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DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures

ckemere

When reading these program announcements, it's important to keep in mind that the (unofficial?) mandate for a DARPA program officer is to fund proposals that lie in the boundaries of [Doesn't at face violate laws of physics, P(Success) = 0.2]. A program where the vast majority of aims were clearly successfully delivered would be a program that should have been funded by other government agencies.

Of course, with R&D currently on the chopping block, we'll see if the same people that complain about NSF/NIH start coming for DARPA also...

laughingcurve

If they come for DARPA then we are all in deep shit because that means things are far worse than we could have imagined.

caycep

like even more far-worse than the current far-worse?

barbazoo

> Some examples of structures that could be biologically manufactured and assembled, but that may be infeasible to produce traditionally, include tethers for a space elevator, grid-nets for orbital debris remediation, kilometer-scale interferometers for radio science, new self-assembled wings of a commercial space station for hosting additional payloads, or on-demand production of patch materials to adhere and repair micrometeorite damage.

feverzsj

I don't want a bloody meat spaceship. They should try crystallization.

hirenj

First question I have is what kind of nutrient base conditions can we expect to start from? Should it be like Earth, or somewhere a bit more resource constrained (and how would it be constrained)?

I’d like to imagine solar reactors mimicking primordial goo to synthesise the essentials for these materials.

gene-h

Anything you want and can launch into space. The program goal is being able to grow large structures. The intent seems to be using biology as a means to more efficiently transform launched mass into big structures.

debacle

Step 1 would be to see if a nonporous wood holds up to the vacuum of space with enough durability. The biggest issue would be reclaiming moisture from the wood as it dried rather than losing it to space. Things like corals or molluscs would be too heavy (though that idea spawned a wonderful series of 16 bit side scrolling video games).

Without some sort of easy orbital exit/entry, it's unlikely that being "in space" will be a feasible permanent option.

chr1

Somewhat similar and probably easier to achieve would be trees floating in open ocean, and some kind of plant capable to bring nutrients up from the large depth.

Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert, with most of life concentrated in the places where upwelling occurs. This kind of floating trees would add enough biomass to compensate for all of the human produced CO2 and even more.

the_sleaze_

> Floating trees in the open ocean.

The more refined version of this are intentionally created algal blooms, ala the red tide. Then you would somehow capture the CO2 dissolved in ocean water that the algae concentrates.

In this way you'd use the ocean itself as your carbon capture "filter" and "clean the filter".

The issue is that since there just isn't enough nutrients for life, and adding fertilizers costs more carbon than it sequesters. The deep ocean usually gets its nitrogen from life dying above, decaying downwards then getting pushed upwards again. I don't know of any deep ocean reserves of nitrogen that just needs brought to the surface.

chr1

Nitrogen is easy, it can be captured from air, iron is the main thing missing in surface water that must be brought up by upwelling.

But having real trees above the water is much more useful than simple carbon capture, they would serve as wavebreakers for seasteading settlements too.

closewith

Unlikely to be any unintended consequences to foresting the ocean, too. Plain sailing.

People really will pretend to believe any old nonsense rather than accept we have to cut fossil fuel use.

soared

I don’t think trees and live on saltwater

chr1

[delayed]

nullbyte

This is how Zerg starts

cheschire

Or the Edenists from The Night's Dawn trilogy, with their voidhawk ships.

jeisc

Couldn't a self replicating structure grow out of control like vines and weeds?

ulnarkressty

Space goats.

Apofis

That would be in interesting direction for our tech to go, everything grown organically including space structures.

4o20vhdl296nsb

Hopefully it won't be considered "woke" to manufacture things organically as opposed to using steel and concrete and plastic.

MurkyLabs

considering organic meat substitutes are, they're going to have to spin it pretty hard for some people to NOT think it's 'woke'

fnordlord

even harder if it wakes up.

woleium

Sounds like someone bought into the Dyson tree meme revival that was floating round the internet a month so ago!

TeeMassive

Someone at DARPA read Night's Dawn

ge96

Cylon basestar here we come