For years I"ve been saying the most efficient way to get
mass
into outerspace from earth is by taking advantage of
magnetism, high energy, and the poles of the planet.
i'm not sure we have the technology yet, but it seems
wakefield acceleration will play some role in launching the
gas at
high velocities from a launching station. various types
of directed radiation will ensure the gas is properly ionized
and that the polar atmosphere itself does not get in the
way. it's quite possible the device will actually just harness
existing atmospheric gasses and 'push' them towards a
desired polar space region for capture, rather than some
type of launching of gas from the ground .
Either way, the point here is there is no 'capsule' or 'housing'
for the mass being launched.
ever more research is beginning to confirm this to be true.
see the link below.
it is becoming very clear that the future of research on
magnetization of molecules, high energy stimulation
(lasers),
various types of quantum physics and macromagnetic
physics
of the earths magnetosphere will provide a mechanism
where
by some type of focussed electromagentic radiation will be
able to slowly but constantly PUSH gaseous material from
our
poles, into orbital space where a polar orbiting space
station
will be able to SCOOP up free gaseous mass in outer space.
decades old designs of a magnetic scoop for 'space
harvesting'
will eventually become useful when we develop the
technology that allows us to slowly and cheaply push GAS in
higher densities into outerspace. of course this gas will slow
down the space station, but on board solar energy
collectors
will provide ample energy with which to use some of the gas
as relativistic speed propellent, leaving the rest for onboard
stations use.
this seems to be a far more consistent and tuneable
method,as well as LOW ENERGY method for getting mass
into
orbit, rather than finding rare asteroids and changing their
massive delta V to bring them to earth orbit.
it's all about going small and using ambient earth magentic
environment to manipulate matter consistently rather than
some highly vaunted but impractical lewis and clark
expedition
to find asteroids in outerspace.
the beauty of this approach is that if it scales, it can scale
HUGE. placing more gas in a potentially 'scoopable' area of
polar orbit than one could ever think possible. how so?
according to this article at least 45 tons of gas each day is
'leaked' passively from the poles. that's without any addition
of active energy. it is literally 'falling up' into outer-space on
its own every moment of every second of every day..
start with that and keep working it.