfordSteele, Oct 15 2003
   

       //Okay, I need that explained to me.//   

       It was nothing more than an honest use of the voting system. The idea of space-worthy 2x4's covered in plastic is idiotic. The idea of a place where you can hover and build space crafts out of drop cloths and plywood, on the other hand, is priceless. I would pay good money to play at building spaceships in zero gravity, naked or otherwise.
—k_sra, Oct 16 2003
   

       spaceware : you'll need something that'll shield you from the interstellar radiation. a halfbakery t-shirt and shorts should do it, presuming you aim for a summer launch?
—jonthegeologist, Oct 16 2003
   

       Plus for being light-hearted, dream-inspired and a bit demented but mainly for annoying waugs.
—squeak, Oct 16 2003
   

       // The idea of a place where you can hover and build space crafts out of drop cloths and plywood, on the other hand, is priceless. //   

       I guess that's where we disagree. I think it's asinine. I asked you specifically, sra, because I tended to respect your judgment in other matters. The fact that you leapt onto this bandwagon surprised me.   

       There is a rather large something about this idea that I am clearly missing.   

       And further clarification - I am not, and never was, annoyed. The only thing I find annoying is that people think I'm annoyed all the time. T'ain't so.
—waugsqueke, Oct 16 2003
   

       I've now added "seemingly" to my acronym for reasons of accuracy. And because I don't use the word "seemingly" enough.
—Worldgineer, Oct 16 2003
   

       //The fact that you leapt onto this bandwagon surprised me.//   

       Well, it wasn't so much the bandwagon I jumped onto as it was my own memories. I remembered those innocent bygone days of make believe, constructing phony bombs out of rubbish and blood packets out of gel caps and I felt a surge of nostalgia... *sigh* I'm not old enough to be this maudlin.   

       Of course, we must agree to disagree on this one, [waugs], but it is nice to know you tend to respect me. And vice versa.
—k_sra, Oct 16 2003
   

       //The only thing I find annoying is that people think I'm annoyed all the time.//
   

       Hehe. (We think -therefore- waugs is.)
   

       <Om...Dum...Dur...ga...yei...Na...ma...ha...>
—Tiger Lily, Oct 16 2003
   

       As a form of entertainment this might work, as long as it was carried out inside a big spacestation or something. It wouldn't be low cost though, but it could be fun.   

       If that is the idea its not really well described, at the moment its just a description of a dream.
—RobertKidney, Oct 16 2003
   

       must be a guy kinda dream...
—aquamarine, Oct 16 2003
   

       This is like a inflatable spacecraft ( old idea ) with suports?
—my-nep, Oct 16 2003
   

       So that's what it takes these days, UB? Sign o' the times.
—waugsqueke, Oct 16 2003
   

       I keep having this mental image of a guy tied to a 'spacecraft' and each time he hits it with his hammer it shoots away and then tugs on the rope flying back towards him and hitting him ... like one of them ball/paddle things. heh heh heh ... priceless
—DaGreengo, Oct 16 2003
   

       My linoleum submarine idea should do great then eh?.   

       I thought the point of this was that in Space, a lot of things we build into spacecraft to survive the little bit of time they spend going out of, and re-entering the atmosphere, are unnecessary. You can actually build a fairly flimsy structure that will survive space. Will it support humans inside? Well may be it could. I think it is a perfectly good intellectual challenge about what we might expect a spacecraft to need, versus what it really needs in space.
And of course, it's silly, and fun, and completely half-baked. Which is what I though this place was all about. If you want real world ideas go to the patent office.
—goff, Oct 17 2003
   

       Just remember the 2 space shuttle crews who died in their 'low budget spacecraft'
—0_owaffleo_0, Oct 17 2003
   

       I walked the fields around here with the NASA folks, picking up the pieces. I believe those lost would have been the first to laugh and encourage even fun discussions like this, such was their enthusiasm for space travel! Forget them? Never.
—BritUSA, Oct 17 2003
   

       // Will it support humans inside? Well may be it could. //   

       Depends on your definition of 'support'. If you mean in any way that does not involve wearing a spacesuit while inside, then the answer is no, it couldn't.   

       // I think it is a perfectly good intellectual challenge about what we might expect a spacecraft to need, versus what it really needs in space. //   

       Yeah, things like being able to breathe and manage habitable temperatures and stuff like that. Small details.
—waugsqueke, Oct 17 2003
   

       I believe someone mentioned a space heater.
—Worldgineer, Oct 17 2003
   

       Exactly, [World], and if it had an air blower on it, that would solve the breathing thing too.
—lintkeeper2, Oct 17 2003
   

       No, because then you need pressurization. This thing would pop like a balloon the instant pressurizing was attempted.   

       Oh, and did I mention protection from cosmic radiation? Etc etc... seriously, do I really have to explain every problem with this? I find it hard to believe this crew is so totally clueless about the topic as to think this is even slightly workable.
—waugsqueke, Oct 17 2003
   

       //you need pressurization// Duh, that's what the duct tape is for. And the 2x4s.
—Worldgineer, Oct 17 2003
   

       [waugs], it's Friday. We're just off drinking drafts thinking aloud how daft you must think we are, therefore...won't you have some daft writh us?   

       <Oh...m...dohm...dee...durm...googoo gai pan...>
—Tiger Lily, Oct 17 2003
   

       Oh I understand the kicking around and having a bit of fun thing. No issue there. However I think +19 to completely asinine crap is perhaps not the best course. What's the sense in having a voting scheme if we're just going to vote up complete shite, as they say.
—waugsqueke, Oct 17 2003
   

       <lucid thought> If we all thought exactly alike, we could turn the 'bakery into one big bloated intellectual Trust. Why bother at all then with voting? </lucid thought>
—Tiger Lily, Oct 17 2003
   

       Good point. Let's get rid of it.   

       I encourage diversity. People voting up a stupid idea is not diversity.   

       Anyway, nuff said. I think it's stupid, you don't, let's move on.
—waugsqueke, Oct 17 2003
   

       . o O { 3.. 2...1...}
—lubbit, Oct 17 2003
   

       [waugs], you're presuming I voted for, or that I have openly supported the idea itself. Hah. I'm jus' here for the party.   

       One smart fella'
He felt smart
   

       Two smart fella's
They both felt smart
   

       Three smart fella's
They all smelt fart.
   

       Hah 'gain... let's see _you_ try that when yer sober. I got no more 'nuff to say. let's move in...
—Tiger Lily, Oct 17 2003
   

       Meanwhile, all the spacewomen will kick back in the Bubbledome and play 3D racquetball while working on their "no-tan-line" tans.   

       This is sure to cause some structurally critical peep holes amongst all that duct tape.
—Tiger Lily, Oct 17 2003
   

       Dumb-ass spacemen. (says [Worldgineer] between racquetball sets)
—Worldgineer, Oct 17 2003
   

       I agree with waugs - why have a voting system if we're all going to vote for complete shite? Instead we should have a system by where waugs gets to vote on his own and all the rest of us have to fall in with his opinion of what is good and what is bad, rather than forming our own. Much better - isn't democracy a wonderful thing?
—goff, Oct 20 2003
   

       Perhaps anyone taking things too seriously should be sent back to the help page for a refresher. Back to the idea, though, I may have found a flaw. How does one steer such a craft?
—lintkeeper2, Oct 20 2003
   

       good point [lint] - simple strings attached to polyethene flaps should control steering at these speeds.
—jonthegeologist, Oct 20 2003
   

       Twas Worldgineer willing who made their day thrilling
"Your hammer", he said, "may I?"
He then put it to task banging framework fast
For his hammering ruddered a course
Altogether they laughed rolling this way and that
Such fun they had in that rounceval craft.
—Tiger Lily, Oct 21 2003
   

       "Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly we can fly
Up, up and away
In my beautiful, my beautiful balloon"...
--The 5th Dimension
—Amos Kito, Oct 21 2003
   

       //If you somehow attached yourself to the structure, the spacecraft won't move when you strike it. If you and the spacecraft are one body then you can't cause a net change in velocity without some kind of force external to you both.// vp, I know I'm late on this, but you can cause a spin.
—DesertFox, May 29 2004
   

       A spin? Whatever happened to the conservation of angular momentum?
—ldischler, May 29 2004
   

       Don't mind me. Just churning a good idea that's lost it's bread.
—Worldgineer, Nov 16 2004
   

       Mobile phones should operate in space to a certain distance. This can be a cheap way of interstellar communication.
—benfrost, Nov 16 2004
   

       One of my faves too, [World].
—lintkeeper2, Nov 16 2004
   

       This idea was pretty early in my halfbaking career, before I'd made the mental leap to read the help file and observe how cleverly the natives hunted non-native species.   

       I've been through and cleaned up several of my less stellar [!] ideas, but this one is a case of the annos making the idea.
—normzone, Nov 17 2004
   

       Don't sell yourself short, [norm], this was a simple and enjoyable idea. Sure [waugs] didn't like it, but he's, um, hard to please.
—Worldgineer, Nov 17 2004
   

       but never annoyed, or grumpy or anything.
—lintkeeper2, Nov 17 2004
   

       Damn, looks like this one's going to become baked. I guess I should be happy......[link]
—normzone, Nov 26 2004
   

       [norm] That link is broken
—AbsintheWithoutLeave, Mar 10 2005
   

       (hands [norm] a roll of duck tape)
—Worldgineer, Mar 10 2005
   

       Thanks, [Worldgineer]. [Repeated sounds of duct tape ripping, minor cursing].   

       There, that should fix the link. Although, if it won't hold even overnight, I might have a problem here, Houston [ and Las Vegas, and Washington D.C.].
—normzone, Mar 10 2005
   

       Here, I've got some araldite...
—david_scothern, Mar 10 2005
   

       Thanks, [david_scothern]. I linked to the outfit that makes this stuff. Between you, [Worldgineer], and a few other farseeing folks, we'll get off this rock in no time at all   

       [normzone nervously begins looking into orbital parachutes and atmospheric surfboards]
—normzone, Mar 10 2005
   

       I am truly envious of you, [normzone], because I never have any space travel dreams. I've tried inducing them in all kinds of ways, but have not ever succeeded. I'll bun this idea just for that!
—quantum_flux, Nov 18 2007
   

       My dream life amazes me. In my dreams I freedive, fly, ride motorcycles, hunt for bear on horseback, get commissioned as a minor noble, engage in spy vs spy antics, etc.
—normzone, Nov 18 2007
   

       Let me just barge in here for a shameless moment of self-aggrandisement to say that my foam-hulled spacecraft idea is by far the more intriguing and, while it wasn't inspired by my nocturnal fancies, it does contain a passing reference to cheese (albeit the powdered kind found flavouring Wotsits - CheesyPuffs and their ilk in the US).
Furthermore, a foam-hulled spaceship would have the unusual property of building itself (to a degree) while this twilight inspired reverie would take a fair amount of craftsmanship to effectuate.
—zen_tom, Nov 18 2007
   

       Well then, it sounds as though you should link to this idea. Especially since, as I pointed out earlier, this is an idea made by the annos.
—normzone, Nov 18 2007
   

       Done, and Pah! Annos or no, this one's a classic, and no mistake.
—zen_tom, Nov 18 2007
   

       Plastic sheeting's probably a non-starter, but a wooden spacecraft, built in orbit, might fly.
—FlyingToaster, May 21 2011
   

       Build it hell, let's grow it with some "Integral Trees" (Niven).
—normzone, Apr 13 2012
   

       So, getting some supplies tonight at the store, and I picked up " The Martian " with Matt Damon.   

       I'm watching it right now, and THERE IT IS !   

       At 1:45:32...told you so.   

       Ok, no 2x4s, but still...
—normzone, Jan 16 2016
   


 

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