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Scott Huh DESMA 9 Week 9: Space + Art




Space elevator diagram
Humans have always had the innate urges to attain new knowledge and explore new worlds. Due to this, human interest in unveiling the mysteries of space has been prevalent and everlasting. From telescopes to space shuttles, we have continued to challenge our scientific limits, thriving to discover more about the world we live in today. As a civil engineer, I found the concept of space infrastructures, such as a space elevator, to be extremely interesting. Like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk, the space elevator is a static structure that is literally out of this world, reaching a geostationary orbit at a height of thirty-six thousand kilometers. There are countless design considerations that go into this structure. The lower end of the elevator would be subjected to stronger gravitational force, counterbalanced by the centrifugal force at the upper end. As a result, the elevator would be put under massive tensile force, so the material would have to be much stronger, while being lighter, than any known material.
Death Star from Star Wars

The topic of space infrastructures reminded me of the movie, Star Wars. There are numerous spacecraft in the movie, but the Death Star was the first thing that came to my mind. It is a spherical space station, spanning over 160 kilometers in diameter. The Death Star was so large that it was comparable to the size of the moon. As Vesna stated, concepts like the space elevator could “turn science fiction into reality.” The significance of space is that it is the point in which mathematics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and art converge. With this combined knowledge, humans could be living on other planets such as Mars. 

NASA's illustration of its future mission to Mars

References:

Donahue, Michelle Z. "People Are Still Trying to Build a Space Elevator." Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, 21 Jan. 2016. Web. 02 June 2017.

"Death Star." Wookieepedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2017.

Graham Templeton on March 6, 2014 at 12:15 Pm Comment. "60,000 Miles Up: Space Elevator Could Be Built by 2035, Says New Study." ExtremeTech. N.p., 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 02 June 2017.

Perry, Philip. "NASA Unveils How We'll Get to Mars and Explore Deep Space." Big Think. N.p., 04 Apr. 2017. Web. 02 June 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space Exploration + Art Part 1." Lecture.

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