{"id":1378,"date":"2023-07-23T07:03:26","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T07:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycbh.com\/Games\/spaceperium\/beer-into-rocket-fuel\/"},"modified":"2023-07-23T07:03:26","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T07:03:26","slug":"beer-into-rocket-fuel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycbh.com\/Games\/spaceperium\/beer-into-rocket-fuel\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer Into Rocket Fuel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beer Into Rocket Fuel?
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The practical knowledge from NASA-funded discoveries and the inventions that enabled them fall under the rubric of \u201cspinoffs.\u201d Although the term fits nicely into the concept of the invention-discovery cycle, spinoff is modest, even misleading. Spinoffs aren\u2019t just the bonus of the space program; they\u2019re a critical part of the program itself. We go into space in part for the spinoffs.<\/p>\n

Skeptics dismiss this justification for the space program, calling it the \u201cTang argument.\u201d Hey, without space, we wouldn\u2019t have Tang! Never mind that this statement actually isn\u2019t true; Tang had been on the market for three years before John Glenn used it on Mercury. At any rate, the use of a powdered fruit drink as an exemplar of the space program misses the point of the invention-discovery cycle. Space aims at the boundaries of knowledge, not just minor consumer improvements. That\u2019s why spinoff is misleading. The inventions that arise from the space program, even those that find use in unrelated sectors, are no accidents. They\u2019re integral to the government\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

NASA itself tends to undercut its own argument with its annual report, Spinoff<\/a>. One tempting picture from the report\u2019s online version shows glasses of beer with the caption, \u201cA system for creating rocket fuel on Mars is putting the bubbles into beer.\u201d While this sounds like Tang all over again, the actual story is far more powerful. Robert Zubrin, the legendary founder of Pioneer Astronautics and Pioneer Energy, has been leading the invention of technologies that convert the Martian atmosphere into water, oxygen, and fuel. Because the air on Mars comprises 96% carbon dioxide, Zubrin has pioneered ways to convert gases into useful substances. For example, he originally speculated that hydrogen could be brought from Earth and combined with Martian CO2 to make methane and water. Besides providing liquid to mix with astronauts\u2019 Tang, they could electrolyze the water to produce oxygen for breathing. The excess oxygen, combined with methane, can make rocket fuel to power the astronaut\u2019s flight back home. Now that water has been discovered on Mars, hydrogen can be produced on the planet\u2019s surface, and combined with CO2 to make methane. While inventing the technology that helps make Martian missions possible, Zubin\u2019s companies have spun off inventions that produce gas for research balloons. His work with gases may also lead to technology that efficiently extracts hydrogen from water on Earth, producing carbon-free energy. And, yes, Pioneer Energy has created a system that recovers CO2 during beer making, allowing microbrewers an inexpensive way to put the bubbles back in their beer. It is indeed a spinoff, one that may not advance or save humankind on the order of interplanetary colonies, but\u2026 beer!<\/p>\n

Put it this way: If Tang could create rocket fuel on Mars and help alleviate climate change, perhaps the skeptics wouldn\u2019t scoff as much. Robert Zubrin\u2019s beer bubbles are that sort of Tang.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Go to Source<\/a>
\nAuthor: Steve Sandford<\/p>\n

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SPACEPERIUM CORPS & RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS<\/p>\n

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Please comment below with research and links for fellow members to conduct further research into this area.
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